Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the vast, empty void of space, hurdles a celestial object, from somewhere else, deep within the cosmos. Closer and closer, as it nears a small blue pearl, a planet situated in the Milky Way Galaxy: a planet called Earth. On the surface teeming with life of all sorts, the residents of Earth lie unaware of the great destructive force approaching their home. But it wasn’t the massive object of rock and metal that threatened the very balance of life as they knew it. No, the meteor would begin to break up as it entered Earth’s atmosphere, most of it landing harmlessly in the Atlantic Ocean. From the planet’s surface, a figure watched the meteor fracture and break apart, with a malicious glint in his eye…

A convoy of armored SUVs drive with intent, across dirt roads spanning through an area of what was once densely forested wilderness, in a remote region of South America. Looking out at the sea of tree stumps, all that remained of the once green terrain, a woman gazed out from her seat in the lead SUV, her reflection staring back at her. She had blonde hair, with a white streak covering the left side of her face, a single bright blue eye visible. Despite being in her forties, she looked as if she were at least ten years younger and carried herself with a confidence that caused most to shrink under her gaze.

"Dr. Blight, we’re here.” One of the security personnel sitting in the passenger seat said, as the vehicles slowed to a stop.

Blight exited the vehicle, accompanied by a half dozen armed guards and twice as many scientists. Walking with an air of confidence, Blight stopped at the edge of the ravine and gazed down into the depths of the crater, spanning miles, eye fixed on the object of her desires: a small fragment of rock and metal - a meteorite. With a practiced precision, Blight’s unit of Hazmat clad field scientists collected the fragment, sealing it within a metal container.

"Dr. Blight, we’ve retrieved the sample. Our readings indicate that it’s highly radioactive. But the shielding of the container should be adequate for shipping.” One of the men, still clad in a yellow Hazmat suit relayed to Blight.

"Very good. Take it to my lab. We have work to do…” The woman ordered, a wicked smile spreading across her face.

***
“A recent protest against high levels of pollution-"

"The conditions haven’t improved-"

"Some of the most polluted cities-"

"Much of the river is now polluted."

"I can smell the pollution."

"-advising people with heart and lung ailments to stay indoors.”

"It’s already having a devastating effect on plants and animals around the world.”

The words blared on the TV overhead, as it cycled from channel to channel, news reports all covering stories on the deterioration of the planet and its rising levels of pollution. Disgruntled, a man in his late twenties with light red hair hit the mute button and tossed the remote on the bar where he sat. The woman behind the bar gave him a stern look, before smiling.

"Careful Wheeler, if you break that, I’ll have to charge you.”

“Put it on my tab.” He retorted, as he took a long swig of whiskey, slamming the glass down hard.

“One more, Mags.” He said, pointing to his glass.

"For the last time, Wheeler, call me Maggie.” This time, it was Wheeler who cracked a small smile.

"I will, when you start calling me James.” She chuckles, as she pours him another glass, responding light heartedly.

"Okay, touché.” After pouring Wheeler his drink, Maggie picked up the remote and began flipping through the channels. After a few moments, Wheeler hurriedly gestured toward Maggie.

"Wait! Leave it. Turn it up. Please…” He added ‘please’ when he saw Maggie’s annoyance and felt bad for being so demanding.

She turned up the volume to yet another news story, already in progress. The reporter for Channel 5 spoke in front of a building that looked familiar to Wheeler. His heart sank as the woman’s voice rose to clarity, her words only now registering in his brain.

"A controversial bill has passed, allowing Plunder Industries to commence extensive drilling off the Gulf of Mexico. The bill is headed by Dr. Barbara Blight, who made a statement earlier today.” He wasn’t sure he heard that right, Maggie’s voice finally cutting through his shocked stupor.

"Earth to Wheeler. Are you alright?”

“Yeah… fine. Just… another life…” He responded and was about to have Maggie shut off the TV, when they began to run a clip from the statement mentioned before, and he saw a face he thought he’d never have to see again…

***
“We can assure you that we took all necessary precautions, and this project will be safe…” Blight answered the concerns of reporters in the crowd, with a practiced deception that came from years of experience.

Moments after the cameras stopped rolling and the crowd had dispersed, Blight retreated back into her building, pulling a guard to the side.

"No one gets in here without my authorization, is that clear?”

“Yes, Miss Blight- Doctor, Doctor Blight!” He recoiled in fear of retaliation at his error, but Blight brushed him off, as she retreated further into her building, headed for her lab.

She spent hours studying the meteorite fragment, gathering data on its alien composition and the peculiar radiation it produced. Growing weary, as she looked at readouts on her computer screen, she almost didn’t notice the odd shimmering, coating a small ornate metal box sat atop her desk. Blight’s focus was pulled to the box, one that contained an artifact from her past and, tentatively taking it in her hand, she opened the box to reveal the shards of her ring, one of the five rings of destruction - the Ring of Hate. But as she stared at the tiny fragments of the gem that once made up her ring, she saw the shards beginning to almost heal, as if a living organism mending its wounds.

Blight immediately looked up at the meteorite fragment, far off in a shielded portion of the lab, under constant scans. Taking the ring to a smaller scanner, Blight confirmed her suspicions: a small amount of the radiation was escaping containment and reacting with the ring. Her fatigue seemed to vanish in an instant as Blight’s face once more twisted into a wicked smile…

***
Just as the bill forewarned, within a day, a new drilling platform had been erected off the Gulf of Mexico, in the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to drilling for crude oil, the team on the platform began to regularly send submersible vehicles down into the water’s depths. Safety measures were minimal, if present at all and the workers manning the platform had little to no supervision. Blight and her operatives seemed more concerned with their diving operation. Blight could care less about the insects working under her, there was something more she needed…

“We’re already too deep as it is, the subs can’t handle much more pressure.”

“I don’t want excuses, I want you to do your damn jobs! What do I pay you for?!” The exchange went, Blight slamming the phone down, as she sat, fuming in her office.

The man on the drilling platform let out a heavy, beleaguered sigh, before hanging up the phone and ordering his men to resume their operation. As the foreman, he hated these working conditions he was left with, and feared for the safety and well being of his workers. But there wasn’t much work right now and, this way, at least he could provide for his family. It wasn’t long before his fears became reality. Deep in the ocean’s depths, the vehicles worked, chipping away at seabed, to free the foreign object that had collided with the ocean floor.

Working as long as their oxygen supplies would permit, the workers, no more than four to a sub, slowly made progress. That progress, however, came at a price. First, a small tremor, then another, before the entire ocean seemed to shake around them, with a ferocity that would make even the steadfast shake with fear. The seabed began to crack, under the object, as the ground shook with seismic tremors. The cracks deepened, shooting across the ocean’s floor, until one large crevice intersected with the drill still boring away through the Earth’s mantle, to the oil deposits within.

Before anyone could comprehend the disaster to come, gallons and gallons of black began to spill up from the cracked seabed, rising to the water’s surface. The violent tremors shook the small submersibles, even as they began their journey back to the surface themselves. But one of the crafts was impacted by debris, flung violently from the quaking crust, causing the fragile vehicle to slam into the ocean floor below, fracturing the hull; the men were dead in seconds. The foreman had ordered the drill to be shut off and helped his workers from their subs, still awaiting the return of the final group, before one of the other men solemnly shook his head. The workers could only look on in horror at the scene before them, as oil continued to rise from the ocean’s depths and spread, polluting the once clean and vibrant waters.

The tremors continued sporadically, the workers on the platform holding on for dear life. He had to make a call. Doctor Blight should know about this, if she doesn’t already, he thought to himself.

***
“-heavy explosives, a number of submersible vehicles equipped with reinforced cables and cutting equipment, and minimal training and oversight from your department head. I’m afraid I’m going to have to conduct a formal audit. Including a visit to the platform and inspection of your safety equipment and procedures.”

“Now, now. This was just a tragic accident. Heartbreaking, sure, but due to nothing more than a force of nature. We consider the safety of our workers to be of the utmost importance…” The exchange went, with the safety inspector going over detailed reports of the incident.

The man retorted that it was merely an accident, offering his assurances. But the inspector didn’t appear to be buying it.

“You can’t possibly expect me to buy that, Mr. Plunder. The track records of both you and Doctor Blight speak for themselves. A history of safety and human rights violations. You and your known associates have profited from conflict, from violations of EPA regulations. If you weren’t standing behind your company, we’d be talking jail time.” This didn’t faze Plunder in the slightest, as he straightened his tie with a smarmy air of confidence.

"So, a couple of employees got hurt. You see, that’s the beauty of the system. If I kill a man, I go to prison. But if my company kills a man, I simply pay a few fines. That's the cost of doing business.”

“Cost of doing business?” The man nervously gulped out, as a wicked smirk spread across Plunder’s and he slowly leaned across the small metal table, until his face was mere inches away from the inspector’s.

"When the world sees chaos, war, despair… I see dollar signs.” The door to the office opened and the inspector walked out, shoving something into his jacket pocket, as a bemused Blight watched him walk past.

Plunder exited shortly after, but stopped before Blight, his arrogant bravado reflecting on his face, to which Blight responded with a malicious grin of her own.

"So?” Blight asked, arms crossed and, as he began walking again, he turned back briefly, to look Blight in the eye.

"We’re all clear, inspection passed. I hope this project of yours is worth it, Blight.”

“Oh, it will be. Trust me. When all is said and done… we will have this planet!” Blight declared with an outstretched hand clenching into a tight fist, as if to emphasize her words.

Within two days, following the ‘inspection’, the drilling platform’s damage was patched haphazardly and business was ready to resume as normal. Blight even authorized use of additional submersible vehicles. No consideration was given by Blight or Plunder to the continued pouring of oil into the Atlantic, contaminating the surrounding environment and ocean life. But news stations blared to new life with this latest outrage. Of the oil spill, and the company that evaded legal prosecution.

“Breaking news for you, an oil spill on the Mississippi river-"

"-contaminates the nearby water reservoir-"

"Contamination has infected six communities-“

It was on every channel, fueling a public outcry that it seemed would go unanswered. The next channel, a news site known for its encouragement and defense of harmful ideas, clicked to life, as yet another face familiar to Wheeler appeared on the screen, that of Looten Plunder.

"I offer my deepest condolences for this tragic accident and assure you that we have taken every precaution to prevent this from happening in the future, and to curtail the current series of events. And I am also donating $50,000 to the families affected by this loss. Thank you.” The television clicked to black, just as Plunder concluded his brief and transparent ‘apology’.

With a heavy sigh, Wheeler took another drink, finishing off his latest glass.

***
Business resumed the day following Plunder’s statement to the news.

"Go ahead and walk, you and I both know many of your workers won’t dare leave. If you won’t do this job… I’ll simply find someone who will.” Blight’s words rang in Derrick’s mind, as he found himself once again standing on the platform that had cost the lives of his workers.

Good, caring people and those he’d considered family. Efforts to patch the spill were agonizingly slow, but Blight had ordered the continued diving efforts. Little else happened on the platform, that is, until two days later.

"Rodriguez, call!” Derrick rushed to the comm patched into the submersibles’ frequency and picked up, hoping he wasn’t about to get more bad news.

But in that moment, his spirits were elevated, at what the man had informed him of. Derrick made his way to the edge of the platform, as did many of the other workers, as the ocean rose up, parting and shifting to make way for the behemoth they dragged from the abyss. The very top of the massive object was the first to be seen through the water cascading from its surface. An enormous mass of onyx black, dragged from the ocean’s depths by no less than six submersible vehicles, surrounding the rock fragment.

***
The sound of a rapid thrumming could be heard, growing ever closer, as a mechanism clicked into motion with a heavy thud, before massive overhead doors began to pull back. Standing at the floor of the large hanger, Doctor Blight stood, hair blowing, revealing dull brown scar tissue covering much of the left side of her face. She smiled up, as the large cargo helicopter moved over the opening roof, but from where Blight stood, she couldn’t see the chopper itself. Rather, she saw the massive onyx meteor as it positioned itself over her head and, within moments, it was lowered into the room and a team unfastened the cables, allowing the large rock to be set safely on the ground. Blight looked on, holding out her hand, as the gem fitted to the gold band of her ring began to shine with a brilliant purple energy, as she let out a bone chilling laugh that echoed through the massive hangar…

Stepping into the hangar, Plunder looked up in sudden shock at the size of the meteor, before turning his intense gaze back to Blight. Blight worked diligently in the lab now set up around the non terrestrial object, various pieces of scanning equipment and layers of shielding to protect against the radiation were in place. Walking up to Blight, Plunder stepped insistently to the side of Blight’s desk, until she looked up from her notes, to meet his gaze with a look of annoyance.

"Is this what you did all this for? Some big rock? I hope it was worth it.” Plunder spat out, questioning why they’d gone to all this trouble.

"Did you bring it?” Was Blight’s only response and it spurred Plunder to fish through his pocket, until he held in his hand, an ornate gold ring with a cracked, green gem fixed in the center.

"Why did you ask me to bring this? You know our rings are- broken?” His words were cut short when Blight held her arm up, the back of her hand facing out at Plunder, her ring not only intact, but pulsing with purple energy.

"How?!” Blight didn’t answer Plunder’s question with words, but merely gestured for him to follow her, which he did.

She took him past the shielding, which made him hesitate, until he held the ring in his palm, which too began to react to its proximity with the meteor. Plunder slipped the ring on for the first time in over ten years, watching down at his finger in awe, as the gem at its center miraculously healed itself. Blight met his gaze with a wicked smirk.

"Do you feel it was worth the effort, now?"

***
"Our future hangs in the balance. This planet is our home, and we must fight for it!” Kwame declared passionately to the room full of well dressed people; politicians and layers.

The meeting was to discuss the current state of the world and the escalating turmoil the climate faces, as well as the rampant abuse of the system by corporations. For the most part, the others present at the meeting seemed disinterested in Kwame’s passionate outcry. As a UN ambassador and outspoken advocate for environmental reform, Kwame’s position often afforded him the scorn of politicians and businessmen alike. The look on his face showed that he expected what he’d been getting for months now, no willingness by any agency or group to hold companies and their CEOs responsible for the destruction they’ve caused.

"Mr. Olowe… we’re sorry. But your proposals are simply too unreasonable. There is no evidence that the companies you’ve listed in your report have engaged in any wrongdoing. According to those in charge of the investigation, the records they found indicate that every possible precaution and regulation had been met."

"They are lying! They’ve bribed people, covered up their dirty laundry!” Kwame became increasingly desperate at the dismissal of his concerns, once more.

He’d been over this countless times and each time was the same. The threads he pulled went nowhere, dead end after dead end. He was sure money was changing hands, but he had no proof…

“We’re sorry, Mr. Olowe, this meeting is over.” At that, everyone stood and began filing out of the room.

A simple, electric car drove along the highway, Kwame sighing heavily. He’d petitioned every environmental group he could think of, to take action. But to no avail. His latest attempt was the EPA and he went in with his head held high. But they too refused to take any action, it was as if everyone was content to just sit back and watch the world slowly wither and die. Kwame pulled into the driveway of a modest home and got out of his car.

Slowly walking up to the front door, he let out one last sigh of defeat, before raising his head and turning the key to open the door. Slowly he walked in, his head hung in defeat. Part of him just wanted to give up. Sometimes he felt like Wheeler had the right idea. These thoughts were brushed from his mind when he looked up to see a woman gazing at him with a loving smile.

"Hey, there!” The woman exclaimed in surprise, moving toward him and throwing her arms around Kwame’s neck, to give him a loving kiss on the lips. Kwame’s sour mood broke and he smiled, pulling back from the kiss only to speak.

"Hello, Cheryl, I’ve missed you too.” He said playfully, still holding the bouquet of roses he’d picked up for his girlfriend on the way home.

"I wasn’t expecting you so soon."

"I thought I would surprise you.” Kwame answered with a smile.

"I’m so glad.” Kwame’s smile seemed to evaporate, as the weight of his latest failure rekindled in his mind and he looked over Cheryl’s shoulder, to the mantle, where a green jeweled ring sat idly…

“So, how did it go?” Sitting at a table in the kitchen, Kwame took a sip from a cup of tea, before looking worriedly at Cheryl, as their eyes met.

"That bad, huh?"

"It’s like they didn’t care! They know what’s happening to our planet, this spill is just the latest in a long line of crimes! I-I’m sorry… I just wish…"

"I know, but we do what we can.” The words of his girlfriend seemed to momentarily ease the burning fury in his heart. But it was quickly replaced by a look of hopelessness, as he let out a defeated sigh.

"Where did we go so wrong…?"

***
On a quiet, darkened street, only faintly illuminated by the light of the moon, a small group of people huddle frantically before a door to a large factory. A sign on the side of the building read Апекс Решения (Apex Solutions) and thick, black smog poured constantly from the Smokestacks above. The group suddenly backed up from the door and a woman in her mid twenties, with short, blonde hair, pushed the trigger of a device gripped in her hand, causing a small explosion, blasting the electronic lock from the side door and causing it to blow open. Gripping the AK-12 Assault Rifle hanging around her neck and leading the group quickly inside. They were met immediately by two guards, who moved to raise their weapons, but the shock of the breach was still fresh and the invading force easily gunned down the armed guards.

Moving further into the facility, they encountered a few more guards, but easily dispatched of them. They soon arrived at a large work area, populated by a great deal of workers, many in hazmat style suits, all working with what appeared to be volatile chemicals. Ready to clear the workers out and complete their objective, the group was taken by surprise, when something dropped swiftly from the rafters and landed on one of them, knocking them to the floor. It was large, larger than a human, and had hair over much of its visible body. It looked in so many ways, like a large rat with humanoid features, and donned in ragged clothing.

The Ratman bit and clawed, ripping the man beneath him to shreds, before the others opened fire, killing the screeching creature who attempted to lunge at them, before collapsing in a pool of its own blood. The workers cowered in fear at the display of brutality, as more of the hulking Ratmen barged in, snarling through bared, sharp teeth. One of the soldiers raised his weapon, but the woman looked up and spotted a number of the other mutant vermin crawling along the rafters, headed right for them. With urgency, she grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him to start moving, but he resisted.

"Come on, Dimitri! We have to go!"

"Damn it, Link, they killed Viktor!” In spite of his furious protests, he eventually allowed himself to be pulled into a run, as the soldiers fled for the exit, pursued by ravenous creatures.

As they ran down the hall, back the way they’d come in, nearing the exit, the Ratmen were quickly gaining on them.

"Karl, the bag!” Linka shouted and the man running beside her tossed her the duffel bag around his shoulders.

She opened it and pushed a button within the bag, which began to beep, before tossing it behind them. They just cleared the door, before the bag detonated, collapsing the hallway and destroying much of the exit and surrounding wall. One of the Ratmen had made it outside and moved to attack, before it was engulfed in dust and falling debris.

"Linka, what now?" The man identified as Karl asked somberly.

Dimitri still looked furious, as he stared at the ruined doorway of the still very much operational factory. As if to answer Karl’s question, Linka touched Dimitri’s arm, as she sympathetically spoke.

"We have to go…” Reluctantly, Dimitri tore his gaze from the building and turned to flee with the others, as sirens blared in the distance.

Inside, the workers still cowered in fear of their lives. But they were soon met with a number of soldiers and Ratmen alike, who threatened them with the waving of guns and vicious snarls respectively.

"Get back to work!” The men ordered and the fearful workforce complied.

In another building, an armed man walked up to a shoddy, tattered chair at the very back of the room, used as a makeshift throne, atop which sat another Ratman. But this figure was different. Deep, red irises replaced the other rats’ pitch black eyes, and the figure donned an equally blood red scarf, covering his head and the lower half of his face. His body was also smaller and less covered in hair. A long, fleshy gray tail whipped about from behind him, moved to his side as he sat, petting a large but ordinary gray rat.

"Mr. Skumm, sir, the rebels have attacked another one of your factories.

"There was an explosion.” The man reported to his rodent leader, with an attempt at confidence, which broke as Skumm leaned forward, staring him down.

"Did you catch them?"

"N-no, sir. But one of them was killed. It wasn’t HER…” He informed Skumm, who seemed to be filled with disappointment, as he leaned back in his chair.

The man seemed to relax, as Skumm’s demeanor softened, but quickly tensed up at further questioning.

"And the workers?” Skumm asked and the man smirked proudly, a sadistic glint in his eye.

"Still working. Still productive."

"Good…” Was Skumm’s only response.

***
On board a large ship, off the coast of the Pacific Ocean, men walked the deck, armed with automatic weapons. Activity suddenly spiked, as several whales surfaced, with spouts of water, causing the captain to suddenly change direction. But he wasn’t trying to avoid them, no, he changed direction in pursuit of the animals. But their attention suddenly shifted to a number of law enforcement boats, quickly approaching the illegal fishing vessel. The ship turned to flee, but the engine of the ship began to struggle, before failing completely and leaving the ship dead in the water.

As the law enforcement boats surrounded the larger ship, a young girl emerged from the hull of the ship. She looked to be in her mid twenties and had a fair complexion and long, black hair partly concealed by a hood pulled over her head. She looked around, only moving when she felt the coast was clear. However, a man had frantically turned a corner just as she began to move, grabbing her wrist and twisting to turn her around, eyeing a large wrench gripped in her left fist. Angrily, the man ripped the hood from her head and glared at the woman.

"Who the hell are you?!” She had little time to think, pulling a taser from her other hand’s pocket and giving the man a painful jolt in his side.

She felt it too, but it caused him to release her hand and she struck him in the arm with the wrench, knocking him to the ground as he groaned in pain. By now, the coast guard had ordered the men to stand down and began boarding the poaching vessel. In a short while, the men were in cuffs, having surrendered without much of a fight. The captain glared at the girl and struggled in his cuffs, before the officer had to force him to kneel on the deck with his fellow shipmates. An officer walked up to the girl, who still held the wrench and both looked over at the man she had hit, receiving medical attention for the resultant broken arm. The officer only chuckled at this.

"You got him pretty good there. Thanks for the tip. But this was dangerous, just stowing away. You could have been hurt."

"I can handle myself. Besides, someone needs to protect the ocean and its inhabitants.” She responded and, as if to emphasize her words, one of the whales let out a loud cry and an accompanying spray of water into the air.

"May I ask your name? For the report.” The officer asked and she was broken from her reverie, distracted only momentarily by the playfulness of the whale, to give her response.

"Sure. I’m Gi. Gi Moon."

***
At the edge of a cliffside, overlooking the pacific ocean, a young man sat, long black hair blowing in the wind. The man was no older than his early twenties and wore a gray tank top and a darker gray pair of cargo pants. Sitting cross legged, with eyes closed, he remained motionless, calm. Breathing slowly, and allowing his mind to clear of distractions, the man sat deep in meditation. There he remained, as time flowed past him, until he heard familiar words, echoing through his mind, the voice all too familiar… Gaia.

"Ma-Ti, the Planeteers are needed…”

Chapter Text

Sitting in her office, Blight stares at her own face, reflected back at her in the mirror, as a computer monitor lowers from the ceiling.

"How many times do I have to tell you MAL, don’t interrupt me while I’m in my office."

"Apologies, ma’am. I simply wanted to inform you, the next stage of your plan is ready to enact.” MAL stated courteously, the green digital visage of his face occasionally distorting and pixelating as he spoke.

Blight reached up, brushing the hair from her face, to reveal her scarred skin, and pulled an artificial eye, with a blue iris to match her own eye color, from the socket on the left side, setting it in a holder on the desk.

"Who’s first on the list?” She asked her artificial companion with an arrogant smirk.

***
A series of soft, but urgent knocks fell on the door, as Kwame moved to open it, not expecting visitors. Opening the door, his expression immediately softened.

"Ma-Ti… it’s good to see you.” He said, as he looked out at his younger friend, opening his arms. Ma-Ti didn’t hesitate in hugging his old friend, before pulling away and speaking.

"I wish I was here on just a social visit, Kwame. We need to talk…"

"Please, come in.” Ma-Ti nodded seriously, before stepping into Kwame’s home. “I heard her. While I was in meditation. I heard her in my head. Gaia…” Ma-Ti told Kwame, his face a mix of hope and apprehension.

"Are you sure?" Asked Kwame.

"Yes. I am.” Even as Ma-Ti answered in the affirmative, he didn’t feel confident in his own words, and he felt Kwame could read that on his face. But Kwame only nodded in a resolve Ma-Ti wished he himself felt.

"So, what do we do, now?” Kwame asked his friend. He had always been the one others came to for guidance or direction, but now he had to ask the same of his friend, who looked at him with a sudden stern resolve.

"We find the others.” “Have you been in touch with anyone?” Ma-Ti eventually asked Kwame, who responded with a discouraged tone.

