For a starving Tyrannosaurus Rex all of this activity was the dinner bell ringing. Having been held hostage a mile out by a pair of drones he was bitter. When Jack Ramse had called the drones together to lift the Greenhouse he made an unpredicted error. The Dino busters abandoned their task to do as Jack directed. Thus, Jurassic Junior as Elle was calling him regained his mobility.
The massive flock of Vampires made for a great appetizer. To a T-Rex anything mobile was delicious. Every little bit helped. Jack had considered using him anyway. His error was merely in timing.
"Jurassic Junior's a big help Jack. Now if we can just keep from being crushed by Mal and Verago. Who knew Verago could grow." Elle Franklin battled on.
"I think he figured out Malcolm's runes. Let's just hope he doesn't use the other runes against us."
"Wait! You think Verago grabbed Malcolm's wanker? God! Cameron will never live this one down. First he was trapped in Sophia and now..."
"Shit!" Jack cuts her off, "Rex is turning on the Greenhouse."
Lowered toward the ground for safety was probably another mistake. The suspended enclosure swaying about attracted the T-Rex to examine the interior. Luckily with no lights within it kept Greta and Seth from being noticed. A blind man had no need for light. All he ever needed was the Earth Mother to keep him warm. Her tears although a mystery appeared within the Greenhouse as needed to quench the thirst of both Son and Eden. He had no reason to question how.
"Hold on Seth. I think we might be ready to ride the bronco." Greta Winston whispered.
Seth could only mumble. Her words beyond his comprehension. What in God's name was a bronco? His question goes unanswered as a mighty head of teeth rams the side of the Greenhouse jarring the plant life. Dirt from Eden toppling to the floor. In doing so the outside drones did their best to keep the den aloft. Two drones breaking away to counter attack through programming attempt the gravitational weight down. Said drones were blindly destroyed by swarming Vampires. The enemy was fighting back.
"Elle? Keeping flaring up. Try to coax Rex away from the Greenhouse before it gets too damaged. Or Greta and Seth get hurt."
"Or eaten."
"That too. Stay off the dessert list. I'll manage without you."
Elle bolts into a run, her diamond flesh resistance to incoming damage. The ultraviolet light she presented kept most Vamps at bay. Only the Kamikaze ones tossed her about. Her darting about was like a firefly to the T-Rex. Regardless it was enough to draw it further out.
Jack started making a perimeter of light using the ultraviolet grenades James factored into his arsenal. Once those surrounded him for protection he returned to his trigger happy Ion rifle with one hand, and applying the vibrational gauntlet he had been fitted with. The waves of vibration sent flying Vamps spiraling about. Losing their sense of direction.
Mal came crashing back down upon the soil with Verago on top of him. The beast feeling it had the upper hand. Attempting to siphon off Malcolm's mystical energies wasn't working as planned. For some reason the Nordic runes were only in tune with its wearer. At least as far as standing by their host. Regardless Verago's strength was building the more he battled. His true potential returning by the minute.
No time for banter Malcolm doubles up a mighty fist and connects with the Fallen Angel's jaw. Staggered by it Mal rolled Verago over into the devastated Tanker. Another crushing sound crumpled the vessel even further dismay. Anything within the Tanker would not last long under the pressure.
Within, Sabbath Black found a moment of reprieve. In the latest battery her covering debris jostled just enough to allow her freedom from being pinned. With the moonlight barely creeping through the opened hull her body was steaming. A full on ray of light might be her final demise.
"You're in pain Sabbath. Get to darker shadows before we all die." Cam growls inside her shared mind.
"Not without Lily." Sabbath cringes nudging metal aside and returning to her rescue mission. The light of Gaea still intense even under a collapsed roof. The Meat Locker was mangled. The walls of bloodied Deities gnarled by the surrounding concrete and steel. The more they grew closer to her the more her pain became. Lillian screams. Gaea tries to calm her. Such a comforting Goddess.
Sabbath rages onward shredding steel in a flurry of bestial snarls. Cam and the First Family were along for the ride. Prayers spoken to a long gone God. Was he gone?
Below ground Madigan Ridge felt a presence within the meteor. It was like a living breathing organism. Although stone it had glowing veins oozing one second. Drying the next. It was a constant indecision.
"Are you God? I can sense life. Even though I am death." Maddy floats around the stone inspecting it further. The glows seemed to follow her. Darkening where she had left her field of vision behind. She wanted to touch the stone but was hesitant. In her ghostly form she should be safe. Right? The unknown left her worried. Suddenly, she hears a voice so very far away. Digging into her mind. An unknown voice. Yet calming. Halting to study the voice for clarity she realizes what the voice was trying to communicate to her.
"Malcolm. You want me to go help Malcolm."
Haunted as dirt sifts down all around her from the war above. She chooses to vacate the stone and phase up through the surrounding Earth. Up, up, out into the night sky.
