by Lucas Flint
Iron Angel chuckled. “How naive you sound, Dennis, despite being an adult. I would not be out here, leading the Vigilante Legion, if I believed what you did. By apologizing for such a corrupt industry, you deserve to suffer the same fate as all of these fake heroes do.”
“Are you sure that’s what Winged Gal would have wanted?” asked Rubberman, gesturing at her grave. “Would she have wanted you to murder three innocent people in cold blood, with plans to kill a fourth?”
“Yes,” said Iron Angel, a hint of insanity in his voice. “She absolutely would have, especially if it meant her resurrection. After all, no superhero is innocent of corruption. All have sinned and fallen short of the lofty ideals of superheroism … and thus, all deserve to be burned away like so much dead wood, starting with you.”
Iron Angel’s vigilantes were nodding as he said that. Glue Gun looked itching to shoot Rubberman, while Hissteria looked exactly like a snake that was getting ready to attack prey. None of them seemed to have noticed me yet, although I didn’t act because I still hadn’t seen the sign from Rubberman.
Rubberman shook his head. “Iron Angel, I used to idolize you. I used to think you were the greatest superhero ever. The day I met you and you told me that I had the potential to be a true hero was the greatest day of my life. I based my career off yours; I even studied under your mentor. So the fact that you’re trying to murder me … it hurts.”
“What do I care?” said Iron Angel. “You never really idolized me anyway. You idolized your own idea of what I was, a mirage, a phantom who you projected your own beliefs onto. And I was wrong to believe you had potential. Whatever potential you may have had, you gave it up in exchange for money and fame and licensing deals. That is why you are a fake hero, Rubberman, and why I must kill you.”
Rubberman, however, flashed a small smile at him. “You won’t be killing anyone today, Iron Angel, especially not me.”
That smile was the sign for me to attack. I rose from behind the tombstone and aimed at Iron Angel, but before I could fire, something long and heavy slammed into the side of my helmet. The sudden impact of the blow sent me staggering to the side and I tripped on a tree root and fell onto the ground.
As soon as I hit the ground, someone’s foot fell on my back and I heard the click of a handgun as it was aimed down at me. I tried to look over my shoulder to see who it was, but I didn’t see anyone standing above me, even though I could feel the pressure of someone’s foot on my back.
“Don’t move, kid,” said a deep voice, seemingly coming from the air itself. “I don’t like hurting sidekicks, but if you try to escape, I’ll put a bullet in your shoulder. Try to escape again, and we’ll see if that helmet of yours is bulletproof or not.”
Shocked, I said, “What? Who—”
“Invisible Man!” shouted Iron Angel from below. “Looks like you found something there.”
I looked down at Winged Gal’s grave. Iron Angel and his vigilantes were looking up at me and my assailant with amusement, while Rubberman was staring at us with clear shock on his features. I couldn’t blame him, because I hadn’t seen this coming myself.
“Quite right, Iron Angel,” came that voice again. “Like you thought, this entire situation was a trap meant to entangle us. The kid was going to shoot at us while our guard was down. But I don’t think he’ll be much of a threat at the moment.”
Rubberman’s mouth fell open. He looked at Iron Angel again. “Who is that and how did you know Beams was hiding there?”
Iron Angel gestured up the hill at me. “That is another one of my fellow vigilantes, Invisible Man. As you can see—or cannot, given his powers—he can turn totally invisible, along with anything he touches. He makes an excellent scout. When we came to the Graveyard, I sent him ahead of the others to search the surrounding area for any tricks you had in store for us. Clearly, that was a smart move on my part.”
Now this was just unfair. Neither Rubberman nor I had known that Iron Angel had an invisible man on his team. But I guess complaining about it wouldn’t change anything, although I cursed myself for not considering that a possibility when we figured out the plan.
Rubberman glared at Iron Angel, his hands balled into fists. “Let Beams go. Now.”
Iron Angel shook his head. “No. While I dislike harming sidekicks, who are victims of this cruel and corrupt industry, Beams is a different matter, because he was given a chance to renounce you and join us, but instead defied us and stood by you. He deserves to die just as much as you do, because he is an enabler of a system of evil.”