"Only you and Gi. Wheeler fell off the grid. And last I heard, Linka had moved back to Russia. I don’t know where they could be. Where do we even begin?” As if answering Kwame’s question, Ma-Ti picked up a remote and turned on the Television, flipping until he hit a news station covering world events.

"-recent attack today, in a pharmaceutical lab in Magnitogorsk, Russia, causing minor structural damage and resulting in the death or injury of no less than four security guards and the injury of several workers. The attack has been linked to known eco-terrorist group ‘Cobalt’. In spite of the attack, the plant will remain open, plant manager Mr. Mevinos Muusk informed the public in a press release, just after the attack. One of the gunmen, identified as Viktor Antonovich, was also killed in the attack. All other members of this terrorist group, including its leader, Linka Szabó, are still at large. More on this news story as it unfol-” The color drained from Kwame’s face, as he listened to the reporter detail a brutal act of terrorism. When he heard his friend’s name, he quickly grabbed the remote and turned the Television off.

"Linka… what have you gotten yourself into?”

***
Kwame and Ma-Ti arrived at the airport, tickets in hand.

"We’ll track down Linka first. Then we’ll go find Gi. That should be easier.” Ma-Ti said, detailing their plan of action out loud, as much for his own benefit as Kwame’s.

Kwame nodded with a confidence that he did not feel, even though they’d gone over their course of action for the last several days. It was difficult saying goodbye to Cheryl, even for what would hopefully only be a short time. Kwame has told her what he had to do and, as always, she understood the importance of their mission, and the looming threat to come. Now, the two friends were moving through security and toward their gate until, before long, they were sitting in the plane, awaiting their departure. Kwame looked out the window of the plane, as they began slowly moving down the tarmac.

"To Russia, then.”

***
In a prison courtyard somewhere in the Southern United States, a man sat on a bench, lifting a pair of dumbbells. He was short and stocky, with beady blue eyes and had a small, shrunken and upturned nose. He had two pairs of visible fangs in his mouth and, between pointed ears, sat a vibrant red mohawk. In spite of his chubby build, he had visible muscle on his arms and those in the prison seemed to steer clear of him for the most part.

"Get ready…” The man heard a woman’s voice say, but looking around, he saw no one, shrugging it off as his mind playing tricks on him.

‘I said get ready, Greedly!’ The voice was louder now, more incessant, and he recognized it as the voice of Barbara Blight.

Dropping the dumbbells, Greedly stood up, just as one inmate struck another. As the guards immediately moved to break up the ensuing fight, another inmate attacked. And one prisoner decided to begin attacking one of the guards. In mere moments, the courtyard erupted into a full scale riot. Greedly for his part stayed out of it, not understanding what sparked this all out chaos.

Greedly was shaken from his confusion by a shot ringing out from above. But not a warning shot, one of the guards in the tower had just executed a prisoner, shooting him dead with their sniper rifle. But this didn’t stop the riot. On the contrary, most guards and prisoners alike carried on as if a prisoner wasn’t just shot dead, some even brutalizing each other around the corpse. There was no rhyme or reason to the carnage.

Prisoners began moving at the towers, climbing the structures. The other guards opened fire at them, killing a few, but eventually a number of prisoners managed to climb up with the help of the wall of inmates below them, and tossed one of the guards to his imminent death. Greedly watched in horror as the angry swarm of inmates tore the man limb from limb. One prisoner got his hands on the rifle, and indiscriminately began to fire into the growing sea of violent criminals and security guards. The more guards fell, the more guns the more violent among the prisoners had gotten their hands on them and Greedly gulped in fear.

Greedly knew it was only a matter of time, until his luck ran out. He considered for a moment, going for one of the weapons. But his small spark of bravery subsided when he heard it. A rapid thrumming sound, that could only be one thing. Then he saw it, a helicopter, flying low over the prison, and a ladder being thrown out, unfurling until it hit the ground.

The guards and other inmates were too busy with the all out war to even notice the chopper hovering overhead, nor the rope that had just been tossed down. Greedly hesitated for just a moment, before grabbing onto the rope, as the helicopter raised up and began to flee from the prison. Greedly’s foot slipped from one of the rungs, causing him to grip fearfully to the rope ladder, as he was pulled flying through the air. His heart beat heavily in his chest as, out of little more than survival instinct, he began to climb. Greedly finally pulled himself up into the fuselage, panting from exhaustion and fear in near equal measures.

“You… didn’t have to start moving while I was still… down there…” Greedly panted out, before he looked up to see Blight, just smiling down at him.

"You’re welcome. Pull yourself together, Greedly.” She responded snidely, before moving to sit down.

Greedly slowly stood and moved to sit across from her. He sat for several long minutes, before finally collecting his thoughts enough to formulate a question.

"How- wha- what was that?” With a twisted smile, Blight held her forearm up vertically, the back of her hand facing Greedly, her ring pulsing with a brilliant purple aura.

"Hate… the power of Hate…"

"That- that can’t be…!”

***
Kwame and Mi-Ti walked along the streets of Magnitogorsk, sun beating down upon their heads, until the pair arrived at their destination. From a distance, they looked at the large, imposing factory, still billowing black smog into the air. Their eyes fell on the side of the building, where police tape had cordoned off the area, rubble scattered around from the recent explosion at the side entrance. With nothing to go on, that might indicate where Linka might be now, Ma-Ti and Kwame begin walking around, scanning the perimeter of the building, trying to see if they can spot anything out of the ordinary, save for the partially destroyed wall, the aftermath of a long since passed threat. The pair were feeling discouraged, until Kwame spotted a man suspiciously surveying the scene of the crime.

He had doubled back several times, moving closer and closer to the police, as they proceeded with their investigation. As they watched him, he looked up and locked eyes with Kwami, before turning to quickly walk away. Kwame and Ma-Ti followed him quickly, as he turned a corner. They hurried around to keep up, but the moment they rounded the corner, Kwame felt a sudden pain on the back of his head and everything went black… Kwame slowly regained consciousness, feeling the hard concrete of the floor against his skin. Looking around, as his vision began to clear, he saw a dingy, dilapidated building, with a few tables strewn about, but little else. A man walked up to him, holding a gun and aiming it directly at his face.

"Who are you? And why were you following me?” The man ordered in an angry whisper, as he crouched beside Kwame.

"Where’s my friend? You better not have hurt him!” Kwame said, as he shifted back and forth on his side, feeling for the first time the ropes binding his wrists behind his back.

The man smiled at Kwame’s struggles and raised the butt of his gun, ready to bring it down on his head. But before Kwame felt the blow, the door to the other room swung open and a familiar voice called out.

"Don’t hurt him.” The man immediately relented and Kwame looked up to see Linka approaching, followed shortly by another armed man.

"Are you okay?” She asked, as she moved to untie his wrists.

"I will be, when you tell me what the Hell is going on."

"It’s alright, Kwame.” Kwame’s anger subsided when he saw Ma-Ti enter the room, looking no worse for wear, save for a few cuts and scrapes.

Once Kwame had stood, he looked around at the armed soldiers, shooting a glance at Ma-Ti to see if he was alright, getting a nod of reassurance in return. Kwame’s gaze finally settled on Linka.

"It’s been a while, Linka, care to explain what this was?"

"They were just being careful. We have a lot of enemies now.” Was her response.

The others seemed less willing to lower their guard, but she had immediately relaxed upon seeing who it was they had captured. Kwame looked like he struggled with what to say next, before letting out a long sigh.

"Link… we need your help.” Within the span of minutes, Kwame and Linka were in a heated argument, but even from the other room, Ma-Ti and Linka’s people could hear bits of their dispute through the closed doors.

"Of course I’m sure! Mr. Mevinos Muusk? Verminous Skumm?! He wasn’t even trying to be subtle! And it’s not like his Ratmen weren’t a dead give away!” She cried out passionately, at Kwame’s hesitation to accept her side of the story.

"Okay, so what then? Just attack his factories with guns? That’s not the solution, Linka!"

"And what’s your solution? A meeting? An appeal to a committee? We’re not Planeteers anymore, Kwame! We were just stupid kids roped into a losing battle! This, this is how we change the world. Otherwise, monsters like Skumm win! I’m sorry, Kwame… this is where I’m needed. These people count on me.”

“How did it end up like this, Link?“ Kwame asked, his voice breaking and Linka just looked at him, answering back in a solemn voice.

"He killed my brother, Kwame. He killed Mishka… cops said it was an overdose. But he didn’t use. It was Skumm. Now, he makes corrosive compounds and chemical weapons and because he supplies the right agencies and pays the right people, they won’t touch him. I- I’m sorry, Kwame. You’ve wasted a trip…” The argument had died down and when Kwame came out of the room, Ma-Ti looked at him hopefully, but he was met with a defeated look and shaking of his head.

"Let’s go, Ma-Ti…”

***
“-riot broke out earlier today at Texas State Penitentiary, resulting in the deaths of over thirty inmates and nearly a dozen guards, with even more wounded. According to eye witness reports, a helicopter helped facilitate the escape of one inmate now identified as ‘Hoggish Greedly’, the notorious criminal and terrorist. More on this as-”

A security guard hit mute on the news program, before standing to begin his rounds. Walking around the high tech facility, the guard paused at a large, reinforced lead door. Beside the door, was a computer monitor, displaying a constant live feed of the prisoner within. Held by reinforced restraints, around his waist, arms, legs and neck was a humanoid man. But the man within the room wasn’t human.

His skin appeared to be made of some sort of yellow stone fragments and his constantly open and unblinking eyes were a dull, lifeless green. The guard didn’t know why they enforced their regular rounds, this was a secret facility. No one ever came here. The man in that room was this place’s only prisoner to date, a place made just for him.

The monitor displaying his image had a number of other readouts, words and numbers constantly moving on the screen, but the one thing that never changed was the words at the top, the name: Duke Nukem. The pair of guards soon returned from their rounds to find another man, well dressed and with a head of receding, graying hair, waiting for them.

"Who’re you? I didn’t get notified about any visitors?” One of the guards said, sounding more annoyed than worried.

That is, until a stream of billowing smog erupted from behind them, causing them to keel over, coughing violently, before finally collapsing.

"Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” Greedly said smugly, looking down at his fist and the shimmering, yellow glow of his now restored Smog Ring.

Plunder looked unimpressed, as he stepped over the dead guards, proceeding down the long corridor. Greedly followed suit and eventually, the pair arrived at the reinforced iron door.

"Back up. If you value your lives.” Blight said in a snide voice, as she walked past the duo, moving straight for the computer monitor near the door.

She plugged a tablet into a control panel beside the monitor and began typing something the other two couldn’t quite see. In a moment, she unplugged her device and backed away, moving even further past them.

"Not far enough.” Plunder and Greedly followed her, to hide around a corner at the end of the hall, Greedly looking as if he was about to panic.

“What did you do, unlock the door?” Greedly asked in a frantic voice, but Blight shook her head.

"No, that would have taken too long to accomplish. I caused an overload."

"What?!” Greedly shouted his fears, but Plunder for his part simply stared intently at the door, waiting for their actions to pay off.

He didn’t have to wait long. In seconds, the first spark discharged from the panel. That first charge was followed by another, and another, with ever increasing frequency. The effects of the overload began to show within the room as well. In the cell, arcs of pure electricity blew the secured paneling from the wall. And several massive jolts hit Nukem.

At first, nothing changed. But after a few more strikes from the electrical discharges, his green eyes glowed to life. The trio of eco villains waited, watching the deadly spectacle they unleashed. Plunder looked as if he was about to speak, to admonish a failure by Blight. But suddenly, an explosion rang out, bending and blowing the door from its foundation and sending the heavy iron object flying past the villains and down the hallway. The trio ducked for cover, but Blight was the only one who seemed otherwise unfazed, smirking wickedly.

When the smoke began to settle, they saw him: six foot four, glowing green eyes, and a body composed entirely of some unknown mineral; Duke Nukem was free.

“Ah, it’s good to be outta that Hellhole!” The man said with a deep, gravelly voice, as he peeled the remaining portions of the twisted, metallic restraints off his arms, tossing them casually to the ground.

As he walked forward, Blight stepped out of hiding, followed by Plunder and lastly, Greedly.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked, returning Blight’s smirk with a twisted grin of his own.

"We have a proposition for you, Duke.” Blight responded, simply.

***
In a factory in Russia, the very spot where the previous assault had taken place, another explosion rang out, followed by a near constant stream of gunfire. And then the noise broke, giving way to near silence, the crackling of a few small fires burning away throughout the factory floor. The bodies of soldiers and mutant Ratmen alike lie dead on the ground. A swarm of footfalls soon rang out, as a sea of workers ran fearfully for their very lives, pouring from the exits and onto the streets. In the largest room, that operated as the main production floor, the rebels stood victorious, some setting last minute charges to completely destroy the deadly acids and chemicals, along with the facility.

The rebels seemed elated, celebrating their victory amongst themselves. The only one who looked unhappy, even puzzled, was Linka. Dimitri approached her and patted her on the shoulder cheerfully.

"Hey, Link, cheer up, we did it. One factory down."

"Yeah, but… doesn’t it feel too easy? Where’s Skumm? Where’s his reinforcements? It was never this easy.” She retorted and the question took a bit of the group’s steam away, as they pondered this: why HAD they taken this place without a fight?

The rebels were snapped from their contemplation by the sound of sirens in the distance.

"We have to go!” Linka said with urgency, as the group quickly fled the facility, dispersing in all directions, only a moment before a series of explosions, far larger than before, erupted, causing the factory itself to crumble and fall, putting an end to its activity at long last.

***
A nondescript black car with tinted windows drove slowly past a metal sign that read ‘Blight Laboratories’, before slowing to a stop. Within the facility, four figures stood around, speaking quite loudly, although their attitude toward one another seemed amicable in spite of their boisterous volume.

"This is amazing, I haven’t felt this alive in ages!” The newly freed Duke Nukem proclaimed, holding his large, three fingered hand into the air, a glowing, red ring over one of his fingers.

In spite of his large size, the ring seemed to have no problem fitting over his exceptionally thick digit. Blight led the group down a corridor, back to the room housing the large, irradiated meteor.

"So, what’s the hold up, we seem to be missing one, where-!” Duke began to impatiently question Blight on the missing member of their team.

Blight was well aware of the importance of having every piece in place. After all, the twisted copies of the five planeteers’ rings needed five wearers, just like the originals. Blight was about to chastise Duke for his impulsive attitude, but the burly mutant was cut off early, when he spotted another figure entering the lab. A lanky man, in tattered red and blue rags, a long bare tail moving back and forth behind him, as he walked: It was Verminous Skumm.

"So good of you to join us, Skumm. Did you bring it?” Blight asked with a sudden smile, and Skumm fished a ring with a dull, cracked blue gemstone affixed to it.

Blight gestured for Skumm to approach the meteor, which he did. As he passed the radiation shielding, he slipped the ring onto his finger, as the cracks in the gem began to mend, and the gem pulsed to life with waves of blue energy. As Skumm’s ring was restored, the other rings flared to life all at once, as if possessing a mind of their own. Joining Skumm’s blue beacon was Blight’s with purple, Duke’s red glow, Plunder’s surge of green energy and lastly, Greedly’s yellow aura. Gathering in a semi circle in the center of her lab, the Eco Villains held out their hands, as their proximity to one another only seemed to amplify their collective power.

"Radiation."

"Deforestation."

"Smog."

"Toxic."

"Hate.”

Uttered Duke, Plunder, Greedly, Skumm and Blight respectively, in quick succession.

Afterward, Blight’s face took on a more sinister, twisted visage, as she spoke. "This time… we will not fail…”

***
Ma-Ti surveyed a large room, filled with a number of games, including foosball and ping pong, being played by children from early, into their late teens. A youth center, at which Ma-Ti volunteered. In an adjoining room, many more kids were in the middle of a basketball game. When he spotted someone walk in, he quickly walked over, moving past the bustling of youth having fun.

"Link, what are you doing here? I thought-” Ma-Ti began, but Linka cut him short.

"I know. My reasoning hasn’t changed. But… we may have a problem…” The two moved to an office off the main rec area, as they continued their conversation.

"Look, I know I don’t deserve to ask for your help, but my sources in the FSB, former KGB agents supportive of our cause, informed me of Skumm’s movements. He’s come here, to the States. And his private flight was arranged by a shell company owned-"

"Blight Industries.” Ma-Ti finished her thought tentatively, in what was almost a whisper, before resuming his normal volume.

"Of course we’ll help, Link. If Skumm and Blight are working together, you can bet they’re up to no good.” Ma-Ti offered a small smile of reassurance and this seemed to dispel much of Linka’s trepidation.

Linka and Ma-Ti moved to the courtyard, an array of plants and rose bushes doing their part to brighten what otherwise appeared to be an area suffering from severe economic decline.

"Our rings haven’t worked in ten years. What makes you think-?"

"She’s up to something.” Linka began, but was cut off by Ma-Ti, who responded as if anticipating Linka’s trepidation.

"Where is everybody?"

"Kwame should be getting Gi as we speak.” The exchange continued and Linka thought hard, seeming to struggle with finding her next words, before she finally spoke.

"What about Wheeler?” It was Ma-Ti’s turn to pause in uncertainty, his response coming after a long few moments, breaking the silence between them.

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about…”

***
The harsh California sun beat down in the sky, only occasionally blocked by a spattering of clouds. A gentle breeze gave momentary relief to the oppressive heat. The water was calm, sparkling in a vibrant blue, reflecting the sky above. Gi emerged from the water, after a refreshing swim. She moved to grab her clothes, ready to head home for the day, when she spotted a familiar face; Kwame approached her with a soft smile, barely masking the worry visible on his face.

“Kwame, I didn’t expect to see you, is something the matter?” She asked, worry in her voice and the worst possible scenarios racing through her mind.

"We are not sure."

"We?” Kwame responded, attempting to lessen the concern he knew Gi was feeling, but she picked up something else he said, asking of his use of ‘we’. Kwame offered a smile, as he clarified.

"I’ve spoken with Ma-Ti. And he’s heard Gaia’s voice. For the first time in years. And we think it has to do with Blight.” Gi’s heart sank, she’d heard some of what Blight was doing on the other side of the world, but never imagined they’d end up here again.

"What is she planning?” Was all she could manage to ask and Kwame sighed heavily, before responding.

"We are not certain. But she has teamed up with Plunder...”

***
“You know, I’ve already told you so much about me, what about you, Ms. Farran? What’s your story?” Wheeler asked with a smirk, as he took another swig of whiskey. Maggie shot back a rueful smirk.

"You’re going to regret asking that."

"Try me.” Was Wheeler’s retort. He then finished off his glass, gesturing for Maggie to pour him another, which she did, despite looking less than happy about it.

"One of these days, I’m going to have to pull you away from this bar."

"You can try.” Wheeler responded with a small chuckle. A few moments of silence passed between them, before Maggie sighed.

"Okay, so, my story. Well… I’ve lived in Mississippi all my life. My mom moved here from Saudi Arabia to get away from a bad situation and attended school, where she and my dad met. She ended up in medical school and he took business. And just to be different, and to disappoint my parents, I became a bartender.” She joked, to add a moment of levity to what she felt was an otherwise unremarkable story, but immediately wished she hadn’t made such a poor attempt at humor.

Her embarrassment faded a bit however, when she saw Wheeler’s smirk grow into a full blown smile and that made her smile back. Their moment of levity broke, as Wheeler spotted someone enter the bar out of the corner of his eye and stop immediately before him. Turning his head to see who it was, he immediately recognized Linka. Turning away from her, his words were more aggressive than he’d intended, even as he spoke them.

"What are you doing here, Link?"

"I need to speak with you. Blight and Plunder are up to something and, now, Skumm has arrived in the States. That’s not a coincidence.” Wheeler turned slowly on his stool, to lock eyes with Linka, as he spoke.

"Maybe not, but it’s also not my problem."

"You’re a Planeteer.” Wheeler turned back away from her, as he took another drink. After another cursory glance in her direction, Wheeler gave his curt reply.

"That was a different time, Link. That’s just not me anymore."

"The world needs us, Wheeler. How far are you willing to let them go, before you step up?” This time, Wheeler turned more quickly, with a look of anger across his face.

"Is that why YOU’RE here? Because you’re a Planeteer?! Or is it to hunt Skumm for what he did?! Don’t pretend you’re here to get the band back together. Remember, I wasn’t the one who left first!” Linka looked stricken, as if she wanted to say something. But she just turned and walked out of the bar.

"I’m sorry for-"

"Hey, it’s okay, we all have history.” Maggie interrupted Wheeler’s apology with a few words of reassurance that seemed to break the tension in the air.

"Planeteers, eh? I heard about them. Kids from a few years ago, some people said they saved lives, that they could perform miracles.” Wheeler sighed as he looked into his once more mostly empty glass.

"The Planeteers are dead…”

***
As day gave way to night, Wheeler stumbled through the front door, before managing to balance himself. He was still a bit drunk, despite the fact that he’d left the bar earlier than usual that night. After all, he had work in the morning. With a heavy sigh, he hung up his jacket and closed the door. He lamented for a moment that he’d become more and more like his father, and he hated himself for that. Hearing the water running in the kitchen, Wheeler walked into the room to find a woman in her mid to late fifties drinking a glass of water.

"Hey, Ma. Ma?” Wheeler’s casual greeting of his mother turned to one of panic, as he watched the glass slip from her hand, shattering on the kitchen floor.

"Ma!” Wheeler ran to her, as she teetered and fell, hitting the ground before Wheeler could reach her.

He shook her gently, but urgently, to try and get her attention, before checking to make sure she was still breathing. She was alive, but unresponsive and Wheeler, trying to remain calm, dialed 911. In minutes, he was arriving with his mother to the hospital, the doctors moving her immediately to the ICU to be taken care of. One of the doctors stopped him and, with sympathetic, but rushed words, she gestured for his attention.

"Mr. Wheeler, you can’t come with. Please, go to the waiting room. We’ll do everything we can, I promise.” And at that, Wheeler moved to the waiting area, with a few others also awaiting news of their own.

Wheeler couldn’t help but pace back and forth, frantic, scared, angry. He wasn’t sure what to do, except to pull out his phone, gazing in conflict at his list of contacts. Hours passed before his mother was brought to a room. He was met by a nurse who made sure her vitals were stable and that she was getting fluids.

"How’s she doing?” Wheeler asked somberly, looking over at his still unresponsive mother. The nurse looked over to her, before looking back at Wheeler and attempted to assuage Wheeler’s anguish.

"She’s weak, but hanging in there. Don’t give up hope. Friend of yours?” The nurse suddenly asked and Wheeler turned to find Linka standing in the doorway.

"Yes… she is.” The nurse had left and, for a long moment, the only sound was the low, constant beeping of his mother’s heart monitor. Wheeler eventually broke the silence.

"Linka, I’m-"

"It’s okay… you were angry. And you weren’t wrong. I left. I was hurting. But so were you.” Linka cut him off, holding no animosity for their earlier fight, and the tension between them seemed to drain immediately from the room.

"Thanks for coming, Link…"

"When you called, I came as fast as I could. You shouldn’t be alone, right now.”

“Link, this… this was all my fault… After my dad died, I was all she had left. We moved here to get away from everything. And I spent my days in a bar, drowning myself. If I had fought back sooner, maybe-"

"No, Wheeler, this isn’t your doing. You… you did the best you could.” Linka offered her attempt at reassurance, but it seemed to do little to raise Wheeler’s spirits.

Wheeler looked up at the TV hanging from the hospital room ceiling, currently muted, to see Blight’s face, a clip of her press release playing once again on some news station and anger once again flashed across his face, as he turned to Linka.

"Her body had been poisoned slowly, for weeks now. They say reports have been coming in about contamination in the water, people getting sick all over the city…” Linka moved closer to Wheeler, as they looked eyes.

"This wasn’t your fault. You know who.” Her words washed over Wheeler’s mind like a breeze and in a moment of clarity, he spoke.

"Blight!” Wheeler and Linka walked out of the hospital, before she pulled him by the hand to stop and face her.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I am…” Came his response, but he stopped mid sentence, as he seemed to think intensely for a long moment, before continuing.

"But first, I need to grab something.”

***
Walking back into the home he shared with his mother, he walked somberly through the now empty house, followed closely by Linka. When he arrived at a bedroom, he entered, immediately moving to a closet and sliding the door open. He pulled a box from the floor of the closet and placed it on his bed. Pausing only for a moment, he took a deep breath, before opening the box. The first item he pulled out was a light blue T-Shirt with a stylized yellow representation of a globe.

