Omega

by Riley Tune

  Jen finally regained her senses after being taken aback by the scream of Sonah. As she floated back a few feet her eyes widened as she slightly felt bad for the monster. The double wings on both sides flapped but weren’t in perfect harmony as they were moments ago. The tentacle-like appendages on the head flared in all directions, and that banshee-like howl bombed again.

  “Sorry,” Jen said slightly under her breath as she gazed at the creature that was helpless against their assault. Then the Great Beast Sonah stopped flying completely and began to plummet to the ground. All members of the assault team had to spread out fast to get out of the way of the massive falling beast.

  “What in Atlas,” Hunter said as he looked at the beast plummet through the sky. As it fell chunky of debris from the crumbling city began to plummet below and spray through the sky around them.

  “There was a miscalculation.” The Mechanic franticly voiced through the coms. “You think?” Danielle screamed to him. Flex’s eyes darted around as the beast fell. “I don’t think the smooth landing we planned is going to happen,” Flex said over the coms as he began to fly towards the falling monster. “Paragon, with me. The rest of you stay here and handle the falling debris if you can. That’s an order.”

  As Flex’s words came through the coms, each member reacted. Danielle's eyes turned black as dark energy exploded around her, and she darted off as fast as her flight band could take her. She finally had an outlet for her growing power. Perkins dropped her massive cannon, and drew out her twin blasters, and tossed one to Jen. They began to fire in different directions, hitting anything falling that they could.

  Power Prince had long dropped his weapon, and currently had glowing pink orbs of crackling power where his hands should have been. So much power flowed through the Icon known for being a living battery that could have powered several cities. His hands had a spark in them and as large portions of a building fell, Power Prince clapped them together.

  A pink circular wave of power tore through the dark sky that was so bright that it made some of the heroes around him flinch. “Damn, double P,” Jen said from across the sky.

  Cayden popped two purple cubes in his mouth and began to chew rapidly. Then he stretched his hands out in front of him. A landslide of debris falling through the sky turned from massive boulders into brittle dust as the time around them was rocketed forward. “We got you guys covered from here,” Jen said through the coms.

  Hunter wasted no time as he took off behind his mentor and began to look like a blue bullet ripping through the sky as he dodged falling chunks of the city. “Mechanic, how off were the calculations?” Flex asked. “Very. The Great Beast Sonah is on a path directly for the great beast we currently occupy. Not the open land we originally planned.” “What!” Hunter yelled.

  “If impact is made, casualties will be over eighty percent. The death from both cities will be, catastrophic.” The Mechanic said quickly. “I’m sorry.” “You’re sorry?” Perkins screamed through the coms. “These are my people. And you’re sorry.” Silence filled the coms, as Flex gritted his teeth and pushed himself harder.

  Around him, all he could hear was wind rushing by and his team giving their all to reducing the falling chunks of the city that were going to destroy everything below. He didn’t know if he could do what he needed to, or if he was strong enough, but it was time to put his title to the test. It really was time to see if he was the strongest Icon.

  He realized that for the first time in his days as a hero, he was scared. Scared he wasn’t strong enough be the winner. This was much more than catching a plan out the sky. This was an ancient beast as large as a city, and with the added weight of a city on its back.

  He could feel his stomach roll as his throat seemed dry. Flex glanced over his shoulder and saw the pale blue force field of Paragon come into his view. His intern gave him a slight nod, and surprisingly, that nod put him at ease. “I’m here Ken Doll, let’s show 'em what the New Lords can do,” Flex smirked and nodded, as they tore through the sky and rushed towards the falling city.

  CHAPTER 34:

  THE POWER OF PARAGON & FLEX

  F rom where she hovered in the sky, Jen began to feel tired. This flying around and blasting stuff put a strain on the body, even if there was a device that allowed her to fly. As she caught her breath, she looked down and felt her heart skip. Flex and Hunter were both flying through the sky alongside the falling city.

  “What in Atlas are they doing?” she said to herself, not knowing it was loud enough to be heard through the coms. “What they were born to do,” Danielle grunted through the coms. She sounded strained but oddly happy as she unleashed wave after wave of her dark energy and destroyed all in her wake. “Flex gave us an order. Get back to it,”

  “How large can you make a force field?” Flex asked as he flew alongside Paragon. Hunter didn’t miss the worry in Flex’s eyes. “Pretty big,” he replied as they both had to split to avoid a chunk of rubble in the sky. They were approaching the falling beast. “I need you cover the city. All of it, and the Great Beast Arzi too,” Flex said. “The fucking city?” Paragon replied as he glanced down to the slowly moving beast on the ground. As he flew through the air, it only looked like a tiny dot that was slowly getting bigger. There were thousands of innocent people down there. People that didn’t know death was falling down on them from the sky, because of something they did.