I gulped. Invisible Man had still not pulled the trigger, but I was all too aware of my current position. My helmet and suit were bulletproof, but a bullet fired at close range like this could still hurt, and a few good shots in the right places might still kill me just the same as if I hadn’t been wearing a suit at all. But I couldn’t save myself, because I didn’t think I was fast enough to shoot the gun out of Invisible Man’s hands, especially since Invisible Man was, well, invisible, and so was his gun, which made it hard to aim at him correctly.
Iron Angel held up his right claw. “But because I hate killing sidekicks, I will give you two choices, Rubberman. I will put Beams’ fate into your hands, so listen very carefully so you can make the right choice for once in your awful, selfish life.”
Rubberman said nothing. He looked so angry that I worried he might do something foolish, but he just stood there as still as ever.
“Option number one,” said Iron Angel, raising one claw. “You allow us to spill your blood on Winged Gal’s grave and mix it with the blood of the other three superheroes I have killed. In exchange, Beams will be spared.”
“What’s option number two?” said Rubberman.
Iron Angel raised another claw. “We kill Beams and then kill you for the resurrection ritual.” He lowered his hand to his side. “I hope there’s still a little bit of the hero I saw in you somewhere inside you, Rubberman, because if there isn’t, you will not make the right choice.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I couldn’t believe what I just heard or seen. In just a few minutes, Iron Angel had completely reversed the situation. He now had the power in this situation, the power and the will to enforce it. He had rendered both Rubberman and me completely immobile. And the two choices he offered Rubberman were a win-win for him, no matter what Rubberman chose. Either way, Rubberman would die, and I would probably, too, mostly because I didn’t trust Iron Angel to keep his word.
Despite that, I selfishly hoped for a moment that Rubberman would pick the first option, because that first option meant that I would live, at least for a little while longer. But I realized that, from an objective point of view, neither option was ideal. I tried to see if there was a third option that Rubberman could take, but I didn’t see how Rubberman could save both his life and my own. If he tried to fight Iron Angel, Invisible Man would put a bullet in my head and be done with it, but if he didn’t, then Iron Angel would just kill him and sacrifice his blood to resurrect Winged Gal.
Granted, the Necromantress was still out there somewhere, but I didn’t know where she was. I was convinced that she had probably fled as soon as she saw what Iron Angel did. Yeah, I knew about the collar and all, but the Necromantress struck me as the kind of woman who would do and risk anything, even her own life, to gain her freedom. Maybe she even figured out a way to disable the collar. Regardless, I doubted that she was going to help us. She was probably chuckling at the sadistic choice offered to Rubberman, because he was going to die no matter which option he chose.
“So?” said Iron Angel. “Make your choice, ‘hero.’ I don’t have all day. If you wait too long, I will make your choice for you, but you know how much of a mistake it is to let someone else make your choices for you in business, don’t you, Dennis?”
Rubberman’s fists seemed to become even tighter. Above me, Invisible Man give the ugliest chuckle I’d ever heard. No doubt he was amused by Iron Angel’s takeover of the situa
tion. I wanted to punch him in his invisible face, but unfortunately I was in no position to punch anyone anywhere. All I could do was lie there and pray for a miracle to happen.
“Still silent?” said Iron Angel. “Not surprising. A true hero would have picked option one without hesitation, because a true hero values the lives of others, especially children, above his own. That you hesitate and think, like a businessman considering whether to expand into a new market or try a new advertising tactic, shows you for what you really are and why this industry needs to be burned to the ground.”
Rubberman took a step forward. I heard Invisible Man move his gun above me, but luckily he had not yet pulled the trigger. Not that I noticed, because now I was focused on Rubberman’s face. He wore an expression of utmost confidence and contempt on his features, which was a really strange expression, because I’d never seen anyone try to express both of those emotions at once.