Linka looked on as he put the shirt momentarily down on the bed, fishing back into the box through a number of miscellaneous trinkets. His face lit up and, when he pulled his hand back up and out, it was a gold ring with a red jewel at the center. He looked at Linka, with a renewed air of determination. In response, Linka fished her hand into her pocket. And when she raised it back up, she opened her hand to reveal a similar gold ring sitting in her palm, hers with a light blue gem at its core.

***
Ma-Ti had reached out with his mind, to connect with the others, to draw them together. Kwame and Gi arrived first, at a small forested area in California. Linka arrived a few moments later and, when she did, another figure appeared before them. She was a woman with light golden skin and wavy brown hair. Her eyes were a deep brown and she wore a flowing white robe with a purple cape hung at her shoulders, to fall down her back. It was Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, their mentor and the founder of their team, the Planeteers. “Our world is in peril."

"And whose fault is that?” The other Planeteers looked on, Wheeler speaking in a hostile tone toward Gaia, as he approached the group.

"It’s good of you to join us, Wheeler.” Gaia said, ignoring his words in favor of diplomacy.

"Save it. You have a lot of nerve."

"Wheeler, that’s enough.” Wheeler continued, spurring Kwame to try and curtail his bitter tirade. But Gaia put a hand out to Kwame, signifying that he didn’t need to jump in.

"It’s alright Kwame, let Wheeler say what he has to say.” Gaia’s calm tone and dismissive attitude only fueled Wheeler’s fire all the more.

"You recruit us into a losing battle, filled with high minded rhetoric. Lie and tell us that we can fight these monsters with a few inspiring words. Then you just disappear and take what little you did give us away. Just like that? Go to Hell."

"Then why did you come, Wheeler?” Gaia asked and he looked to his side, at Linka, who took his hand in hers reassuringly. With a deep breath to calm himself, Wheeler answered Gaia.

"I’m here because people need us. Not for you.” Gaia seemed to accept Wheeler’s words, in spite of his open hostility. With a forlorn look, Gaia addressed the Planeteers, all now present and accounted for.

"I am truly sorry for having left you. As conditions worsened, I had begun to doubt the benefit of my direct involvement. My powers had been bastardized and the planet seemed no better for our struggles. Now, I see that my leaving was a mistake.” Wheeler still looked angry, but his temperament had softened, if only slightly.

“You might have come back a little too late.” Wheeler shot at Gaia who only closed her eyes in resignation, before again looking over the Planeteers.

"You may be right, Wheeler. Planeteers, I’ve hoped this day would never come. But there are forces beyond our control, and the fate of the world is now in your hands.” The Planeteers looked at one another, before looking at their fingers, their rings glowing with renewed life.

With a sheer look of determination, Kwame declared. "Well, let our powers combine!”

As they broke from the meeting, Wheeler was still looking down at his ring with mixed feelings, as it blazed anew with crimson energy. Linka approached him, offering a sympathetic gaze.

"How are you handling all this?” She put a hand on his arm, her own ring occasionally flashing with wisps of cyan energy.

"I’m okay, I guess. Telling off Gaia was actually pretty cathartic.” He said with a smirk, masking his conflicted emotions.

Linka leaned and kissed Wheeler on the lips. Wheeler was taken aback by the kiss and Linka seemed to sense it and pulled back.

"I’m sorry… was that… okay?” Without responding in words, to Linka’s trepidation, Wheeler placed a hand against her cheek and moved to resume their kiss, reigniting the moment of passion shared between them.

As they kissed, the auras of their rings seemed to pulse with the beating of their hearts. From the treeline, Ma-Ti smiled at them, before turning to join the other Planeteers.

Chapter Text

“Earth!"

"Fire!"

"Wind!"

"Water!"

"Heart!” The Planeteers declared in quick succession, their rings emitting colors signifying their respective elements, as they swirled together in a brilliant light.

When the light withdrew, a man stood before them, with blue skin and a red uniform bearing the very same planet insignia present on their shirts. With a stoic expression, the man spoke.

"By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"

"I wish we had time to catch up, but a lot’s happening right now-"

"I know, Kwame, let me take care of that.” He interrupted Kwame’s explanation with a reassuring smile, before flying up into the atmosphere and then back down, at blinding speeds.

A streak of blue shot across the Mississippi river, dragging with it, the toxic runoff caused by the oil spill. When the blue figure reached the Gulf of Mexico, the skies over the Atlantic darkened and the winds picked up. The waves crashed and began to turn in a massive whirlpool, sucking up all the oil that had spilled into the ocean. When it was gathered, it shot up in a vortex well above the water, igniting in a brilliant display that incinerated the fuel in an instant. The people still on the drilling platform held on for dear life, as the waves rocked them, watching the impossible display unfolding before their very eyes.

The men shouted in panic as the platform seemed to buckle and tip. But then, it rose into the air, flying across the sky as they prayed for their lives. But within moments, the entire platform was set on land, in a large clearing. The men hobbled off the rig and backed up to look at it, in curiosity and awe. They saw that the drill that had been boring into the Earth was bent and twisted beyond repair. Their attention was drawn from the drilling platform however, by the presence of a flying blue humanoid, Captain Planet, slowly lowering to the ground.

"Who’re you?"

"Wait, I know you, you’re… I thought you were a myth!” The men uttered in amazement as, one by one, they remembered the stories of the now almost mythical Captain Planet.

"Oh, I’m very real. And I suggest you find work with more responsible employers, Plunder and Blight won’t be in business much longer.” One of the men walked up to Planet as he turned to leave.

"Wait!” Derrick shouted after him and he turned back to look the man in the eye. “Thank you… if you didn’t stop this… I don’t know if me or my men would be alive tomorrow. We just needed the work, you know?” Planet looked at him, before moving to one of the oil rig’s sides and, using a finger that glowed red hot, burned something into the side.

"I have a friend who could use more people willing to stand up, give him a call.” At that, Captain Planet flew back toward the spill.

Derrick approached the metal and saw a number etched into the side, accompanied by a name: Kwame Olowe. And Derrick smiled hopefully. Captain Planet neared the former drilling site and dove down, into the water’s depths and, within seconds, arrived at a deep crevice, still pouring forth oil. With a wave of his hand, the water seems to change in density, forcing the oil back down and into the fissure. Before Planet, with another wave of his hand, moves the fractured crust of the Earth back together, mending and sealing the leak. Police and pedestrian ship alike moved to investigate the bizarre happenings, the sudden weather and the beaching of an entire oil rig, only to find that all traces of the spill seemed to have vanished.

Then, with a mighty splash, Captain Planet shot from the water’s depths, into the sky. With a wave down at the arriving ships, as well as those he’d left on land, the blue skinned hero flew into the distance.

***
With the return of Captain Planet, a sense of looming despair seemed to lift from the public consciousness, and hope was rekindled in people’s hearts, for the first time in a long while. Neither Plunder and Blight, nor any other criminal had been in the news, seemingly having retreated to lick their collective wounds. And more and more people became willing to speak out against their corruption. But the calm was not to last. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon: A storm was coming. For several weeks now, Derrick Rodriguez had been at his new job. He’d moved his family to Washington DC, where he worked in an office spearheaded by Mr. Kwame Olowe.

"I’ve told you before, those safety precautions were non-existent on Blight’s oil platform. And any of my men will tell you the same thing. Well, then who CAN help me?” He said angrily to the less than helpful man at one of many agencies he attempted to spur into action against Blight.

He’d gladly offered his testimony against his former boss, yet still found many who were unwilling to take action. That was fine, Derrick would keep pushing, they were making progress, slowly but surely. Kwame was gaining a reputation as an activist and his office had uncovered evidence of bribery and extortion. And Derrick’s testimony had only brought this to light even faster, finding evidence that money was spent on safety procedures that never reached Derrick or his fellow workers. Even with reluctance by other environmental groups, they had filed a number of legal injunctions against Blight and others, forcing records that didn’t line up with reality, missing money, and a number of other crimes, Derrick was proud of the work they were doing.

Still waiting to get through to another person, Derrick looked up at the doorway, to see a figure standing before them, a wicked smile across his face.

"Can I help you?”

***
Kwame arrived at the scene of his office ablaze, fire and rescue teams already on the scene.

"We’re sorry, sir, you can’t go any further.” A police officer said, putting a hand out to halt Kwame’s sprint toward the wreckage.

"That’s my office, what about my employees?!” Kwame implored and the officer looked as if he was simply going to tell Kwame to leave once again. However, one of the firefighters walked up, having overheard the conversation. “You’re the owner of this building?"

"Yes, I am. Please, what of the others who work here?” The firefighter shook his head regretfully and Kwame’s heart sank.

"I’m sorry, so far, we’ve only found one survivor.” He informed Kwame, before looking over at the still unmoving police officer.

"Let him through.” The firefighter said and only then did the cop relent and allow Kwame to pass, ducking under the line of police tape.

He was brought to an ambulance, where he saw a man in a stretcher being moved into the vehicle. The injured man had burns along the left side of his face and had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. But Kwame still recognized him: It was Derrick Rodriguez. They’d met after a choice encounter with Captain Planet. And his contributions had been invaluable. He’d even gotten to know Derrick’s family, he was heartbroken to see him so badly hurt now.

"What happened to you?” Derrick noticed Kwame standing above him and with ragged, labored breaths, he tried to speak. One of the paramedics tried to tell him not to strain himself, but he had been insistent that he needed to talk to Kwame.

"It wa- was… a man. Yellow… yellow skin and… red hair…” Was all he managed, before the paramedics raised him into the ambulance. The look of horror and sadness on Kwame’s face gave way to anger.

"Nukem…!”

***
Wheeler sat at the bar, when he looked up to see Kwame walking in.

"Hey man, how’s your mother?"

"She’s… hanging in there. What’re you doing here, you have a family.” Wheeler responded, his expression just as troubled as Kwame’s.

"I also have a responsibility.” This prompted Wheeler to look down at his ring, sitting on the hand still grasping a glass of whiskey.

"Yeah, I know these work again, but what exactly has Gaia ever done for us?"

"I don’t mean Gaia, or our rings, I have a duty to find Nukem, and to make him answer for his crime!” Kwame said with a passion. “You must be Kwame, Wheeler’s told me a little about you. I’m really sorry to hear what happened in DC…” Maggie said, having overheard their fairly loud conversation as she tended to the few other customers in the bar.

"Thank you, I didn’t mean to disrupt.” Kwame apologized, but Maggie blew it off playfully.

"Please, you’re more polite than half the regulars in here.” Wheeler shot her a faux offended glance and she chuckled.

"Oh, not you. You’re the picture of courtesy.” Wheeler was the one to smile this time and this exchange caused Kwame to be put somewhat at ease.

"I’m Maggie. Maggie Farran.” She extended her hand, as she gave her name and he shook it, happy to have a proper introduction. Their moment of levity however was soon shattered by a scene appearing on the TV. It was about a series of fires and explosions, and reports of the yellow skinned figure and recent escaped convict known as Duke Nukem.

"Looks like we have a job to do.” Wheeler piped up and Kwame looked at him questioningly.

"You don’t have to do this.” Kwame said, but Wheeler quickly interjected.

"Yeah, I do. What’re friends for?” But before they could move to leave, Linka barged through the door. “Hey, Link, you saw it too?” Wheeler asked, as Linka got to the bar.

"I did, we-” She stopped mid sentence, looking at the news coverage of Nukem’s attack in downtown Mississippi.

"да иди ты!” (“Da-Idi-Ty!”) Linka exclaimed in Russian, leaving Wheeler looking perplexed.

"What was that?"

"You’re kidding me…” Kwame answered Wheeler’s question without missing a beat, and without his eyes leaving the TV screen.

"We have to do something.” Wheeler declared, as Linka grabbed the remote from the bar. “We do…” Linka began, before flipping a few times to another news station, this one reporting on non local stories.

"But that wasn’t what I came here for.” She added.

The screen now showed an aerial view of a forested region of California, the trees seeming to wither and die from an unknown cause. The story read ‘Unknown contaminant causes foliage to die, animals to go berserk’. Additional information in the news scroll at the bottom of the screen indicated that a number of animals had begun attacking people at random. “What do we do now, we can’t be everywhere at once?” Wheeler asked and Linka piped up.

"No, we should go in two groups. I’ll find Gi and Ma-Ti, you two stay here. Take down Nukem.” Kwame just nodded, it was a sound plan.

"Good luck.” Wheeler added as a few last words of reassurance, before Linka was off.

Kwame had kept their Geo-Cruiser in a warehouse after they’d disbanded, now they’d need their trusted ship. Ma-Ti and Gi were both already in California, she’d find them and they’d stop whatever was harming the wildlife, Linka thought to herself, as she flew westbound in their old ship.

***
The Geo-Cruiser sat down just outside the affected forest area in California. But before Linka, Ma-Ti and Gi had exited the vehicle, their computer had picked up a new news story that had just hit the air.

"-riots have broken out across downtown LA. Police are overwhelmed and have even seemed to make the situation worse. More on this-” Ma-Ti hit mute, a frustrated sigh in his voice.

"They’re trying to break us apart, divide us.” Gi put a hand on his shoulder, offering a smile of reassurance. “You and Linka head to the city. I’ll stay here and take care of whatever this is."

"Gi-” Ma-Ti tried to object to a further division, but she just smiled.

"Go. I’ve got this.” Gi’s optimism seemed to win over Linka and Ma-Ti, who reluctantly watched as Gi exited the craft.

She looked on as the pair flew off, before steeling herself and heading into the forest. Linka and Ma-Ti also readied themselves, as they flew toward what lay ahead… Once Ma-Ti and Linka set down in the city, they looked onto a scene that was worse than they could have imagined. Buildings in disarray, cars flipped, people laying dead in the streets. As the two walked further into the war torn streets, they began to hear the sounds of other people.

Angry sounds, shouts and obscenities. Ma-Ti ran headlong toward the commotion and Linka quickly followed suit. A molotov flew in an arc, erupting in a sea of flames beside Ma-Ti’s feet, as they arrived at the scene of a terrible riot. Linka immediately raised her ring and a gust of wind blew away a pair of rioters who had charged them with makeshift weapons, knocking the duo off their feet. Ma-Ti looked pained, but his wasn’t a physical pain.

No, he could feel something wasn’t right. Raising his ring, as it pulsed with a warm, pinkish light, Ma-Ti could sense the turmoil being fueled by the strongest hatred he’d ever felt. Reaching out with his power, he attempted to overpower the hate by tapping into people’s empathy, their heart. Very gradually, people began to drop their weapons and wonder why they were so angry. Cutting through the fog of hostility, people’s minds began to clear.

The fighting and turmoil stopped, leaving a very confused group of people. But Ma-Ti and Linka had no time to ask what had happened here, when a scream of abject terror rang out through the streets. Ma-Ti and Linka came to a dog, growling and baring its teeth at a young girl, as she lay cowering against the wall of a nearby building. Linka again held out her hand, her energy causing a small cyclone to form and blow the animal away. The dog got back to its feet, attention now turned to the Planeteers.

Ma-Ti held his ring up, closing his eyes as his power flowed from his ring in waves, soon pacifying the dog. Linka flinched briefly, as the dog ran up to them, but Ma-Ti just patted the now friendly dog on the head.

***
Gi walked through the forested area, but the further she went, the fewer trees there were. More than that, she began to see signs of trees not just cut down, but completely decaying, rotting in the ground. Eventually, she came to a clearing, but the ground was black and if Gi didn’t know that this area was once teeming with plants and animals, she’d have sworn that this place could have never supported life. The ground was black and trees lay tipping over, rotting from the inside out and, at the epicenter, stood a well dressed man, hair pulled back into a ponytail, a wicked smirk plastered on his lips.

"Plunder!” Gi shouted, immediately recognizing the man, whose smirk blew into a full blown smile and he let out a bone chilling laugh.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha…!” “Ah, if it isn’t Gi. Ever the animal lover. Shame you won’t find any around here.” He taunted her, taking great satisfaction in her look of anger.

"Enough, Plunder, how did you do this? And why?!"

"Because, Planeteer, I wanted to hurt you, the way you hurt me, the way you always just had to put your nose where it didn’t belong. Now I’m doing the same, taking this beautiful thing you love so much… and rotting it away. As for how, well…” He held up his hand, making a fist aimed at Gi, the ring on his finger glowing with a deep, green energy.

"No, it can’t be…”

***
“What the Hell’s going on here, Ma-Ti…” Linka said, her voice trailing off as she observed the destruction all around them.

Ma-Ti and Linka had managed to find a few police who took the girl. Ma-Ti had wanted to make sure she was okay, but he’d sensed something that Linka herself could not. And it compelled him to push on into the city. They were walking for what felt like ten minutes when Linka paused: she felt it too now, pure unadulterated hate… Ma-Ti and Linka ran now, as they neared the coast. The source of all this was around here somewhere, he just knew it. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw it, or rather HIM.

"Skumm!” Linka shouted at the sight of the figure who stepped out before them.

The humanoid mutant rat, known as Verminous Skumm, glared at the two Planeteers menacingly, tail whipping behind him. Just as Linka saw Skumm and stepped forward to confront the vile creature, Ma-Ti nearly doubled over in anguish, as a raw wave of hatred overtook them.

"How are you… doing this…?” Ma-Ti managed to choke out, as he tried to shake off the overwhelming surge of negative energy.

"Oh, that’s not me. That’s, well, let’s call her a friend.” Skumm declared, looking pleased at Ma-Ti’s discomfort.

"H-how?” Ma-Ti continued and, with a widening smirk from Skumm, he held up his hand, the back facing Linka and Ma-Ti, his ring blazing to life in a continuous pulse of blue energy. Linka looked on in disbelief.

"That’s impossible!”

***
Wheeler and Kwame peeked around a corner, as a police car drove past, patrolling the makeshift perimeter they had set up to try and contain the threat. After the car had passed, they set into a run, moving down the mostly deserted streets. It didn’t take long before they were halted at gunpoint. But the men weren’t police or military. No, they seemed to be some form of private militia. Kwame and Wheeler raised their hands into the air and Kwame looked as if he was about to try and speak with the men, until one of them moved to shoot. Wheeler immediately thrust out his fist.

"Fire!” A blazing inferno sprang forth, engulfing the men, as they screamed out, moving about frantically, before collapsing motionless, bodies still blazing. Kwame looked on at Wheeler in horror, Wheeler’s expression showing a steadfast and determined expression, as he looked to the side at Kwame.

"It was either them or us.” Kwame and Wheeler began moving once more, Kwame still shaken by Wheeler’s actions.

But in the back of his mind, he knew Wheeler did the right thing. They didn’t make it more than another block, before someone else stopped them. This time they recognized the figure standing before them. Yellow, rock-like skin and a bright red mohawk: It was Duke Nukem. Duke’s lower body seemed to be clad in some sort of black heat resistant material, almost looking like rubber.

"You, you attacked my office, killed those people!"

"Oh, you have no idea!” Nukem declared in a gravelly voice, smirking proudly.

Kwame’s face flashed with a look of fury, but his attention turned to a loud thrumming in the distance, rapidly growing closer. Then they saw it: a pair of military helicopters coming into view, as they took up positions above Nukem. Wheeler looked up into the cockpit of one of the choppers and saw another familiar face.

"Greedly!"

"Ah, so you’ve noticed! Say goodbye, Planeteers!” Nukem said in response to Wheeler and a look of realization at their predicament came across both Planeteers’ faces at once, as they looked at each other.

"Wheeler, run!” Kwame held out a fist and his ring glowed green, as dust and debris shot up from the Earth under their feet, creating a smokescreen.

Nukem put his hand up against the dust cloud and the choppers swerved slightly to avoid the geyser of debris shooting at them. In the moment of distraction provided, Wheeler and Kwame had run in opposite directions, but the choppers followed in pursuit, one chopper selecting to follow each Planeteer through the city streets. Wheeler ran as fast as he could, a sudden spray of gunfire from the overhead chopper narrowly missing Wheeler’s feet and causing him to fall onto the hard pavement below. Standing to see the chopper hovering before him, Greedly in the cockpit, the mounted guns whirred to life, but Wheeler thrust his hand into the sky, sending a torrent of flame toward the vehicle. The blazing inferno hit the chopper, causing Greedly inside to panic, flying the still burning fuselage up and away from Wheeler.

Just a few short moments later, Wheeler heard Greedly’s chopper crash to the ground one street over. Kwame had ducked into an alley, concealed beside a dumpster. But the chopper had not left, pinning him down. With a sigh, to steel himself, Kwame emerged from cover, just as the chopper began to fire its guns. Kwame aimed his ring at the ground, as the earth under his feet cracked and twisted, shooting up in front of him, to form a makeshift shield, the gunfire deflecting off the barrier.

But the helicopter responded to this by arming and firing a missile at the ground. The missile fire caused the ground under Kwame’s feet to give way and he fell into the sewer below, amidst an array of falling debris. When the dust settled, Nukem walked up to gaze into the hole, finding Kwame nowhere to be seen. Nukem waved the chopper off, as it pulled back and away. And without a moment’s hesitation, the mutant leapt into the hole, landing on his feet with a thud. Stepping into the sewer system, Nukem began his hunt for Kwame. Kwame, staggered from his injuries, did his best to keep moving, knowing that Nukem would be right on his trail…

***
Gi stood shocked by Plunder’s display, as he took a step toward her.

"What? You’re surprised by this old thing? Oh, it’s just something I had fixed. No, not fixed. Improved. Let me show you.” With a wave of his hand, the decaying remnants of trees and plant life rose up around Plunder, his green ring ebbing the same continuous waves of energy around him.

Outstretching both hands, as if to showcase his display of power, the decaying roots and branches shot outward toward Gi, attempting to impact the Planeteer. Holding up her hand in defense, her ring was willed to life in a pulse of blue energy. It gathered the moisture present in the very air around them and let forth a pulse of water strong enough to blow the attacking plant matter to pieces.

“As to be expected, you Planeteers never did know when to give up. But things are different now. Back, and better than before.” It was true, Gi thought to herself.

She didn’t know how they had restored their Rings of Destruction, but they seemed stronger now. Gi was snapped from her train of thought, as the dead matter snaked toward her from all around, attempting to ensnare her in its grasp. Gi aimed her ring and quickly turned, focusing a solid sphere of water at a section of the dead forest, blowing a clearing in the trees. Gi then did the only thing she could think of at the moment: she ran.

***
Linka stared down the rodent-like man, the man who took her family from her, and her eyes burned with hatred. She didn’t know how he’d gotten that ring back, but she was going to make sure he didn’t live long enough to use it. This train of thought lasted only another moment. Skumm snarled, before raising his hand and firing the odd, dull blue waves of energy at her. With a quick reflex, Linka held up her own hand and her ring glowed with a light blue aura and a stream of wind formed in front of her, dispelling the odd power.

Ma-Ti also began to feel the effect of Skumm’s terrible power infecting his body. But his ring seemed to offer some protection against the poisonous energy. His first instinct was to aid Linka, but as he took a step forward and without her having to turn to see him, not wanting to break eye contact with the monster before them, she spoke to him.

"No, keep moving. You know who’s behind this, stop her. I can handle Skumm!” Ma-Ti looked unsure, but knew she was right.

Focusing on the mission at hand, Ma-Ti put on a face of resolve, before running past Linka and Skumm, further into the city. Skumm’s energy lingered in the air and Linka felt suddenly unwell, sick. She stumbled a bit, vision blurring, before she caught herself.

"Is something the matter, Planeteer? You don’t look well. Just proximity to my toxic power has you ready to double over. Toxic!"

"Wind!” Skumm had declared, victoriously, as his ring afflicted Linka with a passing effect that made her feel as if she’d been poisoned.

But as he tried to finish her off, Linka’s own power of wind clashed against his burst of harmful and deadly energy.

***
Ma-Ti ran closer and closer toward the feeling of pure hate, until he reached the shoreline, roads and sidewalks giving way to a sandy stretch of beach. Ma-Ti had been here before, it was one of his favorite places to come and clear his mind. Only now, it was clouded by one of the most intense and burning sources of malice he’d ever felt. Walking past the public area where, if this were a normal day, civilians might gather to relax in the sand or go swimming, Ma-Ti came to a more secluded section of the beach. Hidden by a small wooded area of trees was a small cliffside overlooking the water below.

But Ma-Ti didn’t just see his favorite spot, he saw a woman standing before him, staring at him. As if she expected his arrival. Left eye concealed by a patch of snow white hair: it was Dr. blight. Ma-Ti looked down at her hand, dismayed to find the source of this overwhelming emotion.

The ring on her hand pulsed with powerful waves of hate, fueled by her own. “Hello, ma-Ti. So nice of you to join me. I had a feeling you’d be the one to find me first…"

"Blight! What you’re doing- I won’t let you hurt any more people…” The duo exchanged, Ma-Ti taking several steps toward Blight, before Blight smirked and chuckled.

