by Riley Tune
For a moment Hunter thought the Commander could create copies of himself. The same power wielded by Detach, the Imperial Lord that Zeva had murdered. Then he saw one of the copies flicker for a second. An idea began to form about the Commander’s power.
“Last warning.” The Commander said out loud. “Non-lethal force if you can help it,” the Commander said over his shoulder. Flex nodded. “I don’t do non-lethal. I do survival.” Hunter shot back. “Fair enough,” Commander Lopez said.
Hunter was surprised to see some of the prisoners on his end, actually listened and casually returned to their cells. Despite that, he noticed that the prisoners that remained in the hall, with fists balled and teeth showing were much larger in number. “I believe they are more interested in me,” Flex said as he looked around.
“I know at least three of them I put in here personally. I recognize the faces.” “ For Atlas’ sake,” Hunter swore. He had become friends with Flex, but now they were looking at a lot of pain for his good deeds. As soon as the thought was in his head, he pushed it away.
That was the sort of mindset a villain would have, and those days and thinking that way were behind him now. “I think we are much happier out here with you, Commander.” A mohawked female said as she stepped through the crowd. “Atlas as my witness, Ava,” the Commander started, but Ava just kept walking. As she took her next steps, she transformed into a large muscle- bound woman.
This new form she took on stood around seven feet tall and had muscles that put Flex’s to shame. Each new step she took made the ground shake. Several other prisoners began to flex their powers as they realized that somehow, their abilities were back in full effect. Some hovered in the air, while others took fighting stances. One that was facing Hunter even pulled a large hammer from out of thin air that began to glow red.
Hunter didn’t waste time. In seconds he created force fields around the prisoners facing him, and with the control over his force fields, sent them rushing back down the hall. Once they were far enough away, he released them, but their momentum slung them into a wall. This gave him some time to think, or so he thought, as his attention shifted to what was unfolding behind him.
In that second, Hunter watched the Commander run up the side of a wall, and up to the ceiling. The other versions of himself that the Commander had created did the same in opposite directions. They were all easily ten feet in the air, and despite being upside down, none of them fell to the ground.
“Illusion casting, and limited gravity manipulation,” Hunter said to himself as he watched. Hunter eyed them all as they ran around each other, and he lost track of which one was the original Commander.
Each version of the commander made a dash towards their target. They all seemed to move as one, and even their hats fell to the ground at the same time. Ava swung at the first one and ripped through it as it faded away. Her massive fist whistled through the air again as the next version of the commander faded away.
The final two commanders split up and ran in two different directions. The hulking form of Ava looked from side to side. She finally set her sights on the commander to her left, and the figure smiled, then faded away. Her eyes went wide as she turned to look at the other Commander, but it was too late. While upside down on the ceiling, he aimed his revolver, and a crack exploded through the air.
CHAPTER 6:
ROYAL RUMBLE
A va stumbled, but she didn’t fall. Commander Lopez knew she wouldn’t. It would take more than a single bullet to put an Icon like Ava down. He was their commander, not their executioner. He didn’t want to kill them, he could if he wanted to, but only if he was pushed to that point.
He took in a deep breath as Ava pushed herself up from the knee she had taken, a red spot was now in the middle of her head where the bullet had made the impact. Commander Lopez smiled as he created an illusion around himself that left him invisible. Ava shook her head like a dog being annoyed by a fly. “No more tricks!” she shouted as she slammed her massive fist to the ground.
As she did so, the Commander, caught off guard, fell back into visibility, but instead of falling, he rolled slightly in the air as if he was on a string, and fired three more shots toward Ava. All finding their mark, and pushing her back, while making her angrier at the same time.
“You ready to quit Ava?” The brute of a woman replied by cracking her neck. “It’s going to be a long day,” Commander Lopez said to himself as a pissed- off Ava charged at him.
