Sauron IV

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

I had screwed up. I'd been so obsessed with getting Stend. With destroying the center of power of the place I'd gotten stabbed and tortured in, that I had decided a whole city was worth my anger.

Then… that girl. She'd been crying, reaching out for Sauron. Her mom was behind her doing the same. Then she'd slipped. And everything crystallized for me. I tried to speed towards her. Fantasma reached out. Creel got ready to jump. Sauron spread his wings.

And in me, something shifted. Maybe literal. Maybe just mental.

I'd proven I could fight on my own. But at heart, I needed a reminder of who I was. A hero. Someone who saved, no matter what. She was falling from the window. And I could see the fear in her eyes. Her scales glittered with tears as she reached desperately for her mother, who screamed.

In that heartbeat, I didn't care about Stend, Sauron, or me. She was afraid, in danger. And I wanted to save her.

The Omnitrix glowed. And fur erupted across my body. I was Fasttrack in-between steps, transforming and running forward in the same breath. And when I saved her, I felt all the disquiet in my heart, all the rage and shame, disappear.

Now I was standing with my friends, across from Sauron. I looked at the Omnitrix. It was glowing on my blue-furred chest.

"And what now? Dial, the Outsider?" Sauron asked me.

"...Karl. You have no idea what you've been fighting," I said, looking at Creel and Fantasma. "You called yourself Sauron. Fine. This is my fellowship," I waved at them. "And I'm the hobbit," I tapped the Omnitrix as I spoke. "Guess what the ring is?"

Sauron, to his credit, was already flying upwards. But I had already become the wolf.

As Blitzwolfer, I howled at him. "▅▅▅▂▅▂▄▅▃▃▄!" The unholy blast of sound hit him with physical force, sending him back as he screamed in pain, clutching his ears. Creel and I jumped for him, but he dived out of the way, spinning off to fly away. Fantasma followed, blasting at him, while Creel and ran on the ground. He fired beams of energy at us, which I dodged, running on all fours and returning with soundwave blasts. Creel just tanked the blasts, running through them to finally leap upwards and grab Sauron by the ankle.

"Off, damn you!" Sauron shouted, lifting upwards as Creel clung to him.

"Not a chance!" Creel shouted back, shifting to a denser metal as Sauron struggled.

Fantasma and I came in, her floating down and me jumping up to blast Sauron. He fired his silver beams and fire at us but was still sent spinning back, jarring Creel off of him at the same time.

"Out of the city!" I shouted at Fantasma. She nodded while breathing hard.

Then I changed back into Fasttrack form and ran forward. I grabbed Sauron as he was falling and blasted forth while carrying. Realizing what was happening as we approached the city limits and the jungle, he breathed flame again, blasting beams of energy from his palms. I shouted as my fur burned, but kept going.

We hit the city limits before I let him go, letting him bounce ahead of me while I ungracefully skidded to a stop. With a thought, I changed into one final form. For nostalgia's sake, I shouted out the name of the transformation. The one that had been my very first.

"Swampfire!"

I clenched plant fists and sighed happily. "Man… I missed this guy."

"You…" Sauron struggled to his feet. He had a grin on his face. "What has happened to the world beyond… to require warriors of your caliber?"

"Honestly. HYDRA came back."

"...Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"That is disgusting," he said sourly. "I hope they are swiftly destroyed."

Huh. I guess evil really does have standards.

Then he took a deep breath and breathed fire. Couldn't blame him. I was made of plants after all, and you didn't have to be a Pokemon fan to know what that meant.

So the look in his eyes when I raised my hands and released my own flames must have surprised him. Our two streams of fire met in the middle, then poured out from each other. The temperature rose around us. I felt my body produce more and more of the gases I was igniting. I guided the flames, forcing them to get hotter. Hotter. My plant body adjusted to the insane heat, even as my flames started to become more precise, more focused. Soon, Sauron was struggling to push my fires back.

He didn't seem ready to give up though. He raised his hands, both sprouting that silver energy he was able to project, and sent twin beams of power at me.

I wasn't too worried about it though since I'd seen my friends coming to join me. Creel dropped down next to me and caught one of the beams against his chest, while Fantasma flew down and blocked the other on one of her defensive mandalas.

Sauron didn't stop using his beams, forcing Creel and Fantasma to keep defending. He held us there for a moment. I was forced to partially grow my feet into the ground for more support. Creel's silver form reflected all of us. Me in Swampfire gritting non-existent teeth as I blew fire from my palms, the vines in my arms moving as they constantly regenerated under the heat. Fantasma holding off fire and energy beams with a look of determination on her face, her mandala's sparking under the power assaulting them. Sauron breathing flame and blasting energy our way, his eyes slowly glowing.

"Don't look in his eyes!" I shouted as an afterthought.

"We know!" Creel shouted before he grunted as he was sent back a step. "Holy shit, is he getting stronger!?"

"YEEEESS!" Sauron roared, though I guessed he wasn't shouting it as a reply. He stopped breathing fire, instead bringing his hands forth and blasting a single beam of pure silver energy. The beam sliced through the fire I was blasting to smash into Creel and Fantasma's beams. "This is wonderful!"