"Oh, Ma-Ti, dear boy, what makes you think YOU can stop me?” Holding out her hand, palm reaching toward the Planeteer still some ways away, as the intensity of her ring increased.

From the nearby brush, a number of animals emerged- dogs, bears, even deer- eyes glowing with the pure hate energy, snarling at the Planeteer viciously. Ma-Ti held his ring up, pulling his fist to himself, as he closed his eyes in concentration. His ring suddenly began to pulse with a warm, pink energy that suffused the entire area. Slowly, the animals seemed to return to normal, the glow of hatred fading from their eyes. Losing the focus of the ring’s control, the animals, even the predators, began to wander off.

Blight tried to focus her power, but Ma-Ti’s ring blazed as if in response, both energies canceling each other out.

"Looks like neither of our rings has an edge.” Ma-Ti said, smiling at the fact that he’d released these animals from Blight’s wicked snare.

But the woman, looking frustrated for a moment, forced a smile back at him, before offering her retort.

"So be it… I’ll just have to kill you more slowly…”

***
As Linka and Skumm’s rings clashed, Linka began to feel more and more sick. His ring was taking its toll. But memories of what Skumm had done flashed in her mind. And her ring surged with energy, causing the wind around them to pick up in a mighty whirlwind. In a single moment, Skumm was lifted off his feet and slammed into a nearby car.

Linka dropped to her knees, as her vision slowly returned. Sweating from the unknown toxins Skumm was trying to inflict on her, Linka forced herself to her feet. But when she looked over to where she was sure Skumm had landed, he was gone. Moving to the location, all she saw was an open hole, the heavy manhole cover having been lifted off and Skumm having escaped into the sewers.

"Just like the rat he is…” Linka thought to herself, as her strength slowly returned.

***
Wheeler walked through alleys, until he arrived a few streets over, to see a downed helicopter crashed into the pavement. The fuselage had caught fire, the roaring inferno threatening to cause an explosion. Acting quickly, Wheeler held out his ring, as a pulse of red energy spread out, commanding the fire to calm until it was no more. Wheeler exhaled a sigh of relief, but his reprieve was short lived. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Hoggish Greedly slowly clambering to his feet, body covered in cuts and scrapes, and blood pouring from a wound on his head.

“Stay down, Greedly, you’re in no condition to fight.” Greedly only turned in sudden surprise at Wheeler’s presence, causing Wheeler to raise his right fist in response, his ring on standby.

"Go… to hell… planet punk!” The wounded man spat out between ragged gasps for breath. Then, with a sudden burst of movement, the man thrust his own hand out at Wheeler.

"Smog!"

"What the-?!” Wheeler exclaimed at the sudden realization of Greedly’s own ring which, at his words, poured forth a thick black cloud of noxious emissions that completely engulfed the Planeteer.

Wheeler coughed violently, his lungs burning, as he tried desperately not to breathe, to find a way out of the cloud. He felt dizzy, sick. Just as he felt like he wouldn’t make it, leaning up against the side of a building for support, the polluted smog began to clear. He was still winded, fatigued, his vision a dull gray. Panting as if he’d just run a marathon or two, Wheeler’s vision began to come back to him, but Greedly was long gone.

***
In the sewers, Kwame limped forward, moving faster than his still injured body wanted to allow. But he heard it, heavy footfalls echoing through the tunnels, ever in pursuit. Eventually, Kwame came to a set of stairs leading upward, back to the surface and, with a relieved sigh, began his climb upward. But as he took one last glance down the corridor from which he came, he saw a figure standing in the darkness, body slowly illuminating in an eerie yellow glow that began to brighten the dark tunnel. With renewed panic, Kwame began to hurriedly climb the stairs, as the figure began to move closer.

Kwame reached the top of the stairs and began pushing at the heavy metal cover overhead. Nukem’s face became visible and snarled up at the Planeteer, whose heart raced. With a mighty adrenalin fueled shove, the manhole cover came free, allowing Kwame to push it to the side. He cleared the hole, just as Nukem came to stop beneath the hole, firing a blast of radiation from his hand, narrowly missing Kwame. Kwame rolled onto the pavement above, just as the blast fired from the asphalt mere feet from his body, leaving a new hole beside the one he’d climbed from.

Kwame heard a gravelly voice give out a loud and furious roar from below. Kwame staggered to his feet, moving into a run, as fast as his body would allow him, as the angry roar soon became accompanied by a violent shaking. From below him, Nukem held out his ring, as his body cracked with a raw, ferocious power. Before that power surged forth, filling the tunnel with a bright yellow flash and causing the ground under Kwame’s feet to begin to crack and break apart. Kwame dove and was thrown several feet by a final eruption of power, sending dirt and debris into the sky in a mighty plume.

***
Gi ran as fast as she could, vines and roots of once living matter snarling forth around her, the decaying forest threatening to choke the life from her body. Walking calmly behind, Plunder stepped with purpose, and an air of arrogance surrounding him. He relished toying with the Planeteer, using his new and improved power. The plant matter rose up high enough to choke out the sun itself, fueled by the unnatural ring around Plunder’s greedy finger. All they needed to do was kill the Planeteers and the world would fall in line, Plunder thought to himself with a malicious grin.

Gi was breathing hard now, in spite of being in excellent shape, she could only go for so long and she seemed no closer to outrunning the dead matter surrounding her. She saw a clearing, a small ray of light shining through a break in the trees ahead, but as she ran with renewed energy, a tendril grabbed her foot and immediately halted her momentum. She tripped and fell, but never hit the ground. Instead, she fell into yet more dark and decaying branches and vines, that wrapped tightly around her limbs, twisting her around to face her pursuer, eye to eye. She saw a glint of pride in Punder’s eye as he looked over the bound Planeteer before him. She was tired, but began to struggle against her binds nonetheless, causing Plunder to chuckle.

"Oh Gi, just give it up. It’s over."

"What do you want, Plunder, why…?” Gi demanded, but trailed off, unsure of exactly what to ask next.

Plunder for his part raised his hand, ring glowing an eerie dull green, before he flipped his hand over to emphasize his words, as he responded.

"I want what I’ve always wanted. Power, real power. And the money to keep it. I knew even after all this time, that if we pushed too hard, you brats would crawl out of your hole to get in our way. But now, now we have the power to end you. For good…” Plunder’s words made Gi’s eyes widen, as the tendrils began to constrict, as Plunder squeezed his hand into a fist.

Gi twisted limbs in vain and even attempted to kick one of the sections of tree with one of her feet, before that too became impossible. But even for dead matter, the material felt as hard as rock. Just then, Gi’s ring burst forth with a pulse of blue energy that once again gathered moisture in its wake. But this time, the water formed around Plunder’s face, causing him to let out a horrified scream and drop to his knees. Plunder swiped frantically at his water coated head, the glow of his ring dying down as he lost focus.

Suddenly, as Gi twisted her limbs, she felt the tree and plant matter shifting with the consistency of mush and, after a few moments, broke free and landed on her feet. She looked over at Plunder and considered killing him. But she also felt something else, her friends needed her. She took off, pushing through the dead and decaying matter, as she ran from the dead forest. Once Gi was far enough away, the water fell away, allowing Plunder to take in a large breath of much needed air, before he began to violently cough up water.

He’d make her pay for that, he thought to himself, as he stood and angrily wiped traces of moisture from his face with his hand. One more pulse of his ring and all the once animated trees fell to nearly liquid mulch on the ground and Plunder walked toward the city. His goal, like that of his associates, was merely for personal gain. But that didn’t mean Plunder couldn’t take a modicum of pleasure in the Planeteers’ suffering, Plunder thought to himself with a malicious sneer.

***
Ma-Ti tensed up and tried to ready himself, as Blight moved swiftly toward him. She neared him and threw a punch, which hit harder than Ma-Ti had thought a normal person capable. Staggering back, Ma-Ti put up his hands in an attempted showing of self defense. But even Ma-Ti knew he wasn’t much of a fighter. He threw a punch as best he could, but Blight moved her upper body back, dodging his strike, before grabbing the young man’s arm in her own grip, like a vice.

Ma-Ti tried to pry his arm free, but Blight only sneered at him, before turning with him still in hand and tossing him behind her. Ma-Ti slowly pushed himself to his knees, trying to get back on his feet, but by the time he did, Blight took hold of his shirt. He held his ring to his head, trying to contact anyone for help, but Blight’s wicked smile only widened as her ring glowed a deep, vile red to counteract his own. One last look into the young Planeteer’s eyes and Blight tossed him over the side of the cliff. Linka arrived through the brush to the secluded area of the beach, just in time to see Ma-Ti disappear over the edge.

"Ma-Ti, NOOOO!!!”

Chapter Text

Wheeler walked through the war torn streets, looking for any signs of Kwame, when he heard a familiar sound, and his heart dropped. Before it could properly register in his mind, a helicopter came into view, hovering directly before Wheeler. Wheeler turned and took off down the street as fast as he could, the loud thumping of the helicopter’s rotors immediately behind him. He was managing to stay ahead of the pursuing chopper, but his heart was beating rapidly in his chest. The realization that he couldn’t keep this up crossed his mind, before he suddenly registered another sound.

The helicopter behind him made a mechanical sound, before Wheeler heard a whooshing and a massive explosion mere feet from him rang out. The shockwave from the blast threw him against the nearby wall, but the blast was far enough away that he managed to stay on his feet. Wheeler looked up in time to see the building above him begin to crumble and rain down on him. Wheeler took back into a sprint, just as a large chunk of concrete landed where he had been. He heard the chopper ready and fire another off its missiles, with Wheeler again just managing to avoid being hit by too much of the resultant shockwave, only stumbling a bit, but never losing his momentum.

Wheeler was now running as much to avoid the constant crumbling of the damaged buildings, as he was from the helicopter still in pursuit. Wheeler stopped running when he came to a building, it was the bar he often frequented, the place where Maggie worked. But that’s not why he stopped, no, he heard frightened voices coming from within. Wheeler turned, to see the helicopter hovering in front of him as, with another mechanical whirr, it armed another missile. Wheeler began to move again, but was knocked backwards this time, as the missile zoomed past him, impacting the bar and causing it to begin collapsing in on itself.

Wheeler struggled to his feet, as the man in the chopper prepared to fire once more at the vulnerable Planeteer. Wheeler expected this to be his last moment, when a familiar sight ran up, helping him to his feet. Kwame stood beside him now, staring down the helicopter.

"Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Wheeler said with relief in his voice.

"Go, save them, I’ve got this.” Wheeler wasted no time in running into the bar to save those trapped inside.

Many civilians who hadn’t managed to clear the area during the villains’ initial attack had taken refuge anywhere they could manage. Wheeler began guiding groups of frightened people, including families, out of the now unstable building. There was still danger outside, but this place was a stone’s throw from collapsing. He trusted Kwame to take care of things on his end. He stayed, until he was sure there was no one left inside, before heading for the exit himself.

As he moved toward the door, a piece of debris fell from the ceiling, then another. In a fraction of a second, the building finally gave way to the damage and began to fall into itself. Wheeler felt a powerful jolt of pain rock his body, as something struck him on the head. His vision blurred and he collapsed to his knees, he knew he was done for. Just as he thought he’d be buried alive under the rubble, he felt someone grab him under his arm and pull, before his world went dark. When Wheeler opened his eyes, he was laying on the street outside, Maggie looking worriedly down at him.

"What happened?” Wheeler said groggily, his head pounding.

"You got yourself knocked silly, you’re lucky I was there.” She responded, a look of relief in her eyes.

"I guess I am, thanks.” Wheeler tried to slowly get up, aided by Maggie, when he saw Kwame walking up to him.

And it was Wheeler’s turn to look relieved, though by the look on Kwame’s face, it was mutual. Wheeler looked over at the chopper, which had been ensnared and pinned in place by a pillar of dirt and rock, and smiled at the trapped pilot. His smile dropped however, as the pilot flipped a switch and the missile whirred to life. Only, it was bound in place just as the chopper was.

"No, don’t!” Kwame put up his ring and a massive sea of dirt and rubble came together to form a protective barrier between them and the bound chopper.

A moment later, an explosion rang out, the impact cracking the newly formed barrier. When the barrier began to dissolve back into simple dirt and debris, Kwame, Wheeler and Maggie stood horrified at the wreckage of the helicopter. The pilot had tried one last time to kill them, only to end his own life. They did their best to shake themselves from the shock of this brutality. Many more in the city might need their help. And those responsible for this carnage were still out there.

***
“You’re going to pay for that, blight!” Linka spat out in anger, but this didn’t faze the villain in the slightest, her grin only widening.

"Oh really, Linka, are you going to kill me?” She said, holding up her red, pulsing ring.

Every fiber of Linka’s being made her want to do just that. She knew what Blight’s ring could do, knew what it had done to the city. She did her best not to kill Blight where she stood, as she faced down the vile woman. Linka’s anger abated somewhat, as she saw Ma-Ti climb back onto the beach, gripping the exposed roots of the trees that lined part of the cliffside. By a stroke of chance, Ma-Ti had managed to grab ahold and save himself. Blight scowled in anger, turning her head to see that Ma-Ti had lived, before turning back to Linka.

"No matter, it’s time to end this.” Unbeknownst to Linka or Ma-Ti, Blight used her ring’s ability to communicate with the others, to send those same words to her allies.

***
Hearing Blight’s words, Nukem’s eyes shot open and, after a moment of silence, the Earth began to shake. The rubble covering the villain blew from his body in a mighty eruption of energy, freeing him. He walked out of the collapsed crater that had once held him, only to see Greedly standing before him. Elsewhere, Plunder met up with Skumm, nodding to one another, as they prepared for their next move. One by one, the Eco villains raised their fists into the sky.

“Radiation!"

"Deforestation!"

"Smog!"

"Toxic!”

Nukem, Plunder, Greedly and Skumm said respectively, one after another, as their rings shot beams into the sky, waiting on their last ingredient. By the time it dawned on Linka, who stared at Blight, the villain placed her hand into the sky and said with malice in her voice.

"Hate!” Ma-Tti stood now, standing on the opposite side of Blight.

They, along with the other Planeteers elsewhere, looked up, as the sky darkened and five beams of energy converged, before disappearing. Or so it appeared, but each of them knew that things were much worse… “Earth!"

"Fire!” Maggie watched on, as Kwame and Wheeler shot beams of green and red light into the sky.

On the other side of the country, the other Planeteers had the same idea. Linka stared into Blight’s scowling face, before pointing her ring up.

"Wind!”

Walking over a bridge, Gi saw the beams of light converging at a single point and raised her own hand into the sky.

"Water!”

And finally, Ma-Ti held out his hand, declaring ”Heart!”

High above the world, the five Planeteers’ powers swirled into a brilliant light, again forming the heroic Captain Planet. Planet immediately got to work, helping to undo the damage caused by the Eco-Villains as best he could. He had gone to California first, arriving in mere moments. But to his horror, there were riots state wide, along with fires and other disasters made worse by the still lingering power of hatred. He could still feel it, as he moved through the streets.

***
“Linka…"

"Go, help them. I’ve got Blight!” Linka declared to Ma-Ti, who reluctantly nodded, before departing the beach, moving back toward the city.

One last glare into each other’s eyes and Linka and Blight ran at each other, each swinging a fist at the other, neither of them pulling any punches, as they landed blows against one another. But Blight was stronger than she should be, easily gaining the upper hand. Blight rarely had to get her hands dirty, but her experiments had left her at the peak of human performance. This would be easy, Blight thought to herself. Wheeler, Kwame and Maggie helped direct people from the hazardous areas, to emergency vehicles waiting just outside the police barricades. At the same time, Ma-Ti walked through the ruins of the once bustling California streets.

Most rioting seemed to have died down. But, in spite of his power of heart now having joined with Captain Planet, he still sensed something sinister nearby. Walking up to an old, abandoned building and, peering inside, he saw two figures speaking, and he recognized both. “-can’t possibly believe this is acceptable."

"Please, you know what I am, Gaia. After all, I didn’t always go by this name…” Ma-Ti saw Gaia speaking with a man he came to know as Zarm, an evil entity possibly as powerful as Gaia, but with decidedly less noble intentions.

"You know my true name, Gaia… say it.” Zarm demanded of the spirit of Earth and she hesitated for a moment, before speaking in a low whisper, barely loud enough for Ma-Ti to hear.

"Ares…” Zarm’s form suddenly shifted and now, he was clad in silver, war-like, and almost spartan armor.

Ma-Ti let out a gasp at this revelation and, with red, glowing eyes, Ares glared over to where Ma-Ti was hiding, near the doorway.

"Why don’t you join us, boy. The more, the merrier.” Knowing he was made, Ma-Ti stepped out from hiding and approached the pair. When Ma-Ti neared, Ares let out a malicious chuckle.

"There, now isn’t this just one big happy family reunion?” As he said this, Ma-Ti sensed another figure approach and the three of them turned to see another man grinning wickedly at them.

“And nobody invited me? How rude."

"Pollution!” Ma-Ti uttered, immediately recognizing Captain Pollution, Planet’s vile counterpart.

Yellow skin and red eyes set him apart from most people. A mess of fiery red hair sat atop his head and on his chest was a Planet logo, although in stark contrast to their own, cracks were seen going through the emblem. Ma-Ti stood at the ready, but the young man knew there was little he could hope to do against the villain. “If you were needed here, I’d have called you.” Ares declared, now turning his attention fully toward Pollution.

"Aw, don’t be that way, DAD!” Pollution retorted snarkily, before continuing.

"I know you have a soft spot for little miss Earth over there, you need ME to do what you never could.” Without waiting for Ares to respond, Pollution raised a hand and shot a blast of radiation at Gaia, knocking her back and against a pillar.

Ma-Ti rushed over to her, while Ares stood before Pollution.

“Stop this at once, this isn’t why you were brought back!"

"Who cares.” The two continued to argue, before they realized they’d heard nothing from the Planeteer. Turning to look over, they saw that both Ma-Ti and Gaia were gone.

"Look what your interference has caused.” Ares spat at Pollution.

"Please, pops, it’s better when they run!” Ma-Ti carried Gaia, her arm around his shoulder, as they stumbled into a small wooded area behind the building, trying to gain as much distance as they could from the pair of villains.

Ma-Ti set Gaia down, leaning against a tree and got up, turning to see Pollution standing immediately before him. The superpowered villain gripped the Planeteer around the neck, as Gaia struggled to protest. Ares appeared at her side and gripped her by the shoulder.

"The grownups have to talk now, you kids have fun.” At that, Ares teleported away, taking Gaia with him.

***
Captain Planet moved swiftly to rescue as many people as possible from the turmoil caused by the Eco Villains. But there was so much pain, spread so far across the planet, and he could only do so much. Planet was flying overhead, when he spotted a number of people still trapped on the upper floor of an office building. But when he got closer, he saw that they weren’t just trapped.

No, they were being held hostage.Picking up speed, Captain Planet flew through the upper window of the building, shattering it and landing between the hostages and a number of armed gunmen. The gunmen, startled by Planet’s sudden appearance, all raised their weapons, prompting Planet to put up his hands.

"Easy there, fellas, no reason to hurt anybody.” He said calmly, but in response, the men opened fire, only to have the bullets bounce harmlessly off of Planet’s body.

"W-what now…?!” One of the men said, visibly shaken by Planet’s display of superhuman resistance.

In response to his associate’s panicked question, another of the gunmen pulled an explosive device and tossed it toward the civilians. The group let out an almost collective audible gasp of horror and even Captain Planet looked concerned. And yet, with lightning quick speed, Planet was able to catch the bomb and toss it with great strength, out of the shattered window. The explosive detonated harmlessly in the air, several feet from the building. The shockwave of the explosion caused many of the frightened people to let out gasps and shouts of fear, but they were all unharmed.

Not willing to admit defeat, one of the armed men raised his weapon once more. But this time, instead of firing at Captain Planet, he opened fire at the civilians. Thinking quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Planet’s entire body transformed into water, forming a wall between the civilians and the gunmen, before freezing into a thick wall of ice. The bullets impacted the ice wall, cracking the surface, but not piercing the thick sheet. The gunmen were now shaking in fear, as the ice moved and shifted, until it retook human form, as Captain Planet.

The armed men looked as if they were trying to decide whether to keep fighting, or to run. But Planet only smiled at their now defeated looks, before tossing out his hands. In a moment, a powerful gust of wind was generated from Captain Planet’s hands and knocked the armed men from their feet, tossing them against the far wall. Planet made quick work of their weapons, gathering them up and tossing them miles into the sky, before blasting them into dust. The civilians looked on in awe and, in a matter of minutes, were being flown several at a time, to emergency workers waiting a safe distance away.

Captain Planet returned to the building to ensure that the men who had caused this chaos were apprehended, but was met with another sight. A helicopter flew into view. Planet immediately donned a serious expression, as the chopper armed and fired one of its missiles. The missile flew past Planet as he walked forward, before stopping and looking up at the man in the cockpit. The man frantically hit a button and armed another missile, firing and this time, hitting his target dead on.

When the smoke cleared however, Captain Planet was unscathed. With a sly smirk, Planet gestured with his finger, for the man in the chopper to land, which the man began to do, as he slowly lowered to the ground. Before the man touched down however, a beam shot over Planet’s head, hitting the chopper and causing it to burst apart, the wreckage crashing to the Earth below. Planet looked horrified and turned around, to see a man hovering above him. He appeared to look similar in many respects to Planet, including his uniform, but had red hair and yellow skin: It was the villainous Captain Pollution.

***
At the secluded cliffside, Linka hit the ground hard, head still reeling from Blight’s powerful punch. She quickly got back to her feet and threw several more punches of her own, staggering Blight. Blight caught Linka’s next punch and twisted her arm into an unnatural position, forcing her to her knees. She then kicked the Planeteer into the ribs, causing her to roll toward the cliffside, overlooking the water below. She slowly approached Linka, who struggled to catch her breath, smiling wickedly down at her seemingly helpless prey.

Blight moved her black booted foot to Linka, ready to shove her from the cliff, into the waters below. But Linka reacted quickly, sweeping Blight’s leg with her arm and causing the Eco Villain to fall over with a hard thud. Linka moved over to strike at Blight, both still on the ground. They tossed each other around for a moment, before both stood up. Blight reached out and Linka suddenly found herself with Blight’s powerful fingers around her neck, squeezing like a vice.

Linka was having a hard time breathing, her vision beginning to blur. She looked over at Blight, whose face twisted into a sadistic grin, as she choked the Life from Linka. But the moment before she passed out, Blight felt the ground below one of her feet give way. And suddenly, she released her grasp of Linka, as she fell. Linka lay on the ground, breathing hard as she took in as much air as her lungs would allow.

When Linka finally recovered enough to stand, she peered over the cliff’s edge to see Blight, hanging on for her life. The woman grasped at the quickly deteriorating Earth in her fingers, trying to climb back up. She looked up at Linka, panic spread across her face. Linka walked up, looking the women dead in the eye and, without a showing of emotion, kicked at the ground until it gave way. With a terrified scream, Blight crashed into the water below.

***
“You didn’t have to do that!” Captain Planet said, staring down Captain Pollution, as the villain slowly landed before him.

"Maybe not, but it’s not like he was good for anything.” Was Pollution’s only response, said with a flippant and smug smirk.

Behind Captain Planet, the wreckage of the helicopter burned in an eerie green blaze. And he could feel the harmful radiation already sapping his strength. Captain Planet moved toward Captain Pollution, just as the villain himself rushed forward. The pair clashed, exchanging blows, as they rose into the sky. Planet rushed forward, dragging Pollution further and further up, into the sky. In the past, Pollution had always weakened the more he was exposed to direct sunlight. But now, Planet looked on in shock, as Pollution only smirked wickedly, before throwing both fists down on Captain Planet’s back, sending the hero crashing back to the Earth below.

***
Plunder walked through the streets, surveying the destruction around him with a callous and dismissive sneer. He didn’t really trust Captain Pollution all that much, but he figured he was better than those Planeteers, always thwarting his plans. And now that they’d finally managed to summon Pollution, there wasn’t much more they could do. And even Plunder knew when to leave. But his path was soon cut off by the sight of Gi, standing confidently in his way.

His mind flashing back to how she’d humiliated him, defeated him, anger stirred up in his heart. He lunged immediately at the Planeteer, but she was ready for that. She ducked down, flipping him over her and delivering a swift kick to the side of his head.

"You should watch where you’re going, Plunder.” Gi said triumphantly, but she heard another set of footsteps coming up behind her.