Before her fist could crash down, it was caught in the air with by a single hand. Flex now hovered in front of Commander Lopez as with one hand he held Ava’s attacking fist, and his other hand formed a fist of his own. Ava smiled down at him, as her massive- size compared to Flex gave her a false sense of superiority. It was short- lived as Flex delivered a punch to Ava’s face that broke her jaw and her pride. “Easy, big boy.” Commander Lopez said to Flex. “She can take it,” Flex replied as he flew towards Ava.
On the other end of the hall, Hunter wasn’t having as much luck as Flex. His attackers had returned, and the prisoner that wielded the glowing hammer was swinging it with precision. She was joined by two other prisoners, one that could transform into a demonic- looking monster, and the other that could hurl small bolts of electricity. Hunter called forth a force field around himself.
The strain was heavy on his body as attacks landed from clawed hands, glowing weapons, and jolts of electricity. “Come out and play, Paragon.” the demonic- looking monster said as she continued to slash at the force field. Hunter couldn't help but notice that while she was in demonic form, the prisoner still had the appearance of a curvy woman in spite of her gray jumpsuit.
“Stupid ass name,” the prisoner with the glowing hammer muttered between her attacks.
Hunter was tired of playing defense and was tired of people taking shots at his name. He had to be smart about his point of attack, though. He couldn’t unleash his impact blast. Not at full power, at least. The damage to the prison could cause more problems than it solved. From inside his force field, he looked to Flex and Commander Lopez.
Both had their hands full. Flex was trading blows with Ava. A fight that he could have won easily if he was allowed to fight at full power, but the request by the commander, mixed with the rapid healing that Ava seemed to have, was causing a problem. Lopez was easily fighting the weaker of their attackers as he fired shots at limbs instead of lethal locations.
One by one, the weaker of their attackers yelled out in pain as they fell to the ground. He was an excellent shot too. Not one of his bullets missed their target, as he twirled and spun around the hall. It didn’t happen often, but Hunter was impressed. He didn’t know if the commander’s aim and agility was a power he wielded, or simply just years of practice, but it was getting the job done.
At that moment, as his force field took another blow from his attackers, Hunter wondered where the Icons were that reduced their prisoner's powers. He began to see the downside of having such a large facility and concluded that was why help hadn’t arrived yet. “Young Lords,” a voice came through to both Hunter and Flex.
“Not now, Prism,” Hunter said. “Busy.” There was silence for a moment before a response came back. “I wanted to alert you of an issue with Perkins,” Prism said in reply. “Is she okay?” Flex said as he dodged a punch from Ava while lifting her up into the air and slamming her back to the ground. “Yes, but.” “Then it can wait,” Flex replied.
“As you wish,” Prism replied, and then silence filled the coms once more. “Screw it. I’ll just pay for damages.” Hunter said as he dropped his force field while allowing his vision to turn blue. “Hunter,” Commander Lopez screamed from down the hall.
His pleas fell on deaf ears as the demonic prisoner was first to fall as the Impact Blast struck her full in the face. As she flew back, a scream came from her than transformed from heavy and raspy to soft and feminine as she fell to the ground.
A curvy woman with blond hair and neck ta
ttoos now lay unconscious on the ground, where the demonic figure once was. “Ah,” Hunter screamed in pain as he fell to the ground and twitched. His eyes closed with pain as he felt the energy surge through his body. Those electric bursts packed a punch, but so did he.
With his hand stretched, Hunter wrapped a force field around the prisoner with the hammer once more, as he flew to the prisoner that controlled electricity. For a few minutes, he was able to maneuver in the air as bolt after bolt of electricity was hurled at him, but the confines of the hall weren’t great for flying. That was Likely why the prisoner that Commander Lopez faced that was in the air, went down so fast.
It took a lot to focus on the prisoner in front of him because Hunter winced every time the hammer wielder attacked the force field she was in. That was the downside of having such a power. His force fields were an extension of himself. While they made Hunter very durable, he could still feel some of the force applied to them, and this lady was packing force by the ton in her swings.
