by Nolan Fury
My chest tightened. Nitro-X had activated Mr. Bradford’s power generator, and was sucking energy from the Ultraverse. The air swirled around the beam of energy like a vortex.
“This is bad,” I mumbled.
“I agree,” Chrome said.
Amanda chimed in, “It looks pretty.”
31
“There is a bright side,” Surge said. “Mr. Bradford placed tracking chips within the rings. I’ve been monitoring their location.” She pulled out her phone and launched a tracking up. “Looks like they're on the move. When I first located them, they were downtown in the Magnus Tower. Top floor.”
The Magnus tower was a luxury high-rise. It was a helluva place for a bad guy to hide out. Knowing Nitro-X, he probably had the penthouse apartment, paid for with all his ill-gotten loot.
“Now might be a good time to attempt a rescue,” Chrome said. “If Nitro-X is out causing mayhem, their base of operations will be defenseless.”
A giant explosion rolled into the sky. The amber ball of flames eliminated the rooftops. It came from the same location as Nitro-X’s current position on the tracking app.
I clenched my jaw. There was no telling what kind of mischief Nitro-X was up to. We had to do something.
“I can handle the rescue,” Chrome said. “Why don’t you two go see what that maniac is doing?”
I agreed.
“But be careful,” Chrome cautioned. “You don’t have near the strength here.”
“I know,” I said, a worried look on my face.
We parted ways, and Surge and I headed downtown, looking for the madman. We found Nitro-X and Plasmatron on Congress Avenue, wreaking havoc.
It was nothing more than a show of force. A pure display of power. Amber flames engulfed parked cars, flickering high into the sky. Black smoke billowed, and the stench of burning tires filled my nostrils. Skyscraper windows were shattered, leaving millions of shards on the sidewalks and roadway. Terrified pedestrians scurried for cover, screeching and wailing—their faces twisted with fear.
Police helicopters circled overhead, the patter of rotor blades slicing the night sky. Spotlight beams highlighted the two super villains as they continued on their path of destruction.
Nitro-X threw a translucent pulse at the helicopter. It rippled through the air and slammed into the chopper. It was like it had been hit with an RPG. Sparks showered down as the vehicle exploded. Smoke poured from the ailing fuselage as it spiraled toward the ground. The whine of the engine spun down to a lower pitch and the rotor blades slowed.
The helicopter slammed into the side of a glass skyscraper. It tumbled across the shiny surface, taking out three floors of windows. Like shards of ice, the debris plummeted to the sidewalk below along with the fuselage. It twisted and crumpled against the sidewalk as it crashed down, rumbling the ground underneath my feet. It smashed several parked cars in the process. Car alarms blared.
Several patrols cars had formed a blockade in the street. Red and blue lights flickered across the buildings. Cops angled their weapons over the hoods of their patrol cars. Muzzle flash flickered from the barrels as they fired their weapons incessantly at the super villains. But they didn’t have any effect. The bullets just bounced off the two maniacs like they were spit wads.
Plasmatron hurled bolts of plasma from his hand. They slammed into a patrol car, igniting it. Flames engulfed the officers, and screams of agony filled the air.
Nitro-X hurled more explosive pulses toward the remaining patrol car. It exploded, sending bits of twisted metal and debris hurtling through the air. A giant ball of flame rolled into the sky, and the blast injured several more officers. They lay on the ground, writhing in agony, with puncture wounds from shrapnel. Blood seeped onto the concrete. It didn’t take long for the bodies to become lifeless and still.
My whole body tensed. I had to do something.
Surge grabbed my arm, holding me back. “You won’t stand a chance out there against him.”
“Somebody’s got to stop him,” I said, defiantly.
I pulled my arm free and marched into the street. Surge huffed with frustration and followed after me.
Nitro-X and Plasmatron moved past the smoldering vehicles. They seemed amused at our appearance. A sly grin curled on Nitro-X’s face. “So, you’ve come to save the earthlings. You think you can stop me? I have the power of the Ultraverse.”
He hurled a destructive pulse at me.
I dodged, sidestepping the translucent swirl. It rocketed down the street and exploded against a building.
Plasmatron took the opportunity to hurl plasma bolts at me. I dove out of the way and tumbled across the street as the bolts blasted craters in the road, sending chips of concrete in all directions.
Nitro-X hurled two more pulses at Surge.
She created a glowing energy shield to deflect the blasts. Nitro’s pulses slammed into her shield with a blinding explosion. The blast knocked Surge 20 yards back. She tumbled across the ground, looking like she’d been hit by a Mack truck. She staggered to her feet.
Nitro-X laughed.
I was beginning to think this was a bad idea.
32
Chrome made her way to the Magnus Tower. The luxury high-rise vaulted into the sky. An opulent lobby stood behind glass security doors. For most people, a code was needed to access the building. But Chrome had alternate methods of bypassing locked doors.
The blue vortex of energy swirling down from the Ultraverse into the power generator illuminated the sky, flickering like lightning. The surge of energy into the environment had somehow overloaded the power grid, but lights were coming back on across the city as sections regained their power.