Gi turned just in time to see the humanoid rat known as Verminous Skumm rushing at her. Quickly withdrawing her taser, she thrust it out, delivering a painful shock to Skumm’s chest, causing him to keel over. Moments after the duo had been incapacitated, emergency response teams began to pour in, to lend assistance. And both men were soon being taken away in handcuffs. But their battle was far from over, Gi thought to herself.

***
Captain Planet stood, as Pollution crashed back to the Earth in front of him. Planet thrust his fist into the ground, creating a series of cracks and tremors, which didn’t seem to faze Pollution in the slightest. Pollution began moving forward, when the Earth around him shot up, pillars of free moving dirt, concrete and rock shaping around the villain’s body to bind him. Pollution struggled against his binds, unable to budge the now solid earthen construct around him. But as Captain Planet walked up to him, his face twisted into a mocking sneer.

“What’re you gonna do now, Planet? Kill me again? Go ahead! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but as long as there are people on this planet willing to reduce it to a cesspool of waste and rot, I’ll always come back! Face it, you’ve lost… hahahahaha!” Planet looked on in anger, as Pollution tilted his head and let out a shrill laugh.

Then, as the laugh rang through Captain Planet’s head, he watched as Pollution’s body dissolved into a mist of poisonous smog, moving from the confines of his snare, before reforming feet away.

“Ta-da! And that’s not the only new trick up my sleeve!” At his words, Captain Planet looked down at Pollution’s feet, to see his body producing a sickening, toxic acid that began to melt into the ground beneath him.

Then, with a raised hand, Pollution shot the vile purple chemicals at Planet, causing his skin to sizzle and burn. Captain Planet doubled over, falling to his knees. While Pollution raised slowly back into the sky. Captain Planet looked up at his counterpart, who returned his gaze with a look of contempt and what Planet could have sworn was a moment of consideration. After a moment, the villain spoke.

"You know, killing you would be too easy! I think I’ll pay the other Planet punks a little visit! You sit tight now."

"NO!!!” Planet exclaimed, his entire body wracked with pain, as Pollution flew off in search of Kwame and Wheeler.

Captain Planet knew that he had to stop him, he had to do something… Kwame, Wheeler and Maggie were still searching the devastated area, looking for civilians that might still be trapped.

"You know, at some point, you guys are gonna have to explain what that was.” Maggie said casually, as the trio walked.

"What what was?” Wheeler said, with faltering confidence.

"You know, crazy sky beam. I know-” Maggie’s words were interrupted by the sound of voices, calling for help.

Kwame immediately ran into a nearby parking structure, the source of the cries. Maggie and Wheeler were about to join him, when they spotted movement. A man was running down the street toward them, panic strewn across his face, as if he was running for his life. He was mere feet from them when he suddenly dropped dead. And they saw what appeared to be a stone embedded in his back, deep enough to kill him instantly.

The rock was odd looking, coated in a black tar-like substance. But that isn’t what captured the pair’s attention. The yellow skinned Captain Pollution was casually walking toward them, and the body now laying dead in the street.

"Pollution!” Wheeler said, fury in his voice.

"You know this guy?” Maggie asked and Wheeler gave her a cursory glance that told her it was a long story, before his gaze settled back on the villain standing before them.

Captain Planet lay, still wounded and ever weakening. He looked over, to see a fire hydrant nearby. Raising his hand, he tried to focus, and shot out a weak beam of energy, missing its mark. Grunting in frustration, Planet took a deep breath and tried again, this time hitting its mark. Suddenly, water sprayed forth, covering Captain Planet and beginning to wash him clean of the corrosive acid.

With every last ounce of strength, Captain Planet struggled to get to his feet. Captain Pollution was tossing a rock up and down in his hand, as he eyed the pair before him.

"So, Wheeler, I wonder how you’d feel if I burned the skin clean off that pretty little thing’s body!"

"Maggie, run!” Wheeler said in desperation, at Pollution’s threat and Maggie turned to flee.

But Pollution gripped the rock, as it began to coat in the same sickly black muck. Before Pollution tossed the stone with great speed and strength, aimed at Maggie’s fleeing back.

“Nooo!” Wheeler belted out in anguish, unable to do more than watch.

But just before the corrupted piece of rock made impact, Captain Planet crashed to the ground between her and the stone. Planet then erected a blue forcefield over the both of them, the rock shattering harmlessly off the barrier. Maggie stood, looking at Captain Planet, who only smiled at her.

"Are you alright?” She could only nod in agreement.

Wheeler went to see if the still shaken Maggie was alright and she finally managed to speak.

"F-friend of yours?"

"Yeah. He is.” Just then, Kwame emerged from the parking structure, guiding a family to what he thought would be safety, only to see the familiar sight of Pollution standing before them.

Pollution looked aggravated, but Planet only gestured for Kwame, Wheeler and Maggie to take the family and get to safety.

"You can go. Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” Planet’s smile and flippant words only seemed to enrage Pollution further, but the trio did as they were told, quickly retreating from the battlefield.

“It doesn’t really matter. I got what I wanted.” Captain Pollution shrugged off his being denied the satisfaction of killing Planet’s friends and allies.

Captain Planet scoffed at Pollution’s words, before responding.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Tell ya what, Planet, you beat me this time and I’ll tell ya anything you want to know.” Pollution challenged Planet, before flying into the air, followed shortly by Planet.

The pair began firing blasts of energy at one another, sizing each other up. Captain Planet then held out and began to rapidly spin his arm, creating a sudden gust that blew Pollution backwards. Pollution tumbled backwards, until he was able to halt himself, to again face Captain Planet. Pollution took a deep intake of breath, before blowing out a massive cloud of noxious vapor, a cloud of smog and other poisonous substances. Planet’s body quickly turned red, glowing hot until he was little more than a blazing inferno in the shape of a human.

The air around him seemed to distort in waves, as the heat continued to rise. And, as the toxic chemicals neared him, they burned up on contact with his skin. Captain Planet returned to his normal state and smiled at Pollution, who only shot back a twisted grin of his own, before rushing toward the hero. The two grappled, as they sped through the air, exchanging blows with one another, neither seeming to gain any headway. Captain Planet’s body then shifted form again, becoming a vibrant green in color.

Vines began to grow from his arms, snaking toward and wrapping around Pollution’s arms and neck. Pollution struggled in vain, as the vines ensnaring him tightened their grip. After a moment, Pollution’s body began to glow in a sickly green color. And the vines and green of Captain Planet’s body began to wither and rot. With a mighty pull, Pollution broke an arm free of the weakening vines and, with a brutal backhand, broke through the remaining vines, impacting Planet’s body and sending him crashing down into the ground below. Captain Planet quickly rose to his feet, only to see the smug, arrogant grin of Pollution, as he hovered just before the hero.

"Aw, giving up so soon? I’m just getting started!” Captain Pollution held out his harm, which turned the same noxious, purple color as the acidic sludge he’d produced before.

He then sped toward Planet, thrusting his hand out, to grasp the hero. But Planet’s body suddenly turned clear and Pollution’s corrosive hand splashed through his body. Captain Planet had turned himself into water, causing the deadly arm to pass harmlessly through. However, this didn’t faze Pollution at all, whose arm shifted to a light yellow glow, before blasting a wave of radioactive energy that shot Captain Planet back across the ground several feet. Captain Planet struggled back to his feet, more slowly this time. He managed to stand, retaking his base form, just as Captain Pollution held out his hand, spraying forth a stream of bubbling black chemicals.

In response, Planet shot a stream of intense flames from both hands, to counteract the corrosive substance. The flames and black spray of toxic sludge clashed evenly, the fire burning through the pollutants as fast as they could be generated. When the clash finally subsided, the ground before the two was charred black and smoking from the extreme heat. Both looking frustrated and fatigued, Captain Planet and Pollution both rose into the sky once more. Pollution pulsed with yellow, radioactive energy, creating a halo around his form.

Planet similarly gathered energy, taking in the natural elements around him, glowing with a bright white aura. Then the two launched their respective beams, the pure forces of nature meeting the raw power of radioactive energy, with a mighty crash that shook the ground below them. Each gave it everything they had, the sky twisting and darkening at their very presence. Lightning lit up the sky around them, accompanied a few moments later by a crash of thunder. The beams pushed against one another, as Captain Planet fought with his twisted counterpart.

Planet felt himself weakening, in spite of the power he drew from his environment. It wasn’t enough, he thought to himself. And just when he thought he was going to lose, the beams suddenly stopped. Captain Pollution had ceased his efforts. And Planet wasn’t in a condition to keep going, himself.

His vision began to blur and, the next thing Captain Planet knew, he was falling, until he impacted the Earth below with a loud crash. Laying flat on his back, Planet heard another crash following his own. When the hero managed to lift his head, he saw the blurred visage of who he assumed was Pollution, kneeling on the ground several feet from him. Another figure appeared before Pollution and, in a sudden blinding light, the pair was gone. Captain Planet put his head down, sighing wearily.

"The power… is yours…” He said weakly, as his body transformed into an array of lights, breaking apart and shooting up into the sky.

The lights returned to the Planeteers, traveling back into their rings from whence they came. Maggie looked on in wonder, as did several nearby civilians, as they saw Kwame and Wheeler reclaim their powers.

***
Gi was doing her best to lend assistance to anyone who needed it, many still injured from the chaos that had unfolded, the rampant looting and riots. But she was still worried about her friends. And when Captain Planet had returned to their rings, she hoped he’d managed to come out victorious. Things did seem to have calmed down, but a part of her felt like the worst was yet to come. And when her power of water did return, her ring reacted, calling out, as if guiding her somewhere.

Heavy rain fell from the sky, as Gi followed her ring, guiding her along the California streets, past paramedics and other emergency response vehicles. She finally came to an old, dilapidated building, but that’s not where her ring was guiding her. Moving around the aged structure, Gi walked into a small forested area behind the building. She stepped through shrubs and avoided low branches until she arrived at her destination, and her heart sank. She saw Ma-Ti’s body, charred and bloody.

She almost didn’t recognize him, she might not have, if it weren’t for the tattered remains of his Planeteer shirt. Falling down at his side, Gi fell over his body and began to cry. And cry. Linka walked up behind her grief stricken comrade and it took a moment for her mind to register the scene before her.

"No…” Around Ma-Ti’s finger, his ring shimmered faintly, before vanishing from sight.

Chapter Text

Rain poured heavily from the sky, as a casket was slowly lowered into the Earth. Kwame, Linka, Wheeler and Gi all stood in sorrow and anguish, around the slowly descending coffin, the final resting place of their fallen friend. The storm did little to hide the tears falling from their faces, each of them looking tired and defeated. Once Ma-Ti had been buried, and the service had begun to break up, Maggie approached the group with a look of sympathy in her eyes.

"I’m sorry, I- I wish I could have met him…” Kwame smiled slightly at this.

"I’m sure he would have liked that too…” Not knowing how to move forward, the group had moved back to Gi’s place to discuss recent events further, and to just reminisce about better times.

Gi came back into the room, with drinks for the others and Maggie held up her hand.

"Look, I appreciate it, but I don’t even know if I should be here. He was your friend, I’m just a third wheel…” Gi only smiled and kept the bottle out, until Maggie reluctantly took it.

"Nonsense, Wheeler says you saved his life, that makes you one of us.” Maggie smiled back reassuringly, before opening the bottle and taking a drink.

Her words had helped put Maggie more at ease, but she was still uncertain what good she could possibly do, after the things she saw them do, they were real heroes. After what felt like a long few moments, Linka finally broke the silence.

"What do we do, about Pollution? He’s still out there."

"It’s been weeks, maybe he’s left, maybe he got bored and-” Wheeler interjected, but couldn’t even bring himself to foolishly hope, his voice trailing off, and leaving silence once more; It was Gi’s turn to speak up.

"We have to stop him. Whatever the cost.” Wheeler looked at the others, before nodding, only to hang his head and ask in a low, hopeless tone.

"How do we even find him?"

"We don’t have to. We just have to wait until he makes his next move.” Kwame finally spoke up. Maggie looked shocked at Kwame’s words and thought for a moment, before asking.

"You mean you’re just going to wait till that guy or, or whatever he was, starts hurting people again?"

"What choice is there, he’ll only appear when he’s chosen to, that’s our only chance.” Gi said with a resolve that shocked the others, before they nodded in agreement. Maggie still didn’t look happy about it, but she seemed to understand the difficult position they were in.

***
On the sublevel of Blight Industries, within Dr. Blight’s state of the art lab, various papers lay strewn about a table, detailing what seemed like most to be incomprehensible nonsense, but which to Dr. Blight were details of her future plans for this world. Blight was shaken from her concentration, intently studying her notes, as she braced herself up on the table by both hands, as she heard someone loudly enter the room. Standing up straight, with a scowl, and without even turning around, she uttered.

"What are you doing here?"

"What’s the matter, Blight, aren’t ya happy to see me?” Pollution asked mockingly, as he gripped an apple in his gloved hand. Blight finally turned to face the man, a smug smirk appearing across her face.

"And here I thought you’d crawled into a ditch and died. Where HAVE you been all this time?” Pollution looked unfazed by Blight’s callous attitude.

"Oh, I just had ta recharge my batteries, say what you will, fighting Cap does take a lot outta ya.” As if to emphasize his return to form, he clutched the apple in his hand, as it began to wilt and decay, before turning to ash.

"All better now.” He added, with a wide grin and a cocked head. Unamused, Blight turned back to her work, but still spoke to Pollution.

"So… what now?"

"Oh, I have a few ideas, it’s time the Planeteers are put down!"

"At these words, both Pollution and Blight smiled wickedly.

***
Several days passed uneventfully, and the Planeteers had talked about once more going their separate ways. That is, until news reports came in, of an oddly malformed man abducting an entire bus full of civilians. This was Pollution, they all knew it. Without hesitation, Kwame, Linka, Gi and Wheeler, along with Maggie, headed back into the city. They said nothing on the trip, nerves running high, they were unsure of what they could even do against Pollution, without the help of Captain Planet, without Ma-Ti… The police didn’t know what to do, and a citywide manhunt was underway.

But besides police checkpoints, they were unsure of where Pollution had vanished to. But the Planeteers knew, their rings beeped with a faint glow, guiding them toward the disturbance, toward their target. And soon, the car pulled up to the area their rings drew them toward, a recently abandoned construction site. But the sight that they encountered shook them to their core, a display of wanton death and brutality… Bodies of construction workers, at least they thought they were construction workers, lay scattered across the ground, horribly burned and disfigured, the smell of charred flesh assailing their nostrils. Overhead, another worker lay in the seat of a large crane, upper body smashed violently through the windshield of the vehicle, blood drying on the metal frame, having dripped from the mangled corpse.

"What kind of a monster would do something like this?” Maggie commented, still looking out of place amongst the Planeteers, and more than a little frightened.

"Look, if you want to stay back in the car, we’ll understand.” Gi said, trying to reassure her as best she could. With a gulp, Maggie shook her head.

"N- no, these people need our help.” Wheeler nodded at her words, as the group pressed on, further into the construction site.

Within moments, they spotted the city bus, just sitting in front of the middle of the partially finished building. Linka immediately ran forward, looking up into the window to see a large group of frightened people looking back down at them. Suddenly, she saw their eyes dart to instead look behind her and she, and the others, turned to see Pollution slowly approaching.

"Well done, kiddies, you found the secret. Now you get your prize!"

"Fire!"

"Wind!” Wheeler, then Linka declared in quick succession, Wheeler’s ring spraying forth an inferno, and Linka’s creating a violent gust of wind, that merged to create a blazing tempest surrounding and engulfing Pollution.

The duo kept up the assault for a long few moments, before lowering their hands. The torrent of flames continued to blaze, but the Planeteers didn’t let down their guard. Rightly so, as the figure engulfed in flame began to move, before erupting from the fire at blinding speeds, and rushing toward Linka and Wheeler. Wheeler immediately pulled back and threw a punch at Pollution, who caught his fist in his palm, with a loud crack on impact. Pollution then tossed Wheeler effortlessly to the ground, skidding several feet.

Maggie went to help him up, while Kwame and Gi took positions in front of them. Linka withdrew her Makarov pistol, aiming and firing at pollution at point blank range, unloading three rounds. But the bullets bounced off his skin, as Pollution’s fiendish smile widened. He covered the tip of the barrel with his hand, causing the weapon to heat up and melt. Linka pulled her hand away in sudden pain and Pollution sent her flying to the ground with a backhand.

"Water!” Gi said, stepping forward to give the others the chance to regroup, her ring spraying forth a mighty tsunami of high pressure water.

Pollution put his arms up in a crossguard, as the stream of water hit him. The constant spray of water began to force him backwards, sliding along the ground at the overwhelming assault. After a moment, Gi stopped, only to find a large hole in the Earth where Pollution once stood. Around the edge of the hole was a sickly green material that let thin wafts of smoke up into the air, as it continued to slowly eat away at the ground; a powerful acid. They only wondered where Pollution had gone for a few seconds, before the entire area began to shake violently.

With a mighty eruption, Pollution sprang from the Earth, rising into the sky, before touching back down, as he stared down the Planeteers, a wicked glint in his eye.

"Alright, since I’m such a good sport, I’ll give ya one more shot, before I start getting serious.” He declared and Kwame wasted no time in thrusting his hand out toward Pollution.

"Earth!” At his command, the pieces of rock, dust and other earthly debris began to gather, twisting into pillars of stone and mineral, as they moved around Pollution’s body.

Pollution looked momentarily surprised, as he found himself tightly bound, his earthen shackles slowly expanding, until it overtook his entire form, a tomb made of the Earth itself. Their reprieve was again short lived however, as the material encasing Pollution soon began to smoke and heat up, before it began to dissolve into a pile of molten rock. And standing in its center, body encased in a sickly yellow-green glow, was Pollution. And he looked completely unscathed, never losing his smug grin.

"I warned you… Now, it’s my turn!” The Planeteers held out their rings, but Pollution moved too fast for them to track.

In an instant, he was standing just beside the bus and their collective hearts sank. In one swift motion, Pollution rammed his fist and forearm through the metal side of the bus, causing the people onboard to let out screams and gasps of horror.

"Let those people go, Pollution, your fight is with us!” Kwame declared loudly, through gritted teeth. But Pollution only scoffed at the sentiment.

"Sorry. You had your shot…” He declared and they could only watch in horror as the inside of the bus began to glow in the same sickly yellow, the people inside now screaming, as their skin began to bubble and peel.

Gi moved to rush Pollution, but Wheeler grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. It was already too late… In an instant, a bus full of men, women, even children, were incinerated. Then, without an ounce of effort, Pollution raised the arm still pierced through the blazing bus, lifting the bus into the air along with it. Then, with a casual toss, Pollution sent the burning fuselage toward the Planeteers. Kwame and Linka dove to the right and Gi, Wheeler and Maggie to the left, as the wreckage crashed down between them.

They raised their arms to cover their faces, feeling the heat of the flames against their skin, as the heap of twisted metal swept past them. But they weren't in the clear, the bus began to slowly tip to the left, until it was nearly over Gi, who looked up in shock. Thinking quickly, she rolled on the ground, out of the path of the bus, just as the heap of metal crashed down, narrowly avoiding being crushed underneath. But their reprieve was cut short, when Pollution’s eerie cackle reminded them of the true threat they still faced.

"Hahahahaha… Oh, how precious, the little insects have avoided being crushed. I guess I’ll have to try a little harder!” Pollution said, raising his hand, which cracked to life with a surge of electrified, yellow energy, growing from his palm.

Kwame, in a last act of desperation, held out his ring, which shot a green burst of energy, missing Pollution and hitting the ground several feet behind him. Pollution looked as if he were about to mock Kwame, before the ground began to shake, even more violently than it had before. In the time it took for Pollution to turn around, Kwame gestured for the others to run and they moved as quickly as they could, back toward their car. Pollution tried to fly off the ground, but the violent shaking made his path upward erratic and, by the time he situated himself, the ground below had become a large sinkhole and the building that had been under construction began to collapse onto the villain. The Planeteers’ car peeled away as fast as it could, as the building fell down, sending a massive cloud of dust and rock into the air.

Once they were clear of the site, Kwame slowed their speed and tried to take a deep breath. They were bloody, disheveled, and it took a long few minutes before anyone spoke a word. It was Maggie who tentatively broke the silence.

"Did- did you get him?"

"No…” Wheeler answered her.

"We survived him…"

"What now?” Gi asked, but no one answered; no one had an answer to give…

***
Blight was still working in her lab when Pollution barged in, body covered in dirt, a scowl plastered across his face. She turned to look at him and smiled.

"So… how’d it go?” Pollution glared at Blight, before cracking a smile of his own.

"Crafty little bastards, I’ll give 'em that. But I got 'em on the run. Just need to flush ‘em out again!” Blight thought for a long moment, before finally speaking.

"MAL?"

"Yes, Doctor Blight?” The computerized MAL lowered from the ceiling, awaiting Blight’s next command.

“MAL, sweetie, it’s time we moved along to the next stage of my plan.” She said, running her finger along the golden frame of MAL’s computer screen.

"Oh, yes ma’am. Right away!” MAL said eagerly.

"So, you’ve been holding out on me.” Pollution said in a low growl.

"Hardly. I just never put all my eggs in one basket.” Pollution still seemed displeased, but her answer appeared to sate his anger, at least for the moment.

As much as she hated to admit it, she still needed Pollution for the time being.

***
The Planeteers sat around an apartment Ma-Ti had rented, laying low for the time being, as they watched the news slowly unfold. It had been weeks since they’d failed, since they were nearly killed by Pollution. They had all recovered physically, but their spirits were still broken. Flipping through the channels on the TV, Gi stopped at another news program, detailing events that made their hearts sink even deeper into hopelessness. On the screen, flashed an image of Dr. Blight, her wicked smirk taunting and tormenting them, causing a mix of anguish and anger to well up in each of them.

The news story playing on the screen was of a clean up operation being undertaken by Blight Industries, in lieu of the recent attacks by Pollution and the eco-villains, by Blight herself. He knew what her so-called philanthropist operations concealed, Kwame thought to himself. He’d gotten calls from his contacts around the world, in the environmental circles. He’d been informed of Blight’s pushes to repeal certain environmental protections and anti pollution laws. Worse yet, he knew that she was making headway… He’d heard the rumors, that she’d used intimidation and fear to garner support, to abolish the laws protecting the Earth.

But what he saw, what they all saw, was the result of these actions. One by one, laws restricting corporations’ toxic waste disposal were repealed overnight. And he saw what happened when someone spoke out against her. Several environmental activists, judges and even politicians that had been in favor of the policies, had been found dead, under mysterious circumstances; most often, in fires. After that, very few were willing to disobey Blight.

***
Since she’d seen to the dissolution of a number of activist groups and the repeal of restrictive laws, Blight was able to more cost effectively dispose of her toxic runoff. She even took payments to use her cleanup operation to dump the waste of other companies. Business was good. But in the back of her mind, she knew they were still out there somewhere, that they’d pop their heads up eventually. She was again shaken from her train of thought when Pollution again barged into her lab; she was getting used to his interruptions, but not any happier about them.

“What do you want now, Pollution?” Blight asked curtly, and Pollution twisted his face into a sneer, glaring at her, as he spat back his bitter response.

"You said you had a plan, and you’ve yet to produce!” Blight shot him a smug smirk, as she retorted.

"Have you seen my operation? I’d call that a success.” Pollution slowly approached Blight, his hand gesturing wildly, as he continued to speak.

"I don’t care about your profits, Blight. Money doesn’t concern me. If you did your job-” Blight quickly cut him off.

"If you did YOUR job, the Planeteers would already be dead.” Pollution continued moving closer, but stopped when Blight raised her right hand, the ring visible on her middle finger.

“Don’t forget who created you.” Blight stared Pollution down, who only tilted his head back with a brief chuckle.

"Really, MOM… hate ta break it to ya, but I can’t be sent back unless I choose. And I ain’t goin’ back again. Now…” Pollution resumed his path, until he was face to face with Blight.

"...how about you explain ta me why I’m offing a buncha suits for ya…” Blight visibly gulped, but the tension was broken, when the blast door of Blight’s lab shot up, revealing scientists in suits, just finishing a test.

And in another, shielded room further in, through a window, the large meteor could be seen. Pollution eyes the large piece of rock, looking almost hungry, as he backed away from Blight.

“Don’t even think about it.” Blight shot at Pollution, who only shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"You’re lucky I still need you, for now.” Blight added and Pollution looked shocked, before he shot back.

"Funny… I was gonna say the same thing.” The two glared at each other, none of the others in the room daring to interrupt.

Before Pollution finally turned and walked out of the lab. The moment he was gone, Blight took an audible breath of relief.