Hunter released several short bursts of energy from his eyes, and the electric- hurling prisoner moved at speeds faster than a normal human could, but definitely not at super speeds. She dodged all the blasts, and the energy from his eyes continued up the hall, where it collided with several walls, monitors, and doors, leaving massive holes in its wake.
A blast also clipped Commander Lopez.
“Son of a,” Commander Lopez could be heard screaming from down the hall. Later, when this was over Hunter felt that maybe he should work with Lopez one day on his own aiming skills. When Hunter finally came in close on the prisoner, she created two things of electricity in her hands again, only this time she didn’t throw them at him.
Instead, she wielded them like stun batons in her hands. Before she could swing them, however, another bang cracked in the air, and Hunter’s attacker screamed as a hole ripped from her leg. He glanced down the hall and saw Commander Lopez still standing with his gun aimed. Hunter nodded at him, as he sent a punch into the prisoner’s stomach.
He didn’t pack the strength in his blows like Flex, nobody did, but the prisoner folded over just the same as she curled up in a ball and wrapped her hands around her now bleeding leg. “One more,” Hunter said as he turned to face his captive inside his force field.
What he saw, wasn’t what he was expecting. The hammer- wielding prisoner held her hammer in front of her and it disappeared. Seconds later, she pulled a long sword out of the air. Much like the hammer it had a glow to it, but this time it was blue.
As she slashed at the force field, Hunter could feel sharp pings of pain take over. The prisoner’s sword cut through his force field easier than he could have ever imagined. This was one of the rare occasions that he had seen this happen, and Hunter found himself being happy that he found out this way, and not in a way that involved him being stabbed when he expected the force field to be a protective barrier.
The prisoner charged towards Hunter, as from behind him, several shots rang through the air from Commander Lopez. The prisoner ducked, leaped, and spun around as she dodged them all. “Damn,” Hunter said to himself as he prepared to fire his Impact Blast. She had skills, that was for sure. Before he could, the well-dressed form of Flex flew by him and drew back a fist.
Moments later, the prisoner was unconscious on the ground. Commander Lopez limped over to Hunter. “Damage to the prison aside- You’ll be getting a bill for that by the way. Nicely done.” “Seeing as how her knife cut through my force field like hot piss through snow, I’m glad Flex stepped in.” At that same moment, doors around them opened and guards flowed in, along with two men dressed in long red trench coats.
“Better late than never I suppose,” Hunter said as he pointed to all the bodies around them. “A little help a few seconds ago would have gone a long way.” “Apply new bracelets to all of the prisoners, then take them to medical, only after the bracelets have been applied and confirmed to be in working order.” Commander Lopez said as he placed his gun back in the holster.
Hunter eyed his belt and realized only about three bullets were left. “I doubt you’ll find him, but get guard Hamell. He should be on lockdown duty.” One of the men in the red trench coat walked forward while stepping over the unconscious body of the prisoner that could take a demonic form.
He had a deep voice and a pointy nose that seemed to look down as he spoke. “Hamell’s body was found before the alarms went off. It was actually why they went off. We didn’t know of the fighting here until later,” he said to Commander Lopez. “Well I hope he’s ready to join the prisoners he seems so fond of,” Commander Lopez replied. The man in the trench coat shifted his posture some.
“Guard Hamell is dead, sir. Throat slashed. We can only assume Regina,” the man was cut off as Commander Lopez, waved a hand and turned away from him. “Atlas as my witness, we will find them.” Commander Lopez said out loud. Flex moved to speak but was cut off by the voice in his ear.
“Young Lords,” Prism came back once more. Hunter responded this time. “Prism, I like you. I really do. In fact, I’ve grown fond of you over the last year, but your timing today is horrible. Can you just spit it out please?” “Certainly. It’s about Ms. Perkins.”