Chrome placed her finger between the door and the jamb, then made her finger thinner than aluminum foil. She pushed her finger between the doorjamb and continued moving her whole body through in the same fashion. She emerged on the other side and walked across the marble floor to the bank of elevators. She pressed the call button and waited for the elevator.
Within moments, the door slid open and Chrome stepped inside. She pressed the button for the 46th floor—the 47th required a special access card.
The elevator launched her up the tower. She emerged on the 46th floor and moved down the hallway to the fire exits. She pushed into the stairwell and spiraled up the metal staircase to the 47th floor. As she anticipated, access was restricted. But Chrome was able to slip through the space between the door and the frame with no problem.
There were two suites on this floor. One on the east side, and one on the west. From the tracking app, she remembered that Nitro-X’s apartment faced west.
Chrome moved to the main door and put her ear against it, listening for activity. She heard voices inside and the noise of the TV. It sounded like they were watching a football game. There were sporadic cheers and groans of defeat.
Chrome flattened herself into a pool of liquid metal on the floor. It looked like a puddle of mercury. She flowed underneath the door, and a single eyeball formed from the puddle. The sparkling blue eye glanced around, taking in the area like an organic fiber optic camera.
Two guards with machine guns watched the television, thoroughly preoccupied.
Chrome continued to slip down the foyer. She moved through the apartment as a pool of metal.
The place was the ultimate bachelor pad. The living area was two stories high, with floor-to-ceiling windows. The open floor plan created a continuous space between the kitchen, dining area, and living room. There was a bedroom and two bathrooms downstairs. The master bedroom and more guest rooms were upstairs.
Chrome flowed down the hall to the bedroom. She slipped underneath the door and morphed into her normal form once she was inside. There was no sign of Curtis or Madison.
She returned to her metallic shape and slid back under the door, then made her way to the staircase. She slithered up the steps unnoticed. It wasn’t hard to figure out which room the hostages were being kept in—the bedroom at th
e far end hall had a steel door, a deadbolt lock, and reinforced steel doorjambs.
Chrome moved to the end of the hall and slipped underneath the door. She morphed into her natural appearance.
Curtis and Madison lay on the floor, bound at the wrists with duct tape over their mouths. Their eyes widened at the side of Chrome.
Curtis mumbled through the duct tape.
“Shh!” Chrome said, putting her finger to her gorgeous lips.
She moved to Curtis and removed the restraints around his wrists and ankles, then pulled the tape from his face.
“Ow!” He winced.
The sticky tape pulled the surface layer of skin from his face.
“Sorry.”
Chrome released Madison and was more delicate about removing the tape from her mouth.
She looked confused and terrified. “Who are you? And how did you get through that door?”
“She’s a friend of Ben’s,” Curtis said. “She’s here to help.”
Madison was beautiful. She had wavy brown hair and brown eyes and soft skin. She had sculpted cheekbones and an athletic figure. She was clearly frazzled having been held captive for over a week “Please explain to me how she got through that door?”
“I’ll explain later,” Curtis said.
“Come on,” Chrome said. “We need to get out of here.”
She helped Madison to her feet, then moved to the door. Chrome turned into liquid metal and pooled on the floor. She slipped back underneath the door and reformed on the other side. She turned her index finger into the shape of a key and stuck it into the keyway. She conformed the shape to move the pin tumblers into the right position. Chrome twisted her finger and unlatched the door.
Curtis and Madison followed Chrome down the hallway. They crept to the top of the stairs and Chrome peered down to the living room.
The guards were still watching the game.
Chrome led Curtis and Madison down the switchback staircase, tiptoeing down the steps.
Curtis sneezed at the halfway point.
The two guards spun around, bringing their weapons into the firing position when they saw the trio on the stairs.
33
Nitro-X hurled two more pulses at Surge.
She sprinted out of the way as the blasts narrowly missed her, slamming into the concrete. The explosion sprayed chips of dust and concrete in all directions and knocked Surge from her feet. It propelled her 20 feet into the air. She crashed into a parked car, crumpling the side of the door and smashing a window. Shards of glass sprinkled her hair like snowflakes.
I grabbed her and pulled her to her feet just as a plasma bolt streaked toward us. We dashed down the sidewalk and slipped into an alley and kept running. We barreled past the dumpsters and empty bags of trash. The mercury vapor light overhead flickered, bathing the area in a sickly light. At the next street, we turned left and kept running.
My chest heaved for breath, and panic washed through my body. I felt like a coward for running away, but we were no match for the two supers. I kept telling myself that retreating from a superior force was sound military strategy—that letting Nitro-X think we were weak would work to our advantage. The trouble was, we were weak.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Surge nodded. “He’s powerful.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Maybe we should go back to the Ultraverse. Regroup.”
“And let him terrorize Earth?”
Neither one of us liked the sound of that.
We ran for a few blocks and took cover in a sports bar on 6th Street named The Goal Post. It was one of the places that got power back early. During the outage, everyone in the bar hunkered down and continued to party. This was the kind of place that had hurricane parties. They were running a special in light of the events downtown—dollar Chaos shots. It was basically a mix of rum, vodka, tequila, and grain alcohol, mixed with the slightest bit of cherry flavoring.