***
“-not even sure it’s possible to do what you’re asking. We’re not even entirely sure how your rings work…"

"I don’t want excuses, I want results! I need to be able to stop-” Blight’s argument with her head scientist continued, until Blight’s words cut off, as she turned toward the door, to see Pollution having once more intruded in her work space.

"Stop what?” Pollution turned his head condescendingly, knowing full well what the two were discussing.

"You’re dismissed.” Blight said curtly, waving off the scientist without even looking at him, before addressing Pollution.

"Just the… man I wanted to see."

"Oh? Why’s that?” Pollution asked, an almost chipper inflection in his voice.

“I have another target for you. Maria Sinclair; She’s been interfering with my… environmental reforms.” Blight explained to a bemused and uninterested Pollution.

Crossing his arms smugly, Pollution scoffed, before responding.

"Sorry, you’re no longer able to afford my services. Unless…” He left the last words unsaid, glancing in the direction of the currently closed off chunk of space rock situated in Blight’s lab.

"Off the table.” Blight once again shot down Pollution’s attempt to gain access to the meteor.

"And what’s to stop me from just taking what I want, hmm?” He said, stepping up to Blight and arrogantly placing his hand under her chin and gripping her jaw, just enough to twist and manipulate her head, staring her directly in the eye. Blight furiously pushed Pollution back, who only chuckled at Blight.

He had to admit, she was stronger than the average human. But she was still only human.

"Try it, and I trigger the warhead under this facility. Even if you survive, you won’t get what you want.” She declared, holding up a remote control device in her hand, finger on the button.

Pollution scowled at Blight, but relented, taking a step back.

“How do you suggest we rectify this?” Pollution asked, after a long moment.

Blight thought about it, before her eye lit up with an idea. One that gave her a wicked thrill.

***
In a matter of hours, Duke Nukem stepped into Blight’s lab, looking equal parts annoyed and confused.

"What do you want, Blight, I was laying low.” He demanded answers of Blight, his body glowing faintly with yellow, radioactive energy.

“Relax Duke, I just have a mission I need completed.” Duke’s body returned to its base level, the answer seeming to appease him, before he asked a follow up question.

"You seem to be doing fine on your own, what the Hell do you need me for?"

"Payment.” Blight answered simply and, as Duke heard footsteps behind him and spun around to take a look, he saw Pollution standing within inches of him.

Before Duke could react, Pollution had grasped him by each arm. And Duke suddenly felt the energy begin to drain from his body. Duke struggled, but to no avail, as Pollution’s grip tightened. Duke grew weaker, as Pollution grew stronger, draining Duke’s radioactive energy reserves, until Duke fell to the floor, completely tapped, completely empty. Pollution on the other hand surged forth with newfound power, a satisfied and smug smile across his face.

"Alright! A deal’s a deal! You got yourself one dead activist."

"Very good, this is a list of the details. If things go according to plan, we’ll be rid of two problems.” Pollution took the yellow folder Blight handed him and, without another word, turned to leave the room.

He had a job to do. When Pollution had left, Blight looked down at the unconscious Duke, with a small flash of remorse, which quickly vanished as Blight’s armed security forces approached.

"Take him to the isolation wing. Have him attached to the generator and continually drained. Maybe he’ll still be of some use to me, as a battery.” She said coldly and two of the guards lifted his limp body up, under the arms, and began carrying him out of the lab and down the hall.

Duke’s head span, as the world slowly came back to him, from a black haze. And he became aware that he was in motion. He was being carried off? Duke neared closer and closer to his final destination. He knew he had to do something now, or he’d never again be free.

As he passed a control panel on the wall, he took his chance. He planted his feet and, with every last ounce of strength he had, slammed to the side, knocking one of the guards into the wall. Then, he slammed his fist through the control panel, feeling the small amounts of energy seeping into his rock-like skin. The second guard recovered his bearings and raised his weapon. But Duke raised his other hand and shot forth an electrified blast of energy, singing a hole in the guard’s chest.

And then he ran. He ran as far as he could, until he came to an elevator. When Blight realized what had happened, she sounded the alarm, and ordered the power to the elevator cut. But cutting the power to the elevator didn’t stop Duke. He was his own power source now, if only in a limited capacity for the moment. Once the elevator reached the ground floor, he was as good as gone. Blight had a few guards up there, but tried to maintain the appearance of a typical tech company.

The desk clerks and other workers gasped in shock, as a yellow skinned man easily dispatched the pair of guards who tried to stop him, and walked out the front door.

***
It was two am in California, when Kwame’s phone buzzed to life. Staring at the screen groggily, he jolted straight up. Walking into the other room, so as to not disturb the others, Kwame answered his phone and placed it to his ear.

"Kwame, is that you?” A panicked voice said from the other side.

"Yes, it’s me Maria, what’s wrong?” Kwame listened for a few moments, before worry struck his face.

"Hold on, I’ll be right there!” True to his word, Kwame rushed out to the airport, so frantic with worry that he hadn’t even thought to wake his friends.

He caught the first flight out to Washington D.C., where his friend and colleague was staying. He only hoped she’d be alright until he got there. What she told him sent chills down his spine. A mysterious figure watching her, just watching, from afar; it couldn’t be, he thought to himself, prayed…

***
The clock just passed six am, when the vibration of his phone stirred Wheeler into the world of the waking once more. Looking at the screen, he saw that it was a call from the hospital in Mississippi, where his mother was hospitalized. They informed him that a visitor was trying to get in to see her. But a description of the man made Wheeler’s blood run cold. He ran out into the parking lot, but found Kwame’s car to be gone.

In a panic, Wheeler moved toward the van that had been owned by Ma-Ti and found the door unlocked. Checking the glovebox, Wheeler found the keys and in a matter of seconds, peeled from the driveway and down the road. He was still groggy, but he couldn’t waste a second. Not if the man was who he knew it was, a man the receptionist described as having yellow skin; Duke Nukem… Wheeler gripped the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white, pushing down the gas harder, as he accelerated down the road.

***
Kwame touched down in Washington D.C. just before eleven am, just over four hours after he’d taken off from California. The time difference threw him and he was already going on very little sleep, but he had bigger concerns at the moment. He immediately picked up his phone and dialed Maria’s number.

"Kwame?” A voice on the other end asked, sounding frayed and anxious.

"I’m here, I’m on my way over right now, just hang on!” Kwame said, relieved that she was okay, but still worried beyond belief.

Kwame pulled up to an apartment in a cab and paid the driver, before rushing from the vehicle and to the front door. Knocking frantically, there was a pause, before a voice sounded softly, from the other side.

"Kwame… is- is it you?"

"It’s me, Maria, open up.” Came his response and no sooner had he spoken those words, did the door swing open and the person on the other end throw her arms around his neck, shaking with fear.

"May I come in?” Kwame finally asked and with still panicked, wide eyes, she nodded her head and backed away, so he could enter the building, before walking up the stairs to her apartment.

They sat down on her couch, Kwame having made tea for the two of them, to help calm her nerves, as she spoke.

"M- my friend, we worked together a lot, he called me, out of his mind with panic, said someone was after him. Then they found him dead, in an apartment fire. Said it was an accident…” She began, her voice breaking, before she paused, to take a sip of tea.

"...then… then I started noticing a man following me. At first, I thought I was imagining things. But I saw him everywhere. The trenchcoat, and the one thing I’ll never forget, when I got a look at his face. That awful, yellow skin…” Kwame gritted his teeth.

"Pollution."

"You know him?” She asked, surprised that Kwame didn’t think she was crazy.

"Unfortunately. He’s a very bad and very dangerous man. Has he tried to hurt you?” She shook her head.

"No, he never got too close… but I bought this.” She said, as she leaned over to the end table and slid open the drawer, pulling out a 9mm pistol.

"I’ve never even fired a gun before…” She was near tears and Kwame held her tightly, doing his best to comfort her. After a moment, Maria broke the embrace and looked at Kwame.

"Why is this happening to me?” Suddenly, the two smelled smoke and saw the cloud of ash and flames billowing in from the front room, just as Pollution stepped through the door.

"Why indeed!” He uttered with a sadistic grin plastered across his face.

The two immediately stood up, Kwame standing in front of Maria.

"What do you want, Pollution?!”

"What do I want? Why you of course?” He explained, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Pollution moved at them with blinding speed and Kwame tried to get in his way, but Pollution effortlessly knocked him across the room.

"You wait right there, I want you to see this…” He declared, with a malicious edge to his voice, as he continued on towards Maria.

She was shaking, but still managed to raise the gun gripped in her hands. Before she could get off a shot however, Pollution batted the weapon out of her hands, with relative ease. He gripped Maria by the shoulder, causing her to wince in pain, and Kwame to cry out in anger and helplessness.

"Nooooo!” Kwame struggled back to his feet, just as Pollution lifted Maria off the ground and drew her in front of him, facing Kwame; a human shield.

"Let her go, now!"

"No, no I don’t think I will.” Pollution said, as he drew his other hand up and placed it atop Maria’s head.

With one last bone curdling scream, eerie green and yellow flames erupted from her eyes and mouth, her body burning up from the inside out. It was too late now, and Kwame’s heart ached. But he had to think quickly, or he’d be next. As the room burned around them, Kwame raised the handgun, taking aim, which only earned a scoff from Pollution. He tossed Maria’s charred body onto the ground, as Kwame shifted his aim behind Pollution.

Pollution turned to see what Kwame was aiming at, just as he pulled the trigger, hitting the knob on the stove and turning the gas on. The second he fired, he moved for the open window, diving out, just as the gas mixed with open flame caused the entire room to erupt. Kwame was tossed hard against the metal railing of the fire escape, glass cutting his arms and face and throwing him over the edge, but he narrowly managed to grab on by one hand.

Kwame’s hand began to slip, both from the fatigue and the sweat from the inferno mere inches from him. Until, finally, he lost his grip, falling and hitting the dumpster below, before bouncing off and smacking the hard ground, with a grunt of pain. Moments later, Pollution moved to the alley at blinding speeds, in search of Kwame, only to find an open manhole and Kwame nowhere to be seen. With a roar of frustration and anger, Pollution pounded the dumpster, tearing the metal in half and melting the edges with a combination of superheated radioactive energy and potent, toxic acids. After a moment, he calmed himself and flew off, into the sky.

***
The clock neared six pm, when Kwame stumbled through the door of the California home, to the relief of Maggie and the other Planeteers. Gi was the first to greet him, with a hug, eliciting a groan from his bruised body.

"Sorry…” She said.

"But you never should have left us like that.” She added, admonishing his reckless behavior. Linka looked concerned, but nodded at this sentiment.

"She’s right, you could have gotten yourself killed.”

“I am sorry. But a friend needed my help, Pollution was stalking her.” He finally explained and their gazes softened, before Gi spoke up again.

"What happened?” At her question, Kwame closed his eyes and shook his head, causing their hearts to drop.

"Where’s Wheeler?” Maggie asked, breaking them from their somber silence, but a look of confusion crossed Kwame’s face.

"He didn’t come with me. You mean he’s not here?” The entire room looked worried now, and no one knew what to say.

"I’m sure he’s fine…” Maggie said, sounding as if she were trying to convince herself, more than them.

Linka tried Wheeler’s phone several times, but each time, it went straight to voicemail. After the last time, she tossed her phone down on the couch with a grunt of frustration.

"I’m sure he’s okay, Link, he probably has a good reason for leaving this way."

"He better.” She retorted, but couldn’t bring herself to remain angry, not when she was so worried.

"He’d better be alright…” She said, mostly to herself, before noticing that Kwame was paying attention, and adding.

"Or he’ll have to deal with me.” Her words brought a rare smile to Kwame’s lips and Linka couldn’t help but crack a small smile in return.

***
It was after ten pm when Wheeler finally arrived in the hospital in Mississippi, moving quickly up to the front desk.

"I’m sorry sir, visiting hours are over."

"I know, I’m James Wheeler, my mom’s a patient here. I was called about a guy trying to see her, is he still here?” The attendant glanced around the room, before pointing to a corner, with a number of chairs and vending machines.

"He’s right over there.” She pointed and Wheeler looked, seeing only one other person in the room.

He wore a long black coat, black pants and boots and had a wide brimmed hat atop his head. Wheeler walked across the room, his suspicions confirmed when the man turned to reveal rock-like yellow skin and sickly green eyes.

"Nukem!”

“Relax Wheeler, I’m not here to hurt anyone.” He said, putting his hands up.

"Then what are you doing here? I swear, if you hurt-!” Wheeler spat, but Duke quickly interrupted.

"I said I come in peace, I just needed to get your attention. But I got this information from Blight, so she knows your mom’s here too.” Duke warned Wheeler, his voice sounding earnest enough.

"Then why are you here, Nukem?” Wheeler asked, his voice having softened, but his tone still somewhat accusatory.

Duke seemed to express a moment of vulnerability that was uncharacteristic of him, as he spoke, gesturing with his hand for emphasis.

"I want to help…”

Chapter Text

It had been several days since Wheeler had disappeared, when a van pulled into the driveway. A mix of relief and apprehension washed over his friends’ faces when they saw him arrive. Linka was the first out of the house when Wheeler got out of the car and threw her arms around him, pulling him in for a passionate kiss. After a long few moments, they broke the kiss and she looked at him sternly.

"Don’t you ever leave like that again.” She commanded harshly, before her face softened.

"Okay, I’m sorry, Link…” Wheeler responded earnestly, giving her a small, reassuring smile.

They then looked over, seeing the others staring at them and Wheeler blushed bright red.

But the moment of levity was broken when, finally, Kwame looked over to the van, seeing another figure still seated within and asked “Is that him?”

Wheeler nodded somberly. He’d called ahead several hours ago, with the startling new turn of events. Nobody fully trusted him, but Wheeler insisted that he seemed to be on the up and up. Besides, what other choice did they have? The passenger side door opened and the man got out. His bulky frame barely clearing the car’s door, Nukem stood up, taking a few steps forward, before stopping.

"Look, I know this is a little weird…” He uttered in a low, gravelly voice, but was soon interrupted by Gi, who stepped up, a defiant look on her face.

"A little weird? You caused all that destruction, people died. And you call it ‘a little weird’?” She chastised him, as he shrunk under her admonishment.

"You’re right, I’m not asking you to like me. But it seems to me, you’re outta options.” Nukem said succinctly and everyone went quiet; after all, he was right…

After a few more moments of awkward silence, they retreated back into the house, Nukem following closely behind. Once inside, he scanned over the Planeteers, before his eyes stopped on Maggie.

"Who’s the new kid?” He said, pointing at her, almost dismissively.

"A friend.” Wheeler snapped out defensively, but Maggie, in an effort to maintain peace, just gave him a small wave, as she spoke.

"I’m Maggie."

"Duke.” Was his only response.

Formal introductions did little to undercut the strangeness of the situation, Duke suddenly choosing to do right for a change, working toward a greater good. But despite all the trouble Duke Nukem had caused them, Captain Pollution was the greater threat; maybe Duke finally saw that. It took a few moments to gather his thoughts, but once he did, Kwame took a breath, before asking.

"So, why the sudden change of heart Duke, why help us?"

"What do you want to hear, that I had a sudden crisis of conscience?” Duke spat out sarcastically and Kwame only glared at him.

Duke sighed in resignation, before going into detail about what had happened, Blight’s betrayal, Pollution’s demands.

“So, it’s self preservation then. Blight betrayed you and Pollution wants to drain you completely of your power.” Kwame said, sounding incredulous toward Duke, who only scoffed at his disbelief.

"Did you expect anything different? You guys are my last resort too, we need each other.” He retorted, earning a piercing glare from Linka.

"What’s to stop you from betraying us, the first chance you get?” She asked him in an accusatory tone. Duke only shrugged, as he answered her question.

"Again, what choice do you have?” When he saw that this did little to dissipate Linka’s critical stare, he relented.

"You have my word. I won’t try anything, until we go our separate ways.” Linka still seemed skeptical, but after a long moment, she allowed herself to relax, if only slightly.

She’d have to make this work, she owed it to Ma-Ti, she thought to herself. After a while, the absurdity of their situation gave way to a sort of normalcy. And yet, none of them were sure what they were going to do next. One thing was clear; if they didn’t act soon, Pollution would find them, and he would kill them. “So… what’s the plan?” Wheeler eventually asked, met with faces that told him none of them had any better of an idea of how to move forward. It was Duke who finally spoke up.

"First, I need to get my batteries back to 100%."

"Can we help with that?” Wheeler asked, pausing as the absurdity of asking one of their longtime enemies how to make him stronger sank in. Duke piped up almost immediately.

"A little grub wouldn’t hurt."

"Food? That’s it?” Wheeler asked, flabbergasted by the simplicity of Duke’s request.

“Yeah. I can absorb ambient radiation, solar power… which my body converts into more… destructive forms of radiation. But I can also take energy from metabolized food and drink. It'll speed up the process.” Duke explained and Wheeler looked almost relieved that it didn’t take some complex actions or equipment.

"I’ll see what we have.” In a short time, the Planeteers, plus Duke, were eating whatever Wheeler could find to cook; hot dogs, burgers, chicken.

Glumly, it passed into each of their minds that this might be their last meal. As their meal neared an end, another thought entered Wheeler’s mind.

"After we get Duke up to full power, then what? We have our rings, but that wasn’t enough last time…” Linka thought for a moment, before responding to Wheeler’s worries.

"I can call in a few favors, have some supplies delivered to us.”

***
True to her word, Linka made a few calls and, within a few days, a series of loud, incessant knocks landed on the front door. Everyone jumped at the sound, nerves frayed after everything that had happened. That is, everyone except for Linka. Getting up and walking to the front of the house, Linka opened the door without hesitation, just as the others moved to see what was going on. Standing there was a tall, pale man with dark hair and wearing a black colored jacket. Linka and the man moved in for a hug, before pulling back.

"Hey Dimitri, good of you to come all this way.” Wheeler stepped up, to get a better look at the man, who immediately responded to his presence.

"Hey, you must be Wheeler. Link’s told us a lot about you."

"Really?” Came Wheeler’s response, sounding mildly shocked.

"Yeah, she mentions you every chance she gets, must be a great guy.” Dimitri teased and it was now Linka’s turn to blush, before she punched him in the arm, only serving to make everyone chuckle.

And Linka couldn’t help but crack a smile herself; it was a much needed break from the seemingly unending turmoil at their doorstep. After a moment, Dimitri backed off and the group followed him outside. Piled up in their driveway were what looked to be a number of large crates and weapons cases, a few people still unloading boxes from the back of a nondescript white truck.

"I guess you guys are into something pretty big then.” Dimitri noted and, without missing a beat, Kwame retorted.

"You have no idea.” Dimitri looked to be about to ask a follow up question, but he was interrupted when Gi ran outside and spoke frantically.

"Guys, you’re gonna want to see this.” Not waiting for a response, she moved back inside and was followed by the others, including a curious Dimitri.

***
“How could you let Duke escape!” Blight shouted at one of her security officers, who shrunk under her angry tirade.

"I’m sorry ma’am, it won’t happen again…” Blight balled her hand into a fist, but was shaken from her fury by her head scientist who approached.

"You’d better have good news…” He was already shaking, as he spoke, stuttering some over his words.

"G-good… and bad… I may have a way to give your rings more control over Pollution…"

"But…” She uttered, more a demand than a question."

"...but the operative term is rings. I’d need all of them to be sure and, last I checked, Mr. Plunder and Mr. Skumm’s are in an evidence locker right now.” Blight immediately spun around and punched the scientist in the face, knocking him to the ground.

The man looked up at her, blood pouring from his lip, a mild look of anger in his eyes. But Blight’s burning stare melted him where he lay.

"Get out of my sight, both of you!” She shouted and the security officer helped the scientist to his feet, as they both quickly sprinted out of the room.

Blight turned and punched the table, with all her fury, the metal buckling and denting under her blow. Taking a moment to calm her nerves, she looked down at the ring still around her finger; This wasn’t over, she thought to herself.

***
The Planeteers, along with Dimitri, stood in front of the TV, watching a horrifying news story unfold before their very eyes.

"-man with sickly yellow skin who called himself ‘Captain Pollution’ began an attack on civilians earlier today. Weapons seemed to have little effect and he showed inhuman abilities…” The reporter frantically uttered in front of the camera, looking visibly shaken.

"...he then flew, you heard that right, flew toward an office complex downtown. Moments later… there was an explosion. We have no news on the amount of casualties, but those who’ve managed to escape the epicenter have been reported to be suffering from severe radiation poisoning. The CDC and US army have been called to offer assistance, and the area has been placed under quarantine, until-” With a look of frustration, Kwame turned the TV off, tossing the remote on the table.

“He’s escalating…” Kwame said, uncertainty and anger in his voice.

"He’s trying to goad us into a confrontation, on his terms.” Gi pointed out, placing her hand on Kwame’s shoulder, in an attempt to offer support.

"What choice do we have?” Wheeler contributed and LInka nodded at his sentiment.

"He’s right, this was always the plan. It might be sooner than we all wanted, but this is our only chance!"

"What are you guys into?” Dimitri looked horrified by the sudden realization of the stakes.

“If Pollution is so radioactive, how are we gonna get close to him?” Maggie asked, sounding worried, after the horrific details of the news program.

"Our rings give us protection against some passive forms of harmful radiation…” Kwame began, before adding.

"...but maybe you should stay back. Even if you stick close to us, it could be dangerous. Pollution-"

"Screw that, I’m going, I didn’t come this far just to give up.” Kwame couldn’t help but smile at her tenacity and decided against pressing the issue again.

They turned their heads to the door, when they heard the truck pulling out of the driveway. Kwame and Maggie left the house, to see Linka speaking with Dimitri.

"What are you doing, Dimitri?"

"I’m staying until this is done, you might need me.” Came his response.

"It’s too dangerous, you’ve never met Pollution!” Linka objected, but Dimitri stood his ground.

"I know that. But after all we’ve been through, we’re family. And I’m not about to leave you to face that. I may not be a Planeteer or whatever you call yourselves, but I’m still your friend.” Linka finally relented, at his words, even offering a small smile, grateful to have him by her side.

When they walked back into the house, the first thing that caught Dimitri’s eye was a large, yellow skinned man walking in from the back room.

"Oh, uh… they not gone yet?” Duke said, sounding as if he was just caught with his proverbial hand in the cookie jar.

"Who’s that? Is that that Captain Pollution guy?” Dimitri immediately asked, concern evident in his voice, before Kwame put his hand up to diffuse the situation.

"Relax, he’s with us. Dimitri, Duke, Duke, this is Dimitri. Dimitri’s staying for a while.” Kwame’s explanation seemed to calm things down considerably, although the two still looked each other over for a moment longer, apprehensively.

After a moment however, both Dimitri and Duke finally relaxed some, as tensions eased.

“So, he’s like, on your team or something?” Dimitri asked curiously and Wheeler interjected.

"He’s with us, for now, let’s leave it at that.” Wheeler’s words sounded curt, even though he was the one who had vouched for Duke; and Dimitri nodded in understanding.

"Got it.” Now that things had calmed down for a moment, Maggie decided to ask the next logical question.

"What do we do now?"

"We find a way to get past the blockade, and we take the fight to Pollution.” Linka said with a confidence that felt infections, instilling in the others a small sense of hope; hope that they had a chance.

They began gearing up, arming themselves with numerous explosives and firearms. They loaded a few of the heavy weapons crates into the back of the van and loaded in, taking off down the road, split between the two vehicles. The trip was mostly silent, each of them playing over the events that had transpired, the people they’d lost. They’d hardly had time to mourn since the funeral. It hardly seemed real…

***
The cars pulled up, just a few streets away from the blockade set up, leading to downtown. Even this area seemed deserted, desolate, people likely having fled for their own safety. They approached a sewer manhole and pried it open with a crowbar, looking down the long dark tunnel. Next was going to be difficult, they began the painstaking process of carrying several of the heavy crates down the stairs and into the sewers with them. Once down, they began their trek, toward their final objective…

***
Pollution stood in the lobby of the building, its topmost floors reduced to rubble and lit ablaze. He faced the door, arms crossed, as if waiting for something. Behind him were a large group of people, huddled together in fear. One man was throwing up, his face pale and sores appearing on his body. Another of the office workers rubbed his back, as she tried to ease the man’s suffering. Eventually, she turned to face Pollution and called out, voice still shaky with fear.

"You have to… let us get him to the hospital, he’s sick!” Pollution turned his head to eye her and the sick man, without turning the rest of his body, a wicked smirk appearing on his face.

"Trust me, sweetie, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.” He turned to once again look out of the doors, when he heard her voice once more.