“You lecture me about valuing the lives of children, yet you have one of your own allies threaten to murder a child in order to weaken your enemy?” said Rubberman. “Iron Angel, you’ve become exactly the thing you used to fight. You are truly no different from any of the villains you once protected the world from. I have no respect for you at all anymore.”
“I don’t care what some greedy, fame-obsessed glorified private police officer thinks of me,” said Iron Angel. He pointed at Rubberman. “What is your choice? Will you give your own life for Beams or try—and inevitably fail—to beat us?”
“I pick a third option,” said Rubberman. “Beams and I both survive … and all of you go to jail.”
Iron Angel laughed. “How amusing, but not unexpected. Beams will die first, but don’t worry, Rubberman, for you will soon join him courtesy of my claws.”
I could already hear Invisible Man about to pull the trigger, but there was no way I could dodge it or turn my head around enough to fire lasers at his gun.
At the last second, something burst out of the ground near my waist and grabbed Invisible Man’s ankle. A grunt of surprise came from Invisible Man as he was tugged off me. He still shot his gun, but his aim was off and the bullet struck the ground next to my head, blowing dust on my visor, but otherwise not harming me. But with Invisible Man no longer pinning me down, I rolled onto my back and got into a crouching position to see who had saved me. I wish I hadn’t.
Two bony hands had burst out from the ground and wrapped around Invisible Man’s ankles. The hands were pulling Invisible Man into the earth inch by inch, which Invisible Man was desperately trying to stop. He shot bullet after bullet at the ground, each shot echoing loudly through the Graveyard, but no matter how many times he fired, not a single one of his bullets did anything to stop the zombie from pulling him deeper and deeper into the earth. He eventually ran out of bullets and I heard what sounded like him throwing his gun (which became visible as soon as it left his hands) at the earth in an attempt to make the zombie let go, but it never did. With one final scream of fear, Invisible Man vanished into the ground like water being absorbed into the earth.
I probably would have stared at the spot where he was dragged into the earth for a long time if I hadn’t heard screams below. I looked downhill and saw a scene which made me feel both triumphant and scared out of my mind.
Zombies had burst out of the earth all around the vigilantes and were now locked in a desperate struggle with the Vigilante Legion. Glue Gun was firing hot glue at the zombies, while Hissteria struck with punches as quickly as a snake, but for every zombie the vigilantes killed, another two or three would come to take its place. Pretty soon, the six vigilantes who had followed Iron Angel into the Golden City Graveyard were surrounded by a mob of zombies and reanimated skeletons in various states of decay and more kept coming, rising from the graves which covered every square inch of the Graveyard. It was pretty obvious that they would be overwhelmed within the next few minutes.
All of them, that is, except for Iron Angel. He cut down every zombie which got too close to his wings, beheading them, crushing their skulls, or outright slicing them in half at the waist. Even from a distance, Iron Angel looked less like a human being than a demon from hell, ruthlessly slaughtering every zombie that dared stand in his way.
His real target was obvious: Rubberman, who had retreated behind Winged Gal’s tombstone, a surprised and disgusted look on his face. None of the zombies were attacking Rubberman, but I figured I knew why that was.
I heard footsteps behind me and looked over my shoulder to see the Necromantress standing half-hidden behind a large tombstone. She was smiling that same crazy smile she had worn back in the Old Albertson Mansion, her eye twitching every now and then, like she was watching the most entertaining movie in the world. I noticed she still had her collar on her neck, which made me feel a little safer around her.
“Necromantress?” I said as I stood up and dusted myself off. “Where the hell were you? I was nearly shot.”
“Hiding, of course,” said the Necromantress, her smile never leaving her lips. “Oh, and the Necromantress believes that the proper thing to say to someone who saved your life is ‘thank you.’ Then again, perhaps she should not expect so much from Dennis’ sidekick. Certainly Dennis never thanked the Necromantress whenever she washed the dishes or folded his underwear for him.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, thanks anyway. I’m going to go down there and help Rubberman beat Iron Angel. You just stay here and don’t try to run away or anything like that.”