"I have never hated a compliment more!" Fantasma shouted.

"Split up!" I shouted. "I'm almost ready!"

"Hope you know what you're doing!" Creel said, spinning past the giant beam of destruction. "Come on asshole, give me all you've got!"

"You are extremely rude," Sauron scoffed, blasting Creel once more. When the beam only bounced off of his vibranium form, Sauron instead shot the ground under Creel, sending him stumbling. "You are quite fast. So that metal of yours must be rather light right about now…" Sauron mused while speeding forward to grab Creel by the shoulders and tossing him high into the air with a display of superhuman strength.

"Fuck!" Creel shouted as he flew back, landing in the wall surrounding the city.

I stood at the edge of the jungle and began to toss seedpods into it while releasing bursts of gas from my palms, spreading them into the trees, bushes, and vines. I felt the jungle's metaphorical heartbeat slowly fill me as Fantasma flew down to confront Sauron behind me.

"I must confess, young lady," Sauron said while dodging an energy blast. "You've recovered rather well from being absorbed by me. How is that possible? I took enough from you to power a city. And yet, here you are, still fighting."

"Magic," Fantasma scoffed, raising her left hand to create one of her purple swords.

Sauron ducked under a sword slice and raised his right hand to counter Fantasma's energy beam with one of his own. "Truly? Or are you simply being facetious?"

"Both," Fantasma grit out, blocking one of his beams with her mandala. Creel ran in then, tossing a boulder at Sauron. Sauron blasted the boulder out of the air, only to widen his eyes when he was forced to dodge Creel's follow up haymaker. Fantasma looked at me. "Dial, hurry up!"

"I'm ready!" I shouted back.

"As am I," Sauron snarled, spinning back. "ENOUGH! I will not be brought down without a fight! THE LORD OF THE SKIES WILL BE VICTORIOUS!"

"Who gives a fuck!?" Creel shouted in response.

Sauron stared at him for a long moment. "..."

That was when the Pterosaur-man began to glow. "Uh oh," I said softly.

He let out another roar. Then he exploded. That was the only comparison I had. Waves of silver energy sliced out from his body in a cacophony of the air being split, the rocks and dirt under us shattering and burning away. Creel was sent flying back, spinning through the air before grabbing the ground, screaming as he was bashed at all sides by pure energy. Fantasma raised her mandalas into a pair of shields in front of her, only for both to shatter after a moment, sending her back into a wall. For fifty feet around him, Sauron created a field of energy that sent us flying back.

Except for me. When the waves of energy hit me, I only had time to widen my eyes. Then I was being ripped apart. My whole body became nothing more than ash as the wave of silver energy passed over me.

He kept that up for a moment longer. Then, slowly, the wave of energy petered out. When he was done, Sauron stood in a crater, panting with his arms spread out. He looked around. "Incredible," he said between gulping breaths. "Incredible."

"...Are you… complimenting yourself?" Creel asked.

Sauron's eyes widened as Creel slowly rose out of the earth. His body was still silver. He looked tired, but none the worse for wear. "How?"

"...Vibranium," Creel said softly. "It's immune to everything."

Sauron tried to say something else. I raised a single sprout of my body behind him, then grew into my full Swampfire form in mere moments. He somehow sensed me in time to spin around and slice out with his claws. I let his hand pierce my chest, then hardened the plants there, momentarily trapping him in place as I glared down at him.

"Like you said before you pulled some Dragon Ball shit. Enough!"

From the jungle beyond, they shot under the ground before popping up around him. Sauron stared around in surprise as trees grew up into the sky, the work of centuries happening in seconds. Then vines snapped out to grab him, wrapping around each limb. "No! Unhand me!"

"Not today," I narrowed my eyes. "Happy Arbor Day."

Then the forest I'd created came down around him. Sauron, in a roar of defiance, began to fight back. He sliced with his claws, breathed out fire, blasted out beams of energy. But I kept pushing the plants to grow and grow, to move in as he tore them apart. Then I moved in.

He sliced my right arm off, so I punched him with my left while growing back the other. He tried to fly up and out, only to find a canopy made of branches as thick as cars blocking his path. A tree the size of a building grew next to him before creating more of a net above.

Creel was on that tree. The second he was close enough, he leaped off it and grabbed Sauron by both ankles, pulling him back down until they landed on a branch. Sauron blasted a wave of energy at Creel, tossing him back a bit and sending wooden splinters and leaves flying. Fantasma dropped in and hit him with a wave of purple energy. Sauron tried to hit her back, but I grew a branch that blocked him off before more vines snapped out to grab him. When Sauron turned to block them, I landed beside Fantasma and Creel. The forest grew so thick that the only illumination came from Fantasma and Sauron's powers. I was on my last legs by now. I think Creel and Fantasma felt the same.

Sauron stared at us as we approached, vines wrapping tighter and thicker around him. When he blasted out more fire, it was weaker now, easily blocked by Creel. He tried for another energy beam, but the vines tightened further. He smiled.