"Please!” Was all she could manage, sounding desperate and panicked.

Pollution sighed, his smile vanishing, as he turned to walk toward the group of people. The entire group reflexively gasped and held their breaths, as Pollution neared, the woman who had addressed him the only one to maintain eye contact. He reached down and grabbed the man by the throat and, as the man gargled for breath, Pollution squeezed, twisting the man’s neck to an unnatural angle, with a snap. He then let the man’s dead body fall to the ground at his feet.

"There, no more pain. Happy?” The woman couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, she could only gaze up in horror and then down at the now lifeless body, as Pollution walked back toward the door; with the proud, smug grin having returned to his face.

***
Once the Planeteers were sure they’d passed the blockade, they began their move up, opening another manhole and struggling to accomplish the even more difficult task of dragging the crates up the staircase and to ground level. But with a considerable amount of effort and teamwork, they accomplished their goal, hauling the last of the crates out into the California sun. Now, they only needed to find Pollution. One saving grace in this whole mess was that the news crew showed the building that had been attacked, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to locate. Assuming Pollution was still there, that was. The group split up from here, they had a plan to follow.

Maggie, Dimitri and Duke went in one group, Duke lifted one of the cases by himself, while Maggie and Dimitri took the other. And the Planeteers went on their own path, straight for the office building, straight toward Pollution. They were ready this time. But still, none of them were sure if it would even matter in the end. In their last confrontation, they had barely escaped with their lives; without Captain Planet, what hope did they have, even with all of their planning… In a matter of minutes, the Planeteers turned onto a main street as they neared the office.

They could see the smoke, still billowing into the sky, smell the ash. They saw carnage all around them, a swath of destruction and mayhem. Until, as they neared closer and closer, they saw him, Pollution, just standing there, waiting. And at the same moment, he saw them… Pollution began to walk out of the office and the huddled and terrified civilians were close to breathing a sigh of relief.

Until he turned his head to look at them, a wicked glint in his eye. And, with a bright flash of light from his body, each and everyone of them was burned to a cinder, as the lobby erupted in a powerful explosion. From the massive cloud of resultant dust and smoke, walked the yellow skinned lunatic, a wide, fiendish and blood curdling smile plastered on his face. As the building buckled and fell behind him, Pollution stepped with wicked intent, until he stood before the Planeteers.

"Hey guys, what’s up? Miss me?” The Planeteers got into a defensive stance. It was now or never, this was their only shot.

"Water!"

"Wind!”

Gi and Linka said in quick succession, Gi forming a powerful spray of water, while Linka’s wind turned it into a galeforce tsunami on land.

The massive wave of water overtook Pollution, tossing him back and forth in its wake, lifting him from the ground. But after a few moments of the obstructed humanoid figure within the wall of water being tossed about, it suddenly stopped moving, still in midair. And the water encasing him began to bubble, steam and evaporate. After a moment, the water was no more and what was left was a yellow, glowing figure, that slowly cooled back to its base temperature, revealing a still mostly unscathed Pollution.

"Earth!"

"Fire!”

Kwame and Wheeler said quickly, not wanting to give Pollution the chance to recover. Kwame’s green energy lifted sections of the ground, along with dust and debris, into the air, forming them into a solid object, which was soon engulfed by Wheeler’s flames. The flames superheated the earthen materials, until it was little more than a massive sphere of molten rock. The duo then tossed the molten rock toward Pollution, coating him and causing Pollution’s flesh to begin to sizzle and burn.

"Aaaaaagggggghhhhhh!!!” Pollution let out an ear splitting scream, as his body was incinerated by heated Earth.

The obstructed shape under the red hot, liquid rock struggled to move, but the rock began to cool and harden. To quicken the process, Gi held out her ring again and a spray of water coated the trapped Pollution, causing steam to billow into the sky. And when it cleared, all that was left was a nondescript structure of black glass.

They stood with baited breath, hoping beyond hope that they had finally defeated Captain Pollution. But the moment they dared believe they’d won, the glass began to crack and fall away. Within a moment, the black, hardened structure burst in a powerful explosion, revealing Pollution at its epicenter, scowling with pure rage.

"Alright, that’s it! Now, I’m going to kill ya! One. By. One. So… who’s first?” None of them could hide the look of true fear that penetrated their very cores.

But at that moment, a rocket flew from the sky to their right, impacting Pollution’s left side in an explosion that made him skid along the ground. It took him a moment to get his bearings, but when he did, he looked at the top of the building, to see Maggie, holding a rocket launcher on her shoulder. When she realized he saw her, her heart nearly stopped. He moved toward the building, beginning to fly up into the air, when another rocket impacted him on the back, causing him to fly back to the ground with a crash.

Pollution quickly got to his knees, looking up to where Maggie had been, but she was gone. He then turned toward the other building, to see Dimitri with another rocket launcher in his hands, looking no less terrified. This time, Pollution sped up to the building with blinding speed, hovering in the air just above Dimitri.

"You’re gonna pay for that…” Pollution uttered through gritted teeth, as Dimitri backed up.

Pollution lowered himself onto the roof and slowly approached Dimitri. Dimitri backed up, until he felt himself bump up against the rooftop entrance, with a start. Pollution smiled, as he raised his hand.

"Nowhere left to run, brat!"

"No, there isn’t!” Pollution heard a deep, gravelly voice, just as he felt a powerful pair of arms go around his torso, squeezing him in a vice grip.

Duke had hidden on the fire escape, this was the plan from the beginning, Pollution realized only too late.

“Duke, still sore about before, eh? The white hat isn’t a good look for ya!” Pollution said, still struggling to get free and Duke quickly retorted.

"Nah, just wanna see you dead is all.” Still unable to free himself, Pollution flew into the sky, taking Duke with him.

Duke began trying to siphon Pollution’s powers, but Pollution slammed himself straight down and into the Earth. The Planeteers stood by, watching as Duke gave it everything he had, still maintaining his hold on Pollution.

"It didn’t have to be like this, Duke, we could have made a great team, you and I.” Pollution said and Duke only smiled, his grip weakening, even as he still tried to drain enough of Pollution’s power.

"Yeah, no. I know you don’t play well with others…”

“You know, I hate to say it, but when you’re right, you’re right.” Pollution said mockingly, as his body began to produce more and more radioactive energy, becoming electrified with power.

Duke groaned in pain, unable to keep up. Then, the buildup of energy created a wave that extended from Pollution’s body, weakening Duke’s grip, until finally, Pollution delivered an elbow to the mutant man, knocking him hard against the building behind, with a crash. The Planeteers gasped in realization and fear, as Pollution shot his hand forward, piercing fingers into Duke Nukem’s gut, blood pouring from his rock-like skin and onto the ground below. The Planeteers each raised their rings, but Pollution just gave them a condescending look, almost daring them to attack.

“Go ahead, hit us both, you know the only one you’ll actually hurt. But maybe you never really cared about Duke here anyway.” Pollution taunted them sadistically and Duke looked at them, a look of pain across his face for the first time since they’d known him.

The Planeteers lowered their arms in defeat. Just then, the energy Duke had taken began to flow back into Pollution, and then more and more. Until Duke was nearly drained, and still Pollution took more of his life from him. In a matter of moments, Duke was completely drained, his eyes two hollow voids of blackness, his arms limp at his sides. And Pollution tossed him behind him, sending him into the wall of a far building with a crash.

"There’s nothing we can do…” Gi said, defeat in her voice.

"There may be one thing…” Kwame spoke up and the others looked at him, as he continued.

"Our rings are more powerful than they were before. Maybe… maybe we can summon Captain Planet without… without Ma-Ti…” His voice broke, as he spoke.

“Do you think that’s possible?” Wheeler asked and Linka responded.

"It’s our only hope.” Pollution, who had just been standing there for a few moments, finally spoke.

"What’re you brats whispering about? You giving up already?” Hearing Pollution’s words and nodding to each other in agreement, they raised their arms into the sky.

"Earth!"

"Fire!"

"Wind!"

"Water!”

Kwame, Wheeler, Linka and Gi said respectively and, like before, their powers swirled together in the sky, pausing as they waited for a fifth. But after a moment, the sky turned red and thunder crashed, before a beam of energy shot toward the ground between them and Pollution. “No…” Pollution said, in disbelief of the events transpiring before him.

"By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!” A voice said, as the light faded, revealing the same blue skinned hero they’d first come to know so many years ago.

"Hey, rest easy now, I’ve got this.” Planet turned to give them a reassuring smile.

The only thing that was different about him was the fact that the ‘planet’ insignia on his chest was now dull and faded in color. He then turned back to face Pollution, his smile disappearing.

"Your fight’s with me now.” Pollution burst into the sky, followed quickly by Planet, flying around each other, before stopping and staring each other down.

"This shouldn’t be possible!” Pollution roared and Planet only smiled at his frustration.

"A little upgrade from Gaia, I guess she anticipated some trouble from you.” The callous way in which Planet spoke gave Pollution pause.

"Something’s different about you…” Planet didn’t respond, instead moving in and delivering a series of powerful punches to Pollution and knocking him backwards.

On the ground, Maggie and Dimitri rejoined the Planeteers, looking up at the battle being waged overhead.

“I didn’t think you could do that without Ma-Ti.” Maggie inquired and Kwame, still looking up, responded.

"I didn’t either. But we were out of options."

"Duke?” Dimitri asked and Wheeler just shook his head, glancing to the partially collapsed building through which he was tossed.

The battle created shockwaves that they could feel from the ground. It worried them, but also gave them hope. Hope that they might actually be able to win this one.

***
Pollution turned his body into noxious pollutants, moving at Planet, who responded by turning his body into a raging inferno, that shot out to surround Pollution. The heat of Planet’s body engulfing Pollution forced Pollution to retake solid form. In response, Pollution charged his body with pure radioactive energy, becoming superheated himself. A moment later, the energy burst out in a miniature explosion, blowing Planet’s body apart, reducing him to small embers and billowing smoke, which soon reformed Planet’s own body. The two were exchanging blow for blow. In spite of his aggravation, having failed to be rid of Planet, he still cracked a smile.

“So, Planet, you-” Pollution’s words were cut short, when Captain Planet moved at him, grabbing him by the throat.

He then kneed Pollution in the gut and slammed a fist into his back, sending Pollution plummeting to the Earth below. Captain Planet lowered himself down, in front of Pollution, who panted for breath, getting slowly back to his feet.

"You… are different…"

"Maybe I am. But if that’s what I need to be, to rid the world of the likes of you, then I like different.” Captain Planet retorted.

Pollution glared at his long time adversary, not sure what it exactly was, until he noticed the emblem and it clicked, eliciting another wicked smile from the villain… Pollution’s smirk was cut short however, when Captain Planet rushed at him, his arm turning into solid stone and ore, as it pierced straight through Pollution’s chest.

"You…” Pollution uttered, yellow cracks appearing along his face, intersecting with his eyes. Captain Planet stared into them with a cold indifference, as he spoke.

"Just die.” At that, Pollution let out a scream of pain and fury, as his body pulsed with energy and erupted, leaving a smoking crater where the two stood.

Only Planet remained, his arm returning to normal, as he scoffed. Captain Planet walked back up to the Planeteers, a warm smile on his face.

"Pollution won’t be giving you problems anymore."

"I can’t believe you did it, Cap!” Wheeler smacked Planet on the arm and the blue skinned hero brushed off his arm, giving Wheeler a piercing stare that made him freeze in his tracks.

Kwame held out his ring expectantly, only to have Planet put up his hand dismissively.

"Not just yet, Kwame, I have a few things I need to clean up first.” Kwame nodded, that made sense, he supposed Planet wanted to help put things right.

They watched as Captain Planet lifted into the sky and flew off. Below the Earth’s surface, Pollution walked through the sewer tunnels, face still cracked and broken, a large hole in his chest, which seeped radiation. He was weak, leaning against a wall for support, as he walked.

"I’ll kill them, I’ll kill them all… I’ll be back, bigger than ever. They’ll pay for what they’ve done…” He muttered to himself, the only thing keeping him going being his pure and unadulterated fury.

But even that wasn’t enough to sustain him indefinitely. After a few more steps, Pollution collapsed, falling into unconsciousness.

***
True to his word, over the next several days, Captain Planet helped repair the cities affected by the Eco Terrorists’ actions, as well as a number of other environmental problems. He seemed to be working around the clock and Kwame, seeing the events unfold on the news, wondered if this was going to be a turning point, ushering an era of prosperity for humanity. He looked on, at the captured video of Planet moving at impossible speeds, fixing any problems he came across. And a sense of optimism filled his heart. Ma-Ti would have loved to see this… As days turned into weeks, things continued on in much the same way, with Captain Planet’s continuous heroism causing the planet’s crime rate and general levels of corruption to plummet.

Even the environment seemed to be gradually improving, although it would likely take years before the damage could be reversed, even at this rate. But it was something, for the first time, it seemed they could take a real breather. It almost seemed too good to be true, something did seem off about Captain Planet, Kwame thought to himself. But in spite of him confessing his reservations, the others had insisted that he was imagining things, that he was still grieving. Maybe they were right, Kwame decided, maybe he was just allowing his anguish to inform his thoughts.

They only planned on staying until the end of the month, when Ma-Ti’s rent was up, and they were using the time to recuperate from their ordeal. Dimitri had gone back to Russia, but Maggie decided to stick around for a while. After all, her place of work had just been leveled to the ground. Kwame looked out of the window, just as Captain Planet flew overhead, speeding past them in a streak of blue and red, and he smiled. Not every corrupt business owner had closed up shop on their illegal dealings the second Captain Planet had reappeared, believing they’d go under the radar. And it was true, Planet was very busy these days. But he was working through his list quickly.

As he had begun dismantling a number of smaller front companies, a man on the top floor of an office building began to panic. He shredded documents, smashed computer hard drives, and prepared to run, when a blue object caught the periphery of his vision, hovering just outside his window. Turning to his window, the man slowly walked toward it, sliding the glass open to face Captain Planet, as he hovered in mid air. The man thought to run, but he knew he wouldn’t get very far. Even so, as Captain Planet slowly glided, until he was within the office building’s bounds, the man backed up, entire body shaking in fear.

Captain Planet touched down, feet touching the executive office’s cush carpeting, as he continued to approach the company CEO. Finally, the man’s back hit the far wall and he put his hands up, Planet stopping only a few feet from the man. “Okay, okay, you got me.” The man said, suddenly trying to feign a flippant attitude, as Captain Planet stared him down, putting his hand on the man’s upper arm to guide him away from the wall. The man began to walk back toward the center of the room, before stopping and turning to look Planet straight in the eyes.

"Take me to jail, I’ll be out by the end of the day. I have money, a team of lawyers. Hell, I can pull a few strings and end up in front of one of my friends in the court. Face it, you’ll never make a difference locking me, or any of us up.” He gloated, earning a cold, blood curdling glare from Planet.

The FBI arrived on the street, acting on reports of corruption, polluting and a number of other illegal activities, by CEO Charles Harrison. The group of FBI agents began their approach to the building when, suddenly and without warning, a body fell to the ground with a sickening splatter, right at their feet. The team was immediately put on guard, looking up to try and locate the source of the body. It was a tall building, but they could barely make out an open window on the top floor. Their attention was brought back to the ground when, after a sudden whoosh of air, Captain Planet appeared right before them.

They were unsure of what to think, he couldn’t have possibly done this. Captain Planet said nothing, only staring at the agents with a cold indifference, before casually raising into the sky and flying off. After that, whispers began to spread, that Captain Planet’s targets were no longer ending up in prison, they were being sent to the morgue. The FBI looked over video taken from the corporate office, video that showed Captain Planet dangling a man by the throat and dropping him. What was even more chilling was that he made no effort to conceal this, like he didn’t care if they knew.

***
Images of Captain Planet flashed across the TV screen, a news program playing muted in the background, as the Planeteers gathered to discuss the recent turn of events.

"Those stories have to be lies, we’ve made plenty of enemies who’d want to tarnish his good name.” Wheeler said, a sound of uncertainty creeping into his voice.

"I’m telling you, something’s not right, I saw it in his eyes. We need to get to the bottom of this.” Was Kwame’s passionate response. There was a long silence, before Gi finally spoke up.

"Gaia will know what’s wrong, we should go to Hope Island."

"What’s Hope Island?” Maggie asked, earning her a look from the others, not particularly hostile, but which caused her to feel like the odd man out once again.

***
Captain Planet walked through the doors of the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant in Wintersburg, fifty-five miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, earning the sudden attention of the workers within. Many looked frightened or uneasy, having heard the stories and the rumors that had spread. The plant’s Operation Manager approached Planet, trying to mask his own apprehension at the visit.

"Can I help you?” Captain Planet offered an attempt at a friendly smile, but the cold, almost dead stare caused the manager to visibly gulp in nervousness.

"I guess we’ll find out.” Captain Planet said, not dropping his unsettling smile and the manager’s blood ran cold.

After what felt like an eternity passed between them, but was only in reality a few seconds, Captain Planet continued.

"You’re the Plant Manager, I take it."

"Th-that I am.” The man stuttered out, shrinking under Planet’s scrutinous gaze.

He wouldn’t have to suffer too long, as Planet immediately moved the conversation along, seeming disinterested in the man’s discomfort.

"Well then, you’re the man I need to see…” Captain Planet’s smile suddenly vanished as his brow twisted down into a deathly glare. "You’ll be closing down plant operations, effective immediately. And notifying your superiors that all plants under their control will do the same.”

Captain Planet’s smile returned, as if to punctuate his words, before he turned and began to walk away. The manager reached out and grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving. Captain Planet turned suddenly and glared at the man, with a malicious spark of hatred blazing forth, making the man feel two inches tall. The man immediately let go, but managed to choke out his words.

"I- I can’t, a lot of people depend on these plants for power, they’re not dangerous. Please… if-” Captain Planet furiously cut off his words.

"I didn’t ask you if your plants were dangerous. This form of radiation is sickening. You’ll shut down immediately. Or suffer worse consequences than a few insects going without power. I’ll be back later to dispose of your refuse.” At that, Captain Planet walked out of the door and flew off into the sky, leaving a group of frightened and bewildered workers in his wake.

***
The Geo-Cruiser flew over the Atlantic Ocean, toward the Bahamas, where Hope Island had appeared ten years ago.

"That’s not possible…” Linka said, as she piloted the aircraft, looking on in astonishment, out of the front windshield.

Maggie and Kwame both stood and walked toward the front of the ship, Maggie’s face expressing a look of confusion.

"What’s going on, what’s wrong?” She questioned, gazing down at the wide expanse of open ocean.

"Hope Island, it’s gone…” Wheeler answered in a whisper, a sound of hopelessness creeping into his voice.

***
The Plant Manager walked back onto the reactor floor, using a megaphone to carry his voice. He’d been forced to call his superiors, after Captain Planet’s surprise visit, and his ultimatum. With a heavy sight, he gave his workers the news.

"Alright, I’ll make this brief. They’re listening to his… request. We’ll be ceasing operations effective immediately… start shutting it down.” The workers, looks of defeat on their faces, set about fulfilling their instructions; what would ultimately be their final instructions…

“Oh, trust me…” The manager heard a voice coming from behind him and quickly turned around. "That won’t be necessary…” The voice continued as he stared down the darkened corridor, hearing heavy footfalls echoing off the metal of the catwalk.

It was a male voice, somewhat high pitched, with an almost mocking edge to it. He knew it wasn’t one of his workers. A red gloved hand reached from the darkness to grip the door frame, the metal smoking and burning at his mere touch.

"Not necessary at all! Hahahahaha…”

***
The Planeteers returned to their home base in California, unsure of what else to do, or where to go.

"Hope Island has disappeared before. Last time Gaia left us, it went with her. We even went looking then too, remember?” Wheeler said angrily, unable to contain his frustration.

"But I don’t understand, Gaia came back, shouldn’t it be there?” Gi asked, attempting to make sense of everything happening around them. Maggie decided to try and offer an explanation, despite her limited experience with the Planeteers.

"Maybe something happened to her, maybe she’s in danger or something."

"Maybe…” Came Kwame’s only response, barely stirred from his deep train of thought; What should they do now…?

***
Camera crews gathered in the Assembly Hall of the United Nations Building in New York, New York. Those present represented every major news station from every country on the planet. Apparently, they’d all been contacted and informed of a very important announcement that would affect the entire human race, something nobody would pass up the chance to cover. But as they all gathered around, waiting for this announcement, they noticed something. Each and every Nation’s representative looked visibly frightened, almost shaking.

The confused and excited bustling of voices fell dead quiet, as Captain Planet walked into the room, taking center stage, as he surveyed the room. Hundreds of cameras centered on him as he finally spoke.

"People of the world, of every nation on Earth: I stand before you to address a major concern with the safety and prosperity of this planet. You…” He said, his voice dropping several octaves, as he stared accusingly at the captive audience.

Now, even the camera and news crews were shaking in fear, feeling as if they were the ones on display. In so many ways, they were… The Planeteers were all feeling lost, hopeless, unsure of what to do next. They were shaken from their stupor when Kwame called them into the living room.

"Come here, quickly! You have to see this…” The others arrived, just as he turned the volume to maximum.

He flipped through the stations to show that it was on every channel. And not only that, it was streaming on a number of websites, it had instantly gone viral.

“-years, people have polluted and contaminated the planet, causing other life to become extinct…” Captain Planet spoke to the cameras, his sight draining the color from the Planeteers’ faces.

"...but more than that, you have allowed unchecked population growth to deplete the Earth’s resources. So I am implementing a new policy. Effective immediately, every town, city or equivalent territory on this planet will be required to construct and implement selective population reduction centers. The process will involve a painless form of euthanasia, selected via a lottery system. each person will have an equal chance of being selected for the year’s quota. No exceptions. Those who do not comply will have their populations reduced by force.” Captain Planet’s words sent shivers of dread down their spines.

It couldn’t be real. But there he was, talking about murdering millions of people, in order to reduce the population…

“We need to find him, something happened when we summoned him, he came here wrong!” Kwame said, his cool and collected demeanor now gone. His voice was near panic.

"But where do we even start looking?” Gi asked, looking like she was barely restraining herself from a similar panic attack.

Kwame took a look at the others, the worry and fatigue in their eyes, and he rubbed his own, taking a moment to try and think.

"I- I don’t know…” He said, visibly shaking. Wheeler walked over and put an arm on Kwame’s shoulder reassuringly.

"Hey, don’t worry, we’ll find him. And we’ll put things right.” Kwame was taken aback, Wheeler was now the one who sounded so calm, so sure they could fix everything.

Tears welled up in Kwame’s eyes and, in an instant, he moved in and hugged Wheeler. Now it was Wheeler’s turn to be surprised, they were friends sure, but Wheeler and Kwame were the ones whose personalities most often clashed. But after a moment, Wheeler returned the hug, letting his friend take a moment, to lean on someone else for a change; he deserved that much.

***
People moved in a panic, crossing the street, as Captain Planet stepped with confidence down the sidewalk, either oblivious to, or unconcerned with, others’ fear of him. He stopped at an electronics store, a large display TV showing a news program, the scroll along the bottom reading ‘Arizona Experiencing Record Blackouts’. And he smiled widely. Things were going to get better, the lowly humans would come to thank him in time. After all, this great change was all thanks to him…

***
Captain Pollution walked out of the reactor of the now dead nuclear power plant, human bodies charred beyond recognition. In his hand, he held a uranium fuel rod, which he squeezed tightly in his grip. His body surged with energy, as he absorbed the radioactive particles into himself. He continued to drain power from the rod, until it began to deteriorate and turn to dust in his fingers. He was ready now, for his rematch…

***
On Hope Island, several miles above the surface of the Earth, two figures stood.

"This has gone too far…” Gaia said, observing the events unfolding on the planet’s surface.

"Oh, please, you knew what needed to be done, this is the only way to save your precious planet. Zarm walked up to her, still clad in his new, silver armor, prompting her to turn her head to glare at him.

"Is it? Or is it simply what YOU convinced me needed to be done, Zarm… or should I start calling you Ares again? Or Mars?"

"It’s about time I reclaim my original name, don’t you think? Please, call me Ares.” He said with a smarmy tone to his voice.

Gaia turned back to once again gaze out beyond the borders of Hope Island, using her abilities to view the Earth and its plight.

“Don’t act so innocent…” Zarm shot at her, as he looked down on the Earth, as well. "You’ve been lying to the Planeteers from the very beginning. I know you told them about their predecessors. But you didn’t tell them what happened to them, what you began to understand even then…”

Gaia clenched her eyes shut, her brow furrowing in a look of anguish.