The patrons watched the destruction on big screen TVs. Waitresses in skimpy outfits weaved through the crowd, serving drinks. Push-up bras created deep ravines of cleavage. Now and then a lucky patron would get to take his shot from a glass wedged between voluptuous breasts. With service like that, it was no wonder the bar was never empty.
From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a familiar face. Duane Earl Armstrong sat in a booth in the corner with two scantily clad college girls, one on each arm—a blonde and a brunette. They both leaned in close, making sure he noticed their ample cleavage. It was like a competition between them. They had flawless skin and sultry eyes and were quite irresistible.
I moved to the table and said hello. The green gem on his necklace glowed as I drew near.
Duane looked at me like I was insane. Then I realized he didn’t recognize me in my earthly form. “It’s me. Ben!”
He squinted, going through his mental filing cabinet. Then his eyes flicked to Surge, and it all came flooding back to him. His eyes darted back to me. “Holy shit, you look different. I would never have recognized you. What the hell are you doing here?”
“Trying to save the planet.”
He chuckled. “Good luck.”
“What about you?”
“I’m trying to track down a goddamn sorceress,” he slurred.
“Here?”
“I know, shocking. I’m told there’s an ancient one here that might be able to turn Ruby back into her natural self.”
The girls chuckled.
“What are you laughing at? I told you, my best girl got turned into a kitty.”
“I’ll be your kitty anytime,” the brunette cooed, not believing a word of it.
“Do you want to see my kitty,” the blonde whispered in DE’s ear. She grabbed his hand and placed it between her thighs.
I cleared my throat, trying to get DE’s attention. “I hate to interrupt, but I really could use your help.”
“What do you need my help for?”
“If you haven’t noticed, there is a super destroying the city,” I said, pointing to the TV.
“I don’t get involved in that nonsense.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“I’ve got my own drama to deal with.”
“I’m not asking you to get involved. I’m asking to borrow your necklace.”
He lifted his brow. Now he really looked at me like I was crazy. After the initial shock wore off, he burst into laughter.
The glowing stone around DE’s neck was a vervicite crystal. One of the rare Stones of Elavia, enchanted with powerful magic. It allowed the wearer to draw the power of any nearby super. Duane had gone through hell and high water to get it, and he wasn’t going to part with it under any circumstances.
“You have absolutely lost your mind. I traveled to two other dimensions to get this. Climbed treacherous peaks. Fought demons and monsters. Suffered through poisonous venom. I could go on and on and on. I don’t even take this thing off to fuck. And you want to borrow it?”
I frowned. “I know it’s asking a lot.”
“A lot?” He snickered. “Tell you what. If you want one so bad, go get your own. I’ll tell you exactly where you can find one. Good luck on making it back alive.”
News crews captured the chaos in full Ultra HD. The smoldering ruins of Congress Avenue flashed on the screen. It was like a scene from a movie. Nitro-X continued his reign of destruction, hurling explosive pulses. Then his eyes turned toward the camera. He marched toward the lens, and the cameraman held his ground. It was a great shot, and would stand out among the other news channels. The reporter’s mic caught the cameraman mumbling, “Oh, shit! Oh, shit!”
Nitro-X saw this as an opportunity to announce himself to the world. “This is but a small demonstration of my power. Your world belongs to me now. I am Nitro-X!”
He continued on his rampage, and the cameraman was left trembling. But he still managed to capture good footage.
“I think I just pissed myself,” the cameram
an muttered.
I turned from the TV and looked back to DE. “Still don’t think this is going to affect you?”
“Not my circus. Not my monkeys.”
34
“Go!” Chrome shouted. “I got this!”
She extended her hands and morphed them into a wall of metal, shielding Curtis and Madison. The three of them scurried for the door as the guards opened fire.
Bullets rained down, pinging against the metal, showering sparks. Smoke wafted from the barrels, and the sharp smell of gunpowder filled the room.
Curtis and Madison dashed into the entrance foyer.
Chrome formed a barrier, blocking the thugs from the foyer. “Go. I’ll catch up.”
Curtis and Madison didn’t waste any time. They barreled through the front door, sprinting down the hallway. They pressed the call button for the elevator and waited impatiently for the doors to slide open.
Chrome kept the guards at bay. They blasted at the barrier with their assault rifles, and the staccato report of gunfire rattled through the luxury apartment.
It didn’t do any good. The bullets bounced away. One of the guards started hammering the metal barrier with the butt of his rifle, making an earsplitting clang.
Chrome looked over her shoulder, peering down the hallway. She saw Madison and Curtis step into the elevator. When the doors slid shut, Chrome morphed back into her regular form.
Before the guards could react, Chrome transformed her arms into sharp swords. She pierced the bellies of the goons.
Their weapons clattered to the ground as blood spurted from their thoracic cavities. They clutched their wounds and crumpled to the ground with a look of shock and horror on their faces. They smacked the tile, bleeding out. A pool of crimson blood soon enveloped the bodies.
Chrome retracted the swords and transformed back into her normal shape. She wiped her bloodied hands on her thighs.