UNIVERSE BOWL IX: EPILOGUE I

A recorder has been recovered from the Voyager Room of the Casino during which the final battle of the Universe Bowl took place.  Playing the device, a whisper is heard.

Loki:  I am glad you bedded me. . .

UNIVERSE BOWL IX: CHAPTER XXXXXIV

Casino-Voyager Room. . .

Fading into nothingness, Darth Shemalyah’s eyes begin to glisten over.  The once and all powerful character of the entire Fantasy Fantasy League destroyed by a mere mortal in an armored cloak. 

Batman stands over his enemy, triumphant.  He clicks the latches on his helmet and takes off the headgear.  The ashen and dirtied face of Bruce Wayne stares down at Shemalyah.

Batman:  There was only one way this Universe Bowl was going to end.

A utterance is heard behind Gotham’s crime fighter. 

“That is correct, Batman.”

A spear splits through the skull of Bruce Wayne.  Batman gurgles blood as his eyes attempt to reach the individual who just killed him.  Loki materializes from the darkness currently surrounding the room.

Loki: With the Slaves on top.

Loki rips the spear from Bruce Wayne’s face.  A dead Batman falls to the ground.  Loki kneels down before Darth Shemalyah.  He whispers something in her ear.  The Asgardian then stands and slowly walks away, a smile on his face.

UNIVERSE BOWL IX: CHAPTER XXXXXIII

Casino-Voyager Room. . .

The red lightsaber glistens in the dimly lit room, filled with the debris of the day’s events. 

Batman:  It’s over Shemalyah!  As you can see, the tales of my demise were grossly exaggerated!

Batman unleashes the full fury of his weapon upon Shemalyah.  The Sith Lord attempts to deflect the ray, but in consumed in the fray.  Her lightsaber explodes and the crystal jettisons from its hilt.  Darth Shemalyah is devastated by the blast the ensues.  She crawls across the broken ground beneath her.  The Sith Lord sees flashes of the Universe Bowl’s events as she replays them in her mind’s eye.  In recognition of what has truly transpired, she utters to the Caped Crusader.

Darth Shemalyah: You. . . were. . .

Darth Shemalyah focuses on the figure slowly advancing from the shadows.   The Dark Knight stands over the Sith Lord.

Shemalyah:. . . never dead.” 

Darth Shemalyah cackles, her guttural rumblings sounding like nails over a chalk board.

Shemalyah: I am Darth Shemalyah.  I am the one.  I am the only.   I will survive this like I have survived before this.  I am eternal.  You are mortal, but a man at the feet of a god.

Batman: The last time I checked, gods don’t bleed.  The last time I checked the gods were but a figment of man’s imagination spawned by those yearning for something more.  You are nothing.

Shemalyah shrieks: I am everything!!!!!

Batman quips: You.  Are. Nothing.  A figment of a man’s imagination.

Batman reaches on his back and pulls out the reason he has been missing.  An enchanted weapon lies in his hands.  He lowers the armament against Shemalyah’s head and presses the trigger.

BOOM!

The mortally wounded Shemalyah crumples to the ground, a hole burning through her bloodied head.

UNIVERSE BOWL IX: CHAPTER XXXXXII

Casino-Voyager Room. . .

Darth Shemalyah:  Only one stands before our victory.  It shall be ours. . . As I have foretold.

Brek Nyram:  What is your wish, my master?

Batman reads the heat signatures behind the corner wall.  He presses the trigger and releases.  A ray rips through the detritus and rubble strewn across the room.

Before Shemalyah can instruct her acolyte, his brains splatter upon the wall, resembling a Jackson Pollack print.

Batman: No one left, Shemalyah!  Nowhere left to hide!

Darth Shemalyah slowly moves from her corner.  Her eyes burn a bright yellowish red.

Darth Shemalyah:  Shemalyah does not hide.

UNIVERSE BOWL IX: CHAPTER XXXXXI

Casino-Voyager Room. . .

George Washington trods into the Voyager Room.  His armor’s boots are no longer functional. 

Washington: Shemalyah!  Shemalyah!

Darth Shemalyah yells from the corner where both she and Brek Nyram stand. 

