by P.A. Ross
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Moments before, another helicopter had buzzed above the battleground to deposit three more figures. They jumped out of the craft and hit the ground in quick succession just meters away from the General.
“Sir, Psy, Flame, and Amazon have arrived,” the Commander said to the General.
The General turned around as the other three members of his unit walked over. As they did, they watched Subject Zero approach Bolt and Accel.
The first to approach was a tall woman, with big blue eyes and long dark hair blowing in the wind from the helicopter.
“Psy, see if you can shut that man down,” the General said as he pointed at Subject Zero.
Then, addressing a man with short red hair and pale skin, he said, “Flame, get ready to burn this punk and help Accel and Bolt escape.”
Finally, turning to the last of the trio, a woman with white blonde hair plaited into a long ponytail down her back, lightly tanned skin, and big green eyes, the General added. “Amazon. Going to need both of your skills to distract him while the team evacuates or regroups.”
“Sir,” they all responded, jumping to attention, and moving forward to rescue the other members of their unit. Each of the new arrivals was in a fitted black jumpsuit and wearing an earpiece and microphone.
Psy held her hand on her head and used her powers to drive her thoughts into the head of Zero, the man that had control over the firing guns at her latest conquest, Bolt. She forced her thoughts upon Zero, filling him with feelings of desire and attraction to her. Images of her anchored to feelings of desire and lust.
Another one for my collection, she thought.
Just then, the guns stopped and dropped to the ground, and Bolt scrambled away around the other side of the cars. She searched inside Zero's mind for memories, thoughts, and marks of his identity—anything she could use to manipulate him—but found only blank space. She pushed harder but darkness met her. She frowned.
This isn’t normal. Everyone has something inside their head.
Zero turned to face her and stared. She waited for the implanted feelings to take hold, giving a swish of her hips and flicking her hair to the side while fluttering her best bedroom eyes.
That should do it, she thought as Flame and Amazon walked around her and on towards Zero.
“OUT OF MY MIND,” his psychic voice boomed inside her head.
The intense pain that followed made her head felt as if crushed by two huge hands. She dropped to her knees, and her hands clutched either side of her head. As she cradled her skull in pain, blood trickled out her eyes, nose, and ears, and unconsciousness swept her away.
Flame heard Psy drop to the ground, and he spun back to see her crumpled body on the wet concrete. Anger ignited his flames to consume his whole body. His powers were ready to fight.
“No one touches my girlfriend,” he yelled.
The flames burst forward, streaming out from his hands, as he directed them at Zero. The flames buffeted around an invisible barrier defending Zero, and ice formed and pushed back against the flames, causing steam to rise as Zero fought back. Flame pushed harder as he put in every effort; his muscles tensed, and his face compressed. The steam rose between the two extremes of temperature.
Suddenly, Zero dived out the way and the flames shot past him. Ice streamed from his hands and down to the soaking wet ground, turning it into an ice rink. Flame slipped on the floor. He crashed to the ground and disengaged his fire powers as he lay prone. Zero stood up and caged Flame inside an icy prison.
Amazon took her chance and rugby tackled Zero, knocking him off his feet and slamming him into the side of a car. She stepped back as Zero peeled himself off the dented metal. He looked up at his attacker. His jaw dropped and eyes widened. He innocently mouthed, “Wow,” and slowly stood up, looking her up and down.
He admired the way her white-blonde hair contrasted with her tanned skin and light green eyes and looked over the warm curves of her tall, athletic body. Distracted by her beauty, he stepped forward to get closer, and she rocked back into a fighting stance and fired in a body punch.
Zero crumpled onto the ground then spat up blood. She pounded him with a double-handed hammer blow on his head, smashing him into the ground. He groaned in pain, reached out with one hand to grab her foot, and flipped her onto her back. He staggered back to his feet. The blood retreated from his face into his skin, and his broken nose crunched back into place.
Amazon flipped back onto her feet and fired an elbow toward his jaw. He blocked her with his two forearms, which absorbed the blow, and back fisted her across the face. She retaliated with a roundhouse kicked into his thigh, which caused his leg to buckle. She hammered in more punches to his face, but her fists broke as they impacted with his newly transformed metal skin. Zero raised himself up. Amazon dropped back, clutching her bleeding and badly broken hands. She saw her reflection in his skin and forced herself to bear the pain quietly. He smiled and nodded at her in appreciation, and then placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Sleep,” he said, and she fell into a slumber at his feet.