Flex stopped talking to the guard, and the other man in the red trench coat. “What’s up, Prism?” He asked. “She has requested for you both to return at once. It’s about the message from her multibox.” There was a long pause of silence from Prism. Hearing the normally quick-witted program, have a lack of words was off-putting to Hunter.
For a second, he thought they lost connection. “Prism. You there?” Hunter asked. “Yes. Please return to base at once. It isn’t good.”
CHAPTER 7:
LONG DISTANCE MESSAGE
P erkins looked at the hologram flickering before her as she waited for a reply. She knew Prism was usually very prompt. He made jokes and insults at other’s expense, but none could deny the hologram’s efficiency. “Well?” she asked. “They are on their way-” “Good,” she said as she cut the hologram off and paced around the room a few more times. Suddenly she stopped, rubbed her chin, and then picked up the multibox from the table gently.
It was a mess. The smooth outer layer was dented now, and various wires, portions of tape, and even glue could be seen holding parts in place. Mess or not, she had gotten it to work. She had heard the message all the way and it was worse than what she had expected. With care, she placed the box back down on the table.
She couldn’t risk damaging it. She needed it to serve a purpose two more times. “Get the others, too,” Perkins said over her shoulder as she opened her closet, and moved all of her clothes aside to reveal a secondary door. Once the second door was opened, she was faced with no fewer than fifteen different styles of weapons. All guns and all selected carefully by her over the last year.
“My babies,” she said under her breath as she debated on what to do with them. One of the best things about this world for Perkins was the selection of weaponry. It was far superior to that in her dimension. Her world had weapons, just not such a wide selection. This world had guns, knives, cannons, and blasters for every occasion. For Perkins it was nothing short of heaven.
Surely, she couldn’t bring them all. If not all, then she would have to settle for her favorites. Her first favorite was a long slender rifle. It had a great range and massive power, but it was slow. She let her fingers dance on the polished frame of the weapon before she moved on. She then moved over to a plasma cannon she had acquired a few months back. It was perfect, custom made and only reacted to her handprint.
The downside was that it required a massive amount of energy to charge, and once charged it only had a few shots in it. Now those shots could take down a few tanks at once, but they were still limited. She had loved that gun so much that she used some of the Imperial Lords’ contacts, and with the help of Power Prince, arranged for some smaller versions to be created.
She smiled to herself as her eyes fell to two sma
ller guns directly below the plasma cannon. They were identical and even favored their older brother plasma cannon. Each big enough just for her hand, she could maneuver with them with ease, they had good stopping power, a self-healing cooling system, and when fully charged could produce several hundred thousand rounds of bolt energy each. There was even a bolt setting on the blasters. Depending on the size of the target, she could adjust how much power each round had. Stopping a person, or cracking a mountain, the blasters could get it done.
She gripped the pistols in each hand, and as soon as she did, they glowed and hummed to life with her touch. The indicator on the upper part of the handle displayed the number thirty-eight. “Thirty-eight percent,” she said to herself as her eyes moved in her head with each calculation. “You rang?” Power Prince said in a long drawl as he stepped in the room with a smile.
He looked at Perkins, and then back to Jen and Sasha beside him. “Really?” They all looked at him with blank expressions on their face. “Lurch. Addams Family?” The silence continued to fill the room. “Uncultured. The lot of you,” he said as he leaned on the door frame. Jen grimaced as she shoved her way pass Power Prince. “What’s up?”
Perkins looked at them. “Where’s Danielle?” “Sleep. She refused to get up and called me something I won’t repeat, when I insisted that she did,” Prism replied. Perkins took in a deep breath and clasped the pistols in her hands together before she looked back to Jen. “I’ll explain when the boys get here.” She tossed each gun in her hand to Power Prince who caught them with ease. Had they been any normal guns, the room at large would have flinched, but these could only work if Perkins were holding them or programmed them on auto so anybody could use them. “Charge them for me. One hundred percent, all the way.” Power Prince looked at her, and then the guns in his hand. “Okay,” he said with confusion in his voice.