The Necromantress tugged at her collar ineffectually. “It isn’t like the Necromantress even can go anywhere, because she prefers having her head not exploded.”
I rolled my eyes again, but turned and ran down the hill toward Winged Gal’s grave. There were so many zombies now that I could barely see the vigilantes desperately fighting them off, but I paid them no attention, because all of my focus was on Iron Angel and Rubberman, who were now locked in combat. As I watched, Iron Angel slashed and punched at Rubberman, but Rubberman dodged each attack, twisting and turning his body into all sorts of unnatural contortions while occasionally sneaking in a blow whenever Iron Angel left an opening. But I could tell that Rubberman’s blows did very little against Iron Angel, whose armor seemed thick enough to absorb the impact of Rubberman’s fists.
In an instant, I realized that Iron Angel’s wings were the most vulnerable part of his armor. If I could take out his wings, they would become so much dead weight on his back, which would make it harder for him to fight.
I took aim at his left wing and was just about to fire when a loud hissing noise made me look to the left in time to see a giant snake hurtling toward me. Before I could react, the snake wrapped its thick coils around my body and squeezed, causing me to gasp for air. It was like being crushed in a vice grip and I couldn’t free myself because it had wrapped my arms against my body.
Looking up at the snake’s face, I was shocked to recognize it as Hissteria’s face. It was slightly more snake-like than before, but I could never forget those serpentine eyes or how they looked at me with triumph and amusement.
“Surprised to see me, kid?” said Hissteria with a chuckle. “I suppose I never told you my power. I can shape-shift into a snake, thanks to some genetic engineering I experienced when I was younger. Not that it matters much, however, seeing as that won’t let you survive my squeezing you to death. Our leader must be allowed to slay the fake superheroes who populate this country, including your boss.”
I had no doubt that Hissteria could crush me between his coils. Already I could feel my bones starting to break under the pressure of his body around mine and nearly all of the air had been squeezed out of my lungs. I estimated I had only five seconds to live, which was why I had to act.
I fired a laser blast directly at Hissteria’s face. My blast struck Hissteria head on, making him scream in pain and let go of me. With a gasp of pain, I rolled backwards, got into a crouch, and looked at Hissteria.
The vigilante was now writhing on the gro
und in pain. He was rapidly changing back into his human form, his hands covering his face as he screamed in agony. I had half a mind to just abandon him, but at the same time, I didn’t want him to chase after me and help Iron Angel fight me and Rubberman.
So I fired more lasers at him, but Hissteria rolled to the side at the last second, neatly avoiding my lasers. But when he rolled to his feet and looked up at me, I couldn’t help but cringe when I saw his face.
Hissteria normally didn’t have a very handsome face, but receiving a full laser blast to the face didn’t help. His skin was melted and smoking in several spots; in fact, his left eye had been melted shut. His fang-like teeth looked like melted marshmallows and his nose was almost entirely blasted off. I knew how much damage my eye beams could do to a person’s face, but I had never actually seen the results of my powers in person before, at least not like this.
“You stupid kid,” said Hissteria, his voice slightly slurred due to the fact that his tongue seemed to have been burned black. “You ruined my beautiful face. For that, you must die.”
Hissteria rose to his feet, but before he could attack me again, a zombie came up behind him and bit him in the neck. Hissteria screamed in pain and lashed out against the zombie, but even though he managed to get that zombie off him, another half dozen zombies appeared and tackled him. He disappeared under a dog pile of zombies that torn at his skin with their teeth and hands like lions on a wounded gazelle.
Even though it was a horrific scene, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it until I heard a blast of jets near me and remembered Iron Angel and Rubberman. Whipping my head to the side, I saw Iron Angel flying above Rubberman, who had climbed into the tree above Winged Gal’s grave. Iron Angel flew around the tree in rapid, close circles, using the razor sharp tips of his wings to cut through the dead limbs with ease. This forced Rubberman to remain on the lower branches, ducking his head to avoid getting beheaded, but it was obvious that Iron Angel would turn that entire tree into toothpicks unless he was stopped.