Accel cleared his head, shaking the debris from his hair and wiping the dust away from his eyes. He saw Amazon slumped on the ground at the feet of the metal man, Subject Zero. He sped over, trying to catch Zero unaware. Yet again Zero moved at the last second. He stuck out a foot and tripped Accel, who crashed and rolled through the plaza and down an alley.
Bolt telekinetically raised a police car, whose sirens were blaring, above his head and fired it at Zero. The car split into two pieces as Zero punched through it then landed behind Bolt, grabbed his jacket, and then slung him through the plaza. Bolt went bowling down the same alley as Accel.
Zero’s metal skin melted back inside him, and he appeared normal again as he walked across the plaza. Helicopter spotlights shone down on him, and cameras streamed images of him back to the command post. The blue, red, and green lights of the emergency service vehicles bounced off the undamaged windows of shops and cafés and reflected in the puddles of water. Suddenly, the water stopped raining down from the broken fire hydrant.
Scattered around the plaza hidden onlookers had watched the spectacular event in shock and awe. As they peeked out, everyone avoided eye contact with Zero, who strolled victoriously through the plaza. He looked at the fallen unit of Amazon, Flame, and Psy as he went. He glanced over at the General and winked before walking down the alley where Accel and Bolt lay.
The General, his head in his hands, slumped into one of the chairs.
“Sir, are you okay?” the Commander asked.
The General shook his head.
The Commander pushed for an answer. “I guess we are in trouble now that we’ve revealed the superhero unit. I've been told from HQ the news is already appearing on Twitter with photos. YouTube clips of the first part of the fight have over twenty thousand hits already. ”
“It’s worse than that, Commander. The world knows they exist, but they also know there is someone who can beat them all, someone they were supposed to combat and eliminate,” the General said.
Zero’s body blocked the only light entering the alleyway, and Accel and Bolt looked at the dark figure approaching. They tried to stand, but their broken and battered limbs wouldn't respond. They scuttled back down the alley trying to escape.
“This is your fault,” Bolt said to Accel. “Driving after me. Attacking me with your powers in public.”
“You kissed my girlfriend,” Accel answered.
“So, she’s a free woman. She didn’t stop me. Maybe you should have words with her.”
“I will if I ever get out of this alive. Why did he attack us?”
“I think we spilt his coffee,” Bolt murmured.
“His coffee?”
“Yeah, we bumped his table…and…I…eeer…I kind of flipped his coffee all over him when he complained.”
Accel shook his head in disbelief. “His coffee! I knew your arrogance would get us into
trouble one day.”
“But who the hell is he?”
“He is the guy you spilt coffee all over.”
“Wrong time, wrong place?” Bolt said and shrugged.
“Us or him?”
“Both I guess,” Bolt answered.
Accel watched as Zero walked down the alleyway and he tried desperately to think of a way out.
“You have any money?” Accel asked Bolt.
“What?”
“Money. Just give it to me.”
“Sorry, I am a superhero. I don’t carry money. I just take what I need.”
Accel sighed, dug deep into his own pocket, and pulled out his wallet.
“I got forty. Let’s hope it’s enough,” Accel said.
Bolt just looked at him in confusion.
They looked up at their victor as they lay broken and bruised on the ground.
Accel pushed himself up and stretched out his arm, with the money in his hand, towards Zero.
“Sir, sorry for spilling your coffee. This should cover the inconvenience and the dry cleaning.”
“Yeah, we are sorry. We shouldn’t have been fighting,” Bolt added like a scolded schoolchild.
Zero looked at them, leaned down, took the money, and counted it. He shoved the money into his back pocket and said, “Boys, you just learnt your most important lesson… Good manners.”
A noise fluttered in the background, which drew closer and closer, and from out of the dark, Zero’s coat flew into sight. Zero put his arm back, and the coat fluttered perfectly into place. Then his hat dropped from the sky onto his head. He pulled the peak down securing the hat firmly on his head. Then he turned the collar of his coat up, spun around, walked down the alley and disappeared out of sight.
# # # THE END # # #
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