"Well… I suppose this isn't so bad," he sighed.

"...You sure you don't have some more second winds in you?" Creel asked, panting.

"Yeah, you've been like the Energizer Bunny all fight," I added in Swampfire's nasally voice.

"Don't encourage him," Fantasma grumbled.

Sauron chuckled tiredly. "No… After many years, I believe I am, for once, exhausted to my bones. And satisfied. This fight… my people will remember it for decades… So. Will you kill me, Dial?"

I felt my hold over the vines wrapped around him. They were growing very strong now. And everybody, no matter how strong, can get their neck snapped with enough force. Still, I shook my head after an internal struggle. "Not if you're beaten."

"I am," he said without a hint of shame. He seemed as proud and regal as ever somehow, even wrapped head to toes in vines. "That is too bad, however. If you'd killed me, I could have become a martyr. But this is more satisfying. I'll be able to see the effects of this adventure in person."

"No," Fantasma snarled. "You will be in a cell, as a US citizen who enslaved dozens if not hundreds, and who was complicit in the kidnapping of an Avenger. You will never see the light of day again, otherwise."

Creel and I looked at her. I think we were both surprised at how… vicious, she sounded. After some time around her, I'd started to forget the short witch I'd befriended was also a Russian soldier. Less Hermione, more Dresden. Both were good guys, but one had killed a heck of a lot more badasses.

"Never?" Sauron chuckled. "I'm sure that seems like a horrific threat, young one. But I think I'll keep some secrets to myself for now."

I glared at him. Finally, I stepped forward and raised a fist. "I'm going to knock you out now."

I landed a right punch that shook the leaves from the branches around us. Sauron's head snapped to the side. He coughed some blood, then turned to smile at me. "Close. You may need to-"

I hit him again. He laughed. "Damnit, go to sleep!"

My final punch sent him, still laughing into his slumber. I sighed in relief.

Finally. Sauron had been the toughest fight I'd ever had. It felt like I was taking on an anime protagonist. Full of speeches, grandeur, and fucking second winds. I finally felt some sympathy for Vegeta. It's annoying when the guy who is kicking your ass also keeps getting stronger as he does it.

"This guy is crazy," Creel mumbled.

I turned to look at Fantasma and Creel, about to speak, when I suddenly had to catch Fantasma as she wrapped me in a hug. "Eh! Fantasma! What-"

"We thought you died," she said against my chest.

I stilled. When I looked up at Creel, he was slowly turning back into his flesh form. He walked up to join us. We looked at each other awkwardly for a moment as Fantasma continued to hug me before I wrapped my arms around her.

"Sorry…"

"...You stink," she sniffled.

I laughed, honestly surprised, and looked back at Creel. He smiled, shrugging. "She's right. Swampfire ain't the best smelling alien."

"Yeah, well," I looked around at the forest. In mere seconds, I'd created life that would take thousands of years to grow, making the very landscape attack Sauron. "He makes up for it."

Fantasma let me go, stepping back to look up at me. "You were gone for so long. I'm glad you're okay," she said with a small smile.

I smiled back sadly. "Sorry I worried you guys. I-I'm really damn glad to see you again. It's been a tough couple of days."

Creel patted my shoulder in a manly fashion. "Same here. Stop getting tossed into rivers, okay?"

"Not like I planned on it," I grumbled.

"Don't let him fool you," Fantasma smirked. "He spent a lot of time in the jungle yelling your name. It was so cute!"

"Fantasma!" Creel shouted.

I grinned at Creel, who looked like he was desperately holding onto his too-cool-for-school attitude. "Awwww. I love you too, big guy!"

"Shut up! I wish you'd died in the jungle!"

"Creel!" Fantasma said, sounding scandalized.

I grinned at the pair, then looked at the city. My smile faded when I noted the fires in the distance. "We aren't done yet."

Fantasma and Creel looked in the same direction, their own faces soon reflecting my seriousness.

"What's the plan?" Creel asked.

"We make sure our people get out, then we get out," I said.

"Just like that?" Creel looked at me. "Don't you have someone you want to kill?"

Fantasma looked at me as well. The pair didn't speak as I turned to where Sauron was tied up and mentally forced the vines to cocoon around him until he had become a bundle that I then brought to my shoulder.

"Maybe… Would you guys stop me if I decided that was what I wanted?" I asked them, finally looking in their eyes.

Fantasma shook her head. "I understand. I am Russian, Mahmoud. We know the importance of revenge."

I looked at Creel. He hesitated. "...If you do it, make sure no one is around but us. We'll keep it quiet."

I didn't know how to respond to that. Instead, I just mentally told a set of vines to grow into a platform for us. We got onto the platform and began lowering down to the ground as I thought of my next plans.

"... What is 'Arbor Day?'" Fantasma asked all of a sudden, looking at me.

"It's a holiday where people grow trees," I said.

Creel cocked his head to the side. "... You should have said-"

"Got wood, right?" I rolled my eyes, trying not to start laughing my green ass off. "Thanks for the advice, Seth MacFarlane."