Gunfire. Light shows. Giants in battle. Vampire legions like a swarm of shadowy birds. A dinosaur resisting capture. A Greenhouse tilting ever so close to the ground. So much going on.
Eyes locking on Malcolm and Verago, Maddy makes a fateful decision. Phasing in and out of Malcolm's limbs as he wrestles the Fallen, she reaches out and touches the rune upon Malcolm's swaying ball sack. The one that conceived water. Instead of assuming the form of water then crashing to the ground as a puddle like her first attempt Maddy went from ghostly to the water construct of her human body. Wearing the life fiber assisted her control this time. Suddenly, she found herself in total control. Jetting herself skyward like a geyser she rained down upon Verago. Rain that disrupted the sky. Clouds manipulated into a seeded down pour.
As the tears of God fell upon a once lush Garden the soil soaked up the content. An awakened Eden recognizing necessity. Grass grew about everyone. Jack halting his gunfight to look up at the Heavens. This was the first rain he had witnessed since being on this world. It felt good. Even under pressure.
Verago finds the outburst distracting. Leering skyward he spots Maddy in the moonlight. A mighty hand rises with unprecedented speed and captures her in his grip. Her body exploding like a water balloon and trickling through his grip. Once away from his clutches her body reforms once again into a hard water state. With a renewed vigor Maddy takes the shocked initiative to fly directly into Verago's eyes. Hard water blinding him if not temporary. It was enough.
Malcolm rose to his feet and took a boxers stance. Fist after fist he pummels Verago. Maddy had given her friend the momentary breather he needed. Mal was ready. The battle took a turn.
Delighted she could help Maddy hears the voice inside her head once more. So very far away. Deciphering the words took deep concentration. Eyes flaring wide she understood.
"Gaea. You want me to help Gaea now. How?" She frets about between battle and the Tanker. Seeing how demolished the ship was gave her the fear that she might be too late. A second glance toward the ground she recognizes the plant life was revived through her rainfall. Smiling, she was inspired. Turning back to eye Malcolm she recalls the sequence of runes that bestowed certain abilities.
"Spine. Top rune." Madigan jettisons herself like water under pressure until she reaches Malcolm's blind side. Upon his back she palms the top rune. Transforming from water to a humanoid plant. As her body rebuilt itself she connected with the Garden. It was intoxicating. Falling in a dead fall she lands on her feet without pain. The ground soft to her feet. Protected by the Garden itself.
Bolting toward the Tanker she finds Jack racing to her side. The rain still falling had distorted the perception of the Vamps. Giving him a moment to calculate moves.
"That was insane." Jack calls over. Maddy was lost in her mission, ignoring him save for a wave. He felt her dedication and chose to support her by turning back and firing upon those Vamps venturing to stop her. Ion rifle like lightning strikes.
Climbing the hull proved difficult. It's slippery metal sending her three steps back, one step forward. Growling at her near impossible task she hears a familiar voice.
"This here might help."
"Greta? How?"
"Jumped down. Ankles a bit sore but I made it through. Here. Seth told me to give you this." Greta in her invisible state holds up a wooden box containing the untainted original soil of Eden. As Maddy claims it she feels its power. Her plantlike form sensing its nutrients. Reaching her fingers into the box she clutches the dirt and immediately adapts to its cosmic vigor. An unimaginable strength brews within her. It was like connecting with a livewire. Her feet upon the newly inspired ground, combined with the original soil in hand. She was the go between.
"Step away Greta. I can feel something happening to me."
"I'll go help where I can." Kansas was off with a hobble.
Her body morphing yet again under the influence of mystical energies Madigan Ridge reaches out toward the upper shell of the hull. Vines writhe outward from her fingers. Snaking over the metal and clinging to the ledge above. Mighty thorns protrude from the bottom of her feet like cleats. Strength incredible Maddy begins climbing. The vines retracting back into her the higher she ascended. At the top she laughs. She had never felt more alive. The ground that once consumed her body was now offering her an alternative.
Peering downward into the wreckage she see's the light of Gaea. As well as a stressed albino beauty. Utilizing her vines she lowers herself down into the creaking crypt. Touching down she makes her way to Sabbath Black.
"I am here." Maddy mumbles as if taken over by the voice she had heard so weakly. Her body no longer in control.
In her struggle Sabbath recognizes Maddy even in her new body. Stunned she pauses to grasp this new intervention. Cameron Scott within her is blown away by Madigan in this new persona.
"I have come Mistress. Command me as you will." Maddy recites.
"Remove the walls about me." Gaea calls out through Lillian Black, "I know you have very little time left in this realm. Hurry Yggdrasil. Before worlds collide."
Cam had zero clue what was being discussed. It was beyond his conception. It took Adam to offer enlightenment.