Shemalyah:  Over here, Washington!

Washington begins to walk to his teammates when a blast sends him hurtling across the floor.  Ronan the Accuser smiles at his quarry’s sustained injuries.  Washington turns and begins to systematically fire all of his various weapons at the Kree warrior.  Ronan sustains the immense damage caused by the suit of armor.  Like a true warrior, he wades through the bombardment and faces his enemy.  Ronan reaches Washington and lifts him up by his head.  A crunching is heard and the helmet is then ripped off by Ronan.

Ronan:  A valiant effort Coach, but a failed one nonetheless. . . .

Ronan begins to crush the skull of Washington when suddenly his eyes jut from his head in bewilderment.  Ronan looks down, only to see a green lightsaber boring through his chest.  Ronan drops the mortally wounded Washington on the floor and the Accuser himself meets his maker.

Washington:  I have but one life for my team. . . and that I have given in battle. . . is an honor bestowed only upon. . . the few chosen. . .

George Washington dies next to his enemy.

UNIVERSE BOWL IX: CHAPTER XXXXX

Casino-Enterprise Room. . .

Ronan the Accuser smashes a variety of gaming tables with his universal weapon.  The Molecule Man joins his companion and uses his energy beams to destroy a number of other structures in the room. 

George Washington in his Iron Man armor flies into the room and unleashes a barrage of missiles against Ronan.  Ronan is stunned, but only for a brief moment.  Washington then flies at Ronan and is met by the Accuser’s cosmic hammer.  Washington is pummeled and his armor is severely damages at the blow. 

Kid Omega joins Washington.  The Omega level uses his abilities to manipulate the Molecule Man on a subconscious level.  The Molecule Man’s face reddens and a stain forms in his pants.

Molecule Man:  You made me sh$t my pants, you bastard!

Kid Omega cackles at the sight.

Molecule Man:  No one makes me sh$t my pants!  No one!!!

The Molecule Man reduces his self-imposed mental block regarding the manipulation of organic material.  He swirls his wand, used to focus his powers, and Kid Omega’s laughter begins to transform into searing pain.

Kid Omega:  You’re not taking me without a fight!

Kid Omega pushes himself to his utmost limits in the battle.  The duo’s powers and abilities lash together, forming a trans-multiversal level of destruction in the room.  A burst of incalculable measure rips across the area and both Kid Omega and the Molecule Man are decimated in the blast radius.  Both Ronan and Washington are thrown across the room, stunned at the devastation caused by the now, nonexistent duo.

UNIVERSE BOWL IX: CHAPTER XXXXIX

Casino-Voyager Room. . .

The Flash drops Batman off in the middle of the room.  The hustle and bustle of the lights and sounds echo throughout the area.

Batman:  She’s here.

In response to Batman’s words, Darth Shemalyah speaks from a corner of the room.

Darth Shemalyah:  Of course she’s here!

A multitude of slot machines explode, disbursing their ill gotten gains to no one in particular.  Batman readies himself with his weapon.  The Flash stands by his teammate.

Batgirl bursts forth from a car chained from the ceiling above the slot machines.  Her intended target is the Flash.  Before she reaches her prey, the Flash easily dodges her and catches her by the throat in midair.

Flash:  Sorry, Batgirl -- learned this from one of my foes.

The Flash vibrates at subatomic speed and juts his hand through Batgirl’s chest.  The female caped crusader crumples as her heart is ripped to shreds.  The Flash turns and sees a red blade burst through his chest; holding the lightsaber is Brek Nyram.

Brek Nyram:  Master, the Flash is no more!

Batman:  . . . and neither are you.

Batman pulls the trigger of his weapon and Nyram’s arm is caught in the clear sights of the detective.  Nyram’s left arm is scorched.  Nyram hollers and runs from the beam which follows him.  Batman’s weapon rips across the casino room’s floor, destroying all machines within its path.

Nyram reaches Shemalyah’s corner of the room, hidden in a small alcove.

Darth Shemalyah:  You have done well, my apprentice, even though you have lost an arm.

Brek Nyram:  Just a flesh wound, master.  Just a flesh wound.