  “Cord, have the recruits reach as many people as they can and tell everyone to get somewhere safe, and to brace for impact,” Flex said. “Cord already left,” The Mechanic said back into the coms. “Where did he go?” Cayden and Flex said in unison. “I’m not sure, but I have already sent the recruits out to alert the city.” “Good,” Flex said as he reared off from Paragon in the sky.

  “What in Atlas are you going to do?” Paragon screamed as Flex flew towards the falling beast. The question was pointless. He knew what Flex had been planning from the moment he began to fly to the city. The crazy bastard was going to try to lift it. The entire city and the best itself. Tens of tons, maybe even hundreds. Paragon took a breath. Was Flex that strong?

  “You have your orders,” Flex screamed as he vanished under the size of the falling Great Beast. As Paragon moved through the sky, he glanced below to the city on top of the falling beast. Buildings were still breaking apart as the residents scattered. Fires roared throughout the city as the destruction continued to spread.

  Then, his head jerked so fast that it caused Hunter to stop flying all together. As he hovered above the city falling, he saw it again. A streak of something. Moving fast throughout the city. It wasn’t only moving, but it had purpose. As people fled the carnage of the collapsing city they were whisked away by the blur. Even fires were put out as the streak formed mini air funnels. “Impervious,” Hunter said with a smile. He didn’t know how, but the legendary hero had broken free, and was saving those on the city.

  “I don’t see that force field,” Flex said. His voice wasn’t normal, though. It was strained and forced. His words were enough to make Hunter focus. “Anytime, Paragon,” Flex added. “On it,” Paragon said as he flew through the air, beyond the great beast, and came up on the city below. He had seen the Great Beast from this point of view before, but now it looked larger. As he took in the sheer size of the monster, he took a deep breath and raised his hands.

  The motion wasn’t needed to create the force field, but he often felt it helped him focus his efforts, and for the most part, it looked good on camera. Slowly, a pale blue bubble came to life at the highest point of the city and began to spread. It was easy at first. Almost like spreading a blanket over a large area

  Then the area seemed to continue to go, and the blanket was too small. Still, even though it seemed like a pointless act, Hunter continued to push. Continued to slowly spread that force field larger than he ever had too. Larger than he thought he would ever need to, and he realized that if he made it out of this mess alive, he would add force field size to his tr
aining. He naturally just made it large enough to cover a few people or to fill a room, but never an entire city.

  Under better circumstances, an Icon would join forces with other heroes with a force field power and just cover various parts of the city in a precise and planned out manner. He didn’t have that luxury, though. “Holy shit,” Jen came through the coms. “I see it too,” Danielle said. “Same,” Cayden replied through the coms. They all floated in the sky in different positions. The debris had been handled, and from where they were the Great Beast was too far away to catch.

  They hovered as slowly, they watched two things happen. On one side, the falling Great Beast Sonah, began to slow and turn slightly. Its wings weren’t moving, and the large tentacled head of the beast hung limp. They didn’t know if the monster was dead, or had just passed out from pain. Either way, its shift in momentum wasn’t from its own power.

  On the other side, they could see a force field larger than anything they had ever seen began to form. “If we can see it from here,” Cayden said slowly. “It’s massive.” Jen said with a tremor in her voice. “He’s never had to-” “You can do it Paragon! I love you, you blue bubble- forming bastard,” Danielle screamed through the coms so loud that it caused all listening to jump. Somewhere down below, Paragon smiled as sweat rolled down into his eye.

  “I second her statement. The city is almost completely covered if my calculations are right,” The Mechanic said. “Don’t get me started on your calculations,” Cayden said in a hollow tone that sounded almost identical to his brother’s.

  “They really are freaks of nature,” Perkins said over the com. She sounded weak. Far weaker than the others, and from where she was in the sky, she wiped the blood from her ear. Happy that none could see her. As she gathered herself, she took a page from Danielle's book.

  “You guys see my man? Moving an entire city and the mountain of a monster below it? Manis never had a chance.” His muscles were pushed harder than they had ever been. So much force was being exerted that Flex’s fingertips had pushed through the armor like skin of the monster.

  He felt like a slap from a feather would take him down, but he kept pushing, and through all of the force and energy he was spending, he found a little more power to smile at the words from Perkins.

  The sweat rolling down his face wasn’t his problem. No, Hunter could deal with that. It was a pounding headache and moments of blackness that took over his vision that was becoming a problem for him. He dipped a few times in the air against his own will. His team in the air above him could hear the heavy breathing that he and Flex released through the coms.

  It had taken so much from him, but he had done it. He even urinated on himself in the process, but Hunter swore to tell nobody that secret. Not even Danielle. As he slowly lowered his hands, he could see the blue force field cover the entire city and the beast below it, forcing the monster to stop walking entirely. His timing couldn’t have been better as massive chunks of debris and rubble that his team was unable to dispatch hit the force field like meteors falling from the sky. With each collision Hunter could feel the damage on the force field.