"I just didn’t know Pollution would hurt so many, I can feel them…” Gaia said somberly and Pollution only stepped closer.

"Is it any less pain than you feel, when they poison your world? It was your idea to use Pollution, Gaia, you knew what he was. But we needed someone who could do what needed to be done, to eliminate the heart, then force the other Planeteers’ hands. YOU made the rings work, without the presence of Heart. Because we needed a more ruthless Captain Planet, to do what needs to be done!” Gaia sighed and her expression relaxed.

"You’re right…” Gaia finally said.

"Humans’ unchecked growth and freedom are a threat to the Earth… they have to be reigned in…”

Chapter Text

A man walked down the street, taking one last sip of his soda, before tossing the can idly toward the direction of a recycling bin to his right. The lid had been closed, but the can feel far short of even reaching the top of the bin, falling to the ground and rolling to a stop. The man kept walking, until he heard a whooshing coming from behind him. He turned to see Captain Planet standing, arms bent and fists placed on his hips, as he stared judgmentally at the man.

"Excuse me, sir. There’s a recycle bin right here.” Captain Planet spoke, gesturing toward the bin with his head. The man’s face furrowed in a look of bemusement, as he scoffed and uttered dismissively.

"Get bent, ya blue freak.” He then turned to continue on his path, only to stop in his tracks, as Captain Planet again appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Put it in the bin.” Captain Planet ordered, his easy going attitude from moments ago now gone.

In an almost panic, the man scurried over to where his can lay, and moved it from the ground to the blue recycle bin, putting his hands up in defeat, before running off. Captain Planet smiled in satisfaction, before continuing on, to his destination. Captain Planet soon arrived at his destination and stepped inside the building, watching as workers continually brought supplies into the facility. Planet was directly overseeing the conversion of a facility in Washington D.C., to accommodate his orders, for ‘mandatory euthanasia’. Many more places seemed to be moving more slowly, perhaps if he personally taught a city the penalty for tardiness, the rest of the human populace would fall in line, Planet thought to himself.

Several news crews were present, watching and filming work being done at the new facility. People who might very well have the chance to test the new equipment being brought in, Planet mused in silent disinterest.

***
People quickly scattered from the streets as Captain Pollution walked unfazed, his body surging with newfound power. Pollution stopped in front of a storefront, only to see one of the workers back away, back inside, in abject fear. Pollution moved to follow the worker, if for no other reason than to amuse himself. Just then, a figure appeared behind him and with a bemused tone, Pollution spoke, not even bothering to turn around.

"Hello, dad."

"I would never have spawned such a foul creature. Now stop what you’re doing at once!” Ares demanded of Pollution, who only scoffed, as he finally turned to face his surrogate parent.

“And why should I? I’m having fun, pops!” Pollution said jovially, holding out both hands for emphasis. Ares merely scowled at him, a fury burning in his eyes.

"I am the reason you are here, now! I called the great meteor that restored your powers! You were brought back for a reason, now obey!” Captain Pollution seemed to think for a long moment, before responding with a cocky smirk.

"No, no I don’t think I will.” Pollution stared into Ares’ eyes and saw them widen.

But they didn’t widen in response to Pollution, no. Pollution turned back around to the storefront to see the new object of Ares’ near panic. It was news footage of Captain Planet, at a facility in Washington D.C. Pollution immediately turned back to Ares who stared hatefully back at Pollution.

"Don’t you dare-!” Ares began, but Pollution lifted an arm to literally wave him off.

"Sorry to leave you hangin’ pops, but I gotta fly. Catch ya later!” Pollution said, as he took off into the sky.

***
Captain Planet continued to watch as more and more equipment and machinery was brought into the facility, moved around and plugged in. He allowed his mind to wander out of boredom, as he oversaw the facility be brought to life around him. He was disturbed from his reverie when a portion of wall directly behind him suddenly erupted in a violent explosion. Turning around slowly, Captain planet was met with a shocking sight. Standing amidst the dust and crumbling debris was Captain Pollution…

“So, you’ve managed to survive. Like a cockroach.” Captain Planet uttered with a sound of loathing and contempt, his arms crossed smugly, as he stared Pollution down. Pollution returned his gaze with a cocky smile of his own.

"What can I say? I’m nothing if not persistent. You should’ve gotten rid of the power plants a long time ago, a little late to the party on that one, Planet!"

"I won’t make that mistake again.” Pollution and Planet exchanged, before Pollution cocked his head to the side.

"No. You won’t!” Pollution said and raised his hands to suddenly blast Planet dead center with a bolt of pure radiation.

Captain Planet was sent flying backwards, through a number of shelves and boxes. Captain Planet slowly stood, before rushing toward Captain Pollution, knocking him in the gut and pushing the both of them out of the building. Pollution was tossed into a truck on the opposite side of the street with a crash, metal twisting around his form. But a moment later, energy surged from his body and he effortlessly ripped the frame apart, freeing himself. Planet looked unfazed, smiling smugly at his counterpart.

"This ends now, Pollution. Give up and your death will be quick."

"Yours won’t!” Pollution retorted, as he flew at Planet now.

Captain Planet and Captain Pollution met in the middle, with a violent crash, shattering the Earth under their feet. They rose into the air, exchanging punches that created shockwaves, blowing out the windows of nearby cars. Planet tried to get some distance from Pollution in the air, but Pollution shot a beam of powerful radiation at Planet. Planet flew around, just narrowly avoiding the beam, before returning the attack with a stream of intense flames from his hand. Pollution ducked under the inferno and rushed in, impacting Planet in the gut with both fists and knocking him backwards in the air.

The battle streaked across the sky, drawing awe and fear from those witnessing it from the ground. Captain Planet pulled back and tossed a heavy punch, fist taking on the properties of stone and mineral, as he aimed for Pollution’s chest. But as his fist connected, Pollution’s body fell away into a sickly cloud of brown and gray smoke. Planet began to cough violently, as the gasses entered his lungs. The wisps of smoke gathered and moved behind Planet, before reforming Pollution’s body.

With a sneer, Pollution raised both his fists held together, and impacted Planet across the back, sending him plummeting to the Earth below. Captain Planet crashed into the middle of a busy street, amidst a gathering of concerned onlookers. Planet got to his feet and angrily raised his hands, as people began to back away in fear. But it was too late; Captain Planet conjured several pillars of flame, shooting from the ground and into the sky, before spinning violently and spreading with increasingly severe wind speeds. The intense wind and raging inferno combined to create tornados of searing heat and fire.

People tried to run, but it was too late, and they ended up as casualties in the fight between these two powerhouses. The burning tornados spun wildly, incinerating anybody in their vicinity in an instant, leaving little more than ash. Captain Planet then thrust out his hand, sending the tornados stretching out toward Captain Pollution, still hovering in the sky above. Pollution puts his hands up, but is caught in the blaze, only able to endure the unending burning all around him. When the flames finally subsided, Pollution was left charred, skin smoking, body shaking as it was racked with pain. Captain Planet slowly flew back into the sky, arms crossed, as he looked over at the wounded Captain Pollution.

Pollution immediately flew at top speed, attempting to escape Planet’s grasp. Planet scowled in dissatisfaction, as he sped off through the air, going after the fleeing Pollution. Soon, Pollution’s flight path brought the two of them to the skies above Mississippi. However, before Pollution could reach his final destination, Captain Planet caught up to him, grabbing him from behind and placing an arm around his neck, in a vicious choke hold.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Captain Planet asked and Pollution could only choke out a series of gargled groans.

Planet then pulled back, before kneeing Pollution in the back and tossing him down to the ground with brutal force. Dr. Blight was still frantically working in her office, when a loud crash broke her from her concentration, tearing through her ceiling. When the dust settled, she moved to take a look at what had broken through her laboratory; and found Captain Pollution’s charred and beaten body, laying on her now destroyed lab floor… Blight backed away when Pollution suddenly sat up, glancing over at her. Getting to his feet, he immediately began moving toward the meteor fragment in Blight’s possession.

It’s what he came here for, after all. Blight in response scrambled to pick up the remote device and hold her finger on the butting before Pollution’s eyes. Pollution snarled at Blight for a long moment, a tension hanging in the air between them.

***
Captain Planet was about to follow Pollution’s path, to finish the job, when he spotted something else out of the corner of his eye. He returned to the ground, just as the Geo-Cruiser set down and the Planeteers, plus one figure unknown to him, emerged, moving to stand before Planet.

"Captain Planet, you need to stop, there’s something wrong with you…” Kwame said, attempting to appeal to Planet’s good nature.

"That’s where you’re wrong Kwame, I’ve never felt better.” Came his response.

He offered them a smile, but there was no kindness or compassion in his eyes, no spark. “You were formed without Heart. Ma-Ti, he was… killed. You have to return.” Gi added, desperation evident in her voice, as Planet continued his indifferent and dismissive attitude.

"I’m sorry about Ma-Ti. But Heart was only holding me back. I see now, what needs to be done. And you can’t stop me!” Captain Planet said, before he saw Linka emerge from the Geo-Cruiser, holding a rocket launcher on her shoulder.

Without another word, Captain Planet sighed and took a fighting stance, ready to do what he had to…

***
Dr. Blight and Captain Pollution stared each other down, Pollution glancing from her, down to the remote in her hands and back. Before a smirk finally cracked on his face.

"Go ahead.” Were his only words, as he resumed his path toward the object he sought.

Right then and there, Blight knew she’d lost, knew that the remote was a fake, a bluff. She let it fall from her hand and to the floor with a clank. Pollution’s smile widened, but he didn’t turn around, continuing on, until he reached a heavy security door. With every last ounce of energy, he pulled his hand back and let out an intense blast of radiation, bending and warping the metal of the blast door. Eventually, a hole was ripped through the heavy door and Pollution casually stepped through, to his ultimate prize.

He placed his hand slowly out, until it came into contact with the massive object of rock and metal. And felt the very familiar energy coursing through it; it was the same power that had restored him to life. With one last glance in Pollution’s direction, Blight fled her lab, heading for the escape route she’d set up for just such an event. This would not be her final story, she thought to herself. Finally alone with the celestial object, Pollution began to pull the energy into himself, feeding on it. And feed he did. Never before had he felt such an abundant source of power, it was exhilarating!

***
The Planeteers stood their ground, as Captain Planet confronted them. They knew he’d kill them without hesitation. But they had to do something. In the blink of an eye, Planet rushed past the others and moved immediately to Linka, until the rocket launcher was pressed right against his chest.

"Go ahead, fire.” He said smugly and Linka had considered it.

At this range, the blast would undoubtedly kill her and likely destroy the Geo-Cruiser in the process, but she doubted it would leave a scratch on Planet. Reluctantly, she weakened her grip on the rocket launcher and began to lower it. Planet pulled it from her grasp with a single hand and tossed it to the ground. The world around them was silent, they knew they couldn’t stop him. And they waited, helpless, wondering what he would do next. The tension was broken, when a figure erupted from the ground with a volcanic crash.

It was Captain Pollution. Only, he now rose to just over ten feet in height, minus his hair, which stood nearly entirely on end, fraying out in every direction. His body surged with power, glowing a sickening yellow and cracking with electricity. With a terrifying crash, Pollution set down, his feet digging into the Earth below, as he landed before them.

“Hiya Planet! Ready for round two?!” Pollution declared, staring down at his nemesis with a wide grin.

Planet turned and moved away from the Planeteers, toward Pollution. Without a word, Planet flew at Pollution’s gut, both fists aimed forward. But Pollution caught him in both hands, before he made contact, tossing him into the air. Pollution then flew after him, with a speed that seemed uncharacteristic of his now bulky size. The Planeteers sighed with relief, before the real gravity of their situation began to sink in. It didn’t feel like it would matter who won and who lost, two monsters who would see them dead without a second thought.

"It’s over…” Wheeler said in utter defeat, looking at the two titans going at it.

"No… we can still do this, there’s always a chance, there’s always hope.” Maggie said, a faint look of optimism spreading across her face.

And the feeling was infectious, reigniting a feeling of hope in the other Planeteers… Pollution tossed Captain Planet to the ground with a crash, punching his downed adversary over and over, the street under them cracking with every blow, until they fell through and into the sewers underneath. And still, Pollution continued to hit Planet. The Planeteers looked on, as their former ally lost ground, lost energy.

Maggie felt something odd overtake her and held up her right hand, looking at its back, as a warm, yellow light suffused around her middle finger; and from within the light, a ring appeared on her finger. It was the Ring of Heart, Ma-Ti’s ring. The other Planeteers looked on in awe, as the light faded, leaving behind the small golden band, a pink colored gem in the center.

"It looks like the ring chose you.” Gi said to a bewildered Maggie.

"It might be too late…” Linka said, a sound of despair in her voice. Gi piped up again.

"What if you use it now? To give Planet his Heart back!”

“Do you think that’d work?” Maggie asked, skeptical of Gi’s idea.

"We’ve never combined our powers while Captain Planet was already formed…” Kwame added, but his voice still more hopeful than he’d been just moments before.

"What choice do we have?” Linka asked and that seemed to be enough convincing for Maggie, who nodded her head confidently. She held out her hand and gulped, before speaking.

"H-heart…” At her words, the ring shot out a brilliant yellow energy, moving straight for Captain Planet.

Captain Pollution was pulling back for another punch when the beam passed him and hit Captain Planet.

"What the-?!” Pollution uttered, as he was tossed backwards.

The Planeteers put up their hands, as Maggie’s entire body began to glow in the same bright yellow light. The light was intense, but felt almost warm and comforting. And when it faded, she was gone… And a moment later, the light surrounding Captain Planet grew even more intense, a beacon shooting into the sky.

When the light finally receded, Captain Planet was suddenly standing before them. Only, he was different. With a sleeker build, the red and blue uniform was more textured, styled almost like a light coat of armor. The emblem on his chest was once more restored, but was now constantly charged with yellow energy, sparking with life.

“Cap… is that you?” Wheeler asked tentatively and the voice that answered back shocked them.

"Sort of…” The voice said, but it wasn’t Planet’s voice; more accurately, it wasn’t JUST Captain Planet’s voice.

Planet’s voice was mixed with that of Maggie’s. They two had somehow merged together.

"...this is a little strange.” The voice finally admitted, uncertain of how else to describe the experience.

“So, what do we call you now?” Wheeler asked them, a small smile finally creeping back onto his face in spite of everything they’ve suffered.

"We’re not really sure.” Planet answered honestly.

"Oh, I know, how about Captain Universe!” Gi enthusiastically offered and Planet, now Captain Universe, responded with a smile.

"Captain Universe it is.” The group was broken from their discussion when Pollution approached them, every footfall shaking the ground as he walked.

"We should take care of this.” They said simply and moved to confront Pollution once more.

“So, you got an upgrade too, did ya?! Well, it won’t matter, I’m still going to kill you, and then everyone else!” Pollution declared, before Captain Universe flew at him, delivering a powerful spin kick to Pollution’s gut and sending him flying backwards.

Universe flew after the hulking brute, but Pollution quickly recovered and threw a powerful punch. Universe caught the fist in both hands, but Pollution’s other hand came down, smacking Universe into a nearby building. Universe got back on their feet, just in time to see Pollution charge straight up into the sky. A silvery blue and golden energy encased Universe’s body, as they flew up into the sky, after Pollution. Pollution held both hands outstretched as yellow, radioactive energy began to form in each palm. He then brought both hands together at the wrists in front of him, the power beginning to grow.

"GOODBYE PLANET, TIME TO DIE!!!” Pollution then fired a massive beam of yellow radioactive energy at them, and at the planet below.

If they dodged, the planet would be hit, it was unlikely anything would survive so much radioactive fallout. They had no choice; charging up their power, Universe charged straight ahead. Universe and Pollution’s beam impacted, each halting the other. Universe put their hands up, putting every last ounce of energy into halting the intense blast. Pollution pushed and pushed, screaming with a fury that would not be sated until his adversary was dead.

Universe began to lose ground, being slowly pushed back toward the planet’s surface. But still they fought, giving it everything they had. Pollution’s face began to crack, yellow energy beginning to escape from under his skin’s surface. And the strength of his beam began to weaken, as Universe pushed back against his onslaught. Pollution tried to put more energy into his blast, but the harder he pushed, the deeper the cracks spread.

With one last mustering of their strength, Captain Universe pushed forward, their aura covered body pushing the beam further and further back until, with one last push, he tore through and delivered a powerful blow to Pollution’s jaw. The impact hardly seemed to move the giant and Universe stood before him fatigued, unsure if they could actually win this fight. A moment later, the cracks spread even more, moving to the rest of his body, as Pollution gripped his face in agony. In a last act of desperation, unable to let go, he reached one of his hands out toward Captain Universe. Universe dropped lower, before sending a powerful uppercut to Pollution’s jaw.

The strike sent Pollution toward the upper atmosphere where, with a final unheard scream of agony, Pollution erupted, shattering into countless pieces. Captain Universe let out a sigh of relief, before slowly heading back to the planet’s surface. Captain Universe landed before the other Planeteers with a reassuring smile.

"It’s over. Pollution is gone…” They said, and a visible wave of relief washed over the Planeteers’ faces.

A moment later, Universe spoke again, this time more somberly, and it seemed to be primarily in Captain Planet’s voice.

"I am sorry, Planeteers, for everything I’ve done, everything I’ve put you through…"

"That’s okay, Cap, that wasn’t you.” Wheeler said, but Planet shook his head.

"No, but it was. Not entirely, maybe, but it was.” He said, staring at each of the Planeteers standing before him.

“What’ll happen now?” Kwame asked, unsure of how they would move forward from here. Planet tried to offer a reassuring smile.

"Maybe it’s best Captain Planet disappear for a while. Until then… the power is yours!”

Planet declared, as the four powers of Earth, Fire, Wind and Water returned to Kwame, Wheeler, Linka and Gi’s rings, before a bright light again suffused Captain Universe’s body. When it faded, Maggie was standing there, the Ring of Heart, still around her finger.

"That was cool.” Was her only response and they couldn’t help but smile.

***
Just hours after the battle had died down and Captain Planet had disappeared, the governments of the world ceased the plans put in place for population control, decommissioning or repurposing any already existing facilities. And Planet, for his part, was met with hatred and fear. His status as a symbol of hope had been tarnished. There was no coming back from that. All the Planeteers could do now was try to move on. One silver lining in the recent looming cloud of uncertainty was that Captain Pollution had also been identified as one of those responsible for the recent attacks. This led to the next win for the Planeteers, and the planet. Within a week of the final battle, Dr. Barbara Blight was arrested and placed in a holding cell with no bail, as she awaited trial.

Apparently, one of her scientists felt mistreated enough to turn against her. He hadn’t taken kindly to being assaulted and so, with help from several other mistreated guards, he had stolen video evidence of Blight’s involvement with Captain Pollution, sending it to the authorities. Kwame had his work cut out for him. With Blight now behind bars, all of her influence on current policy and her dealings with certain politicians were coming to light. But he would still have to proactively try to have each of her anti environmental bills repealed. And that could take some time. For the time being however, he had his girlfriend, Cheryl, to get home to.

***
On Hope Island, Gaia gazed over the edge, to the planet below. Behind her, Ares appeared, in a shimmering flash of light.

"How could this happen?!” He roared, but his anger didn’t rile Gaia in the slightest.

"An unforeseen setback.” She said simply.

"Unforeseen? They’re your Planeteers.” He snapped at her, finally prompting her to turn and stare him down, with a cold gaze.

“But not my power. You should know as much, from your own efforts to tap into the natural forces, they are not easily predicted, even by me...” She explained.

"...and the power of Heart is the most unpredictable of all, it seems it was reignited by the human spirit. It chose another, of its own accord.” She added, turning back to once more peer at the Earth below.

"Then perhaps our alliance was a mistake. Now we’ll try things my way. The more… direct approach…” He declared with a wicked sneer.

Gaia only sighed, turning to again face her counterpart. But by the time she did, he was again vanishing in a brilliant flash, Hope Island once more falling into silence…

***
Wheeler stepped into a hospital room, glancing over toward the bed, as a woman sat up to greet him.

"James, you came to visit.” She said with a smile.

"I was here before ma, but some friends needed my help. Are you doing okay?” He asked, sounding relieved that she was awake, but still sounding a bit nervous. The doctor saw this in his face and offered him a reassuring smile.

"She’ll be fine, she should be ready to go home in just a couple of days."

"That’s good to hear. You hear that ma, you’re coming home soon.” Wheeler stared at his mother who said nothing, her face suddenly twisting into a chilling grimace…

“Ma? Are you alright?”

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. She looked at him, with wide, pleading eyes. The color seemed to drain from the room, his head was spinning. He heard voices, but they were muted; echoes coming from some distant, far off place. Nothing felt real.

In a panic, heart racing, he turned to the doctor for help. But the doctor’s face was distorted, warped. Her eyes blank, empty voids, staring right through him, as if he wasn’t even there. He felt like he was losing his mind, like he wanted to scream. And then he heard the voice again, growing nearer and nearer, cutting through the haze, as the world fell away…

***
“-sorry, there was nothing we could do… Mr. Wheeler?” Suddenly Wheeler was shaken from his stupor, blinking to look at the empty hospital bed, before looking back at the doctor.

"I’m- I’m sorry… what…?” Wheeler said, his voice dull and muted, his mind in a fog that just wouldn’t recede.

"It’s alright, I know it’s a lot. We did everything we could. The toxins caused an infection. And before we could catch it, it spread to her heart. If you need a few minutes-"

"No! No… I’m… I’m okay…” Wheeler walked out of the room and toward the waiting area.

Linka saw him approaching, having returned from the cafeteria with a small sub in hand.

“Wheeler, are you okay? What’s-?” Linka began to ask as she quickly moved to meet him, placing an outstretched hand on his shoulder, but her words were cut off when she looked into his eyes, seeing the depths of his sadness; she knew what was wrong...

Wheeler opened his mouth, trying to speak. But at that moment, tears poured down his face and he collapsed, falling into a heap on the floor, unable to keep himself from sobbing, unable to contain his unending grief. Linka knelt down, placing her hand on his back. But there wasn’t anything else she could do, nothing anyone could do to take his anguish from him… Linka and Wheeler walked from the hospital in silence, a single umbrella protecting the pair from the heavy rain.

The two of them got into a waiting cab, before it pulled out of the parking lot, and down the street. Watching from a nearby alleyway, as the car drove down the road, was Duke Nukem, clad in a long black coat and a matching, wide brimmed hat. He watched the vehicle, until it disappeared over the horizon. Pulling the collar of the coat up to guard against the torrential downpour, Duke turned and disappeared back into the shadows.

***
Dr. Blight sat in the holding cell, saying nothing, only waiting. Her idle thought was broken when gunfire was heard just outside the room, where she was being held. Suddenly the door opened and one of the officers hung limply, with a large hand gripping them around the neck, to hold them upright. The officer guarding Blight’s cell stood, moving to grab his gun, but a gun appeared over the prone man’s shoulder and shot the guard dead. The limp body was then released, to fall motionless on the floor. Stepping over the former human shield was Hoggish Greedly, who moved to grab the keys to the holding cell.

"Hoggish Greedly, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Blight uttered with a smile.

Greedly responded by walking up to the cell and unlocking the door. The other inmates ran for it, but Blight only causally approached Greedly.

"Well, I guess this makes us even.” Greedly uttered, returning the smile with a wicked grin of his own.

Blight then moved for the exit, with Greedly following close behind.

***
In the Barley Barber Swamp, east of Lake Okeechobee in Florida, a large nondescript truck backed up and two figures emerged from either seat, both clad in heavy hazmat gear. Opening the back of the truck they proceeded to dump one barrel after another of an unknown substance into the swamp’s waters. Once the truck was empty, the two got back in and drove away. Something bubbled up from under the water’s surface. The drums containing the substance hadn’t been adequately sealed and had now failed entirely.

Beginning as a small trickle, before growing in volume, a stream of blackish green sludge began to ooze up from under the water, to coat the water’s surface. The inky tar bubbled on occasion and spread out, until a good deal of the water was a murky and sickly green. Animal life went silent, and the surface of the water now continually sprayed a burning, black smoke into the air. Watching the entire scene from afar, Ares smiled with wicked intent.

"Business as usual then…” Then, in an instant, the armor-clad figure vanished from sight…

Within the now lifeless swamp, something stirred to life, breaking the tension of the water. Black muck, even more noxious than the toxins that had drained the swamp of its life, had bubbled up to the surface, a geyser of vile sludge. When the sludge began to recede, it revealed a discolored yellow object within, appearing to have the texture of skin. It was a fragment of Captain Pollution’s face. With a sudden motion, the single eye shot open, red iris once again taking in the world around it; the reign of Pollution had only just begun…