  His fear was beginning to come true. He thought it would. His force fields were strong. Massively so, but those were normal force fields. He had a theory that the larger the force field, the less damage it could take before it was destroyed. In theory, this worked like a muscle, and the more he created such large fields, they in time would become stronger. Unfortunately for Hunter, he went from semi-personal force fields, to covering a city with no training in between.

  “This isn’t going to hold long,” Hunter said. Even as he spoke, he could feel the cracks spreading in his force field below. He turned in the air to see the Great Beast falling towards him still but at a slower pace and in a slightly different direction. “Atlas,” Hunter said slowly as his mouth gaped.

  Flex really was doing it. For the first time, Hunter realized just how strong Flex truly was, and even in the world of the powerful, Flex truly was a force to be respected. Hunter often overlooked it because of their past, and because of Flex’s youth. Seeing him literally moving a city and the beast it rested upon put things into perspective and made Hunter realize something that he never had.

  In their previous fights, Flex had held back. Every time. If he released his true strength, things wouldn’t have been as close as they were between the two friends. “Ken Doll, you son of a bitch,” Hunter said over the coms with a slight smile. “Huh,” Flex said faintly through the coms.

  “Nevermind,” Hunter said as he began to fly through the sky towards the bottom of the Great Beast. “Guys, I need you to help the force field I put over the city below us,” Hunter said as he moved around the slumped wings of the Sonah. “Why? What’s up?” Power Prince came back as he signed for the others to move towards the pale blue dome over the city below.

  He didn’t know why Hunter had given the order, or why Hunter was even giving orders, but he trusted him. An act that Hunter didn’t miss as he saw his team fly by them in a slightly different direction towards the city below them.

  “The force field I created is large, but not as strong as my smaller ones. Every time it gets hit, I can feel it weaken. Take out any additional debris that you can and then join us when we are finished. Then we enter the city.”

  “You heard the man,” Danielle said as she found a good position above the dome over the immobile Great Beast. She clapped her hands together and began to create a swirling ball of spiked dark energy. Bullets covered the sky from Jen and Perkins, as she continued to form the ball. There was an entire building falling towards her.

  She had seen it break away from Sonah as they moved into position. The shift in direction had caused the tall building to break clean off. Not a piece of debris, or a large chunk of rubble, but an entire building. She didn’t know if the ball she created would be large enough to take it out, but as the thought ran through her head, Power Prince and Cayden rose in the sky to her side.

  “Atlas, I hope the building is empty,” Danielle said. “Doesn’t matter.” Power Prince said slowly as his hands began to glow brighter. “If it hits the force field, they are dead anyway. If it destroys the force field and makes an impact, plenty more will die. It’s a tough choice, but one we have to make.”

  He was right, but Power Prince hated being in these situations, but it was what he signed up for. It was why he took the oath and trained. So that he could make the tough decisions. It hurt him inside, but it was all he could do. “Atlas forgive me,” he said slightly under his breath so low that even the coms didn’t pick it up.

  “Now,” he screamed as he clapped his fist together and released a wave of energy that sliced through the building. It destroyed some but left two large halves that kept falling. The smaller pieces were sprayed with the blast from Perkins and Jen.

  Danielle released her channeled energy and watched it obliterate one half of the building with such force that she and Power Prince had to cover their eyes. Cayden on the other side had his hands out, and as if time was being fast forwarded, the building rapidly turned to dust. “How does that power work again?” Power Prince said as he looked at the dust field sky.

  “Tell you later,” Cayden said through gasp of air.

  Below the Great Beast Sonah, Flex could feel his fingers going numb. His arms burned as if they were on fire from the inside, yet he found the strength to keep pushing. He could feel the monster shifting and was certain he had done enough to prevent it from crashing into the other Great Beast. Still, he pushed for good measure.

  Then he saw another pair of hands near his. “What in Atlas are you doing,” Flex said slowly as Hunter, barely able to keep his eyes open, smiled at him. “Helping. Out.” His words came out so slow that they barely made sense.

  Flex noticed Hunter’s eyes close and saw his head dip. “Guys, the force field over the city just vanished,” The Mechanic said quickly. Those on shield guard duty all looked below them to see the defenseless
city. Most of the debris was handled and any additional chunks seemed to be mere target practice for the trigger-happy Jen and Danielle who seemed to have ample power to burn.

  “The city will be fine,” Power Prince responded. “Hunter,” Flex shouted as he watched his intern fall through the sky unconscious. He wanted to reach for him, but he had to continue to guide the city. “I’ll get him,” Cayden said as he moved to fly through the sky, even though he feared he wouldn’t be able to catch him. Oddly enough, his assistance wasn’t needed.

  As Hunter fell through the sky something happened. Something that was unexpected, and caused fear in Cayden heart. A wisp of sand seemed to come alive in the air around Hunter and began to swirl in a violent circle around him. As the circle grew large, Hunter’s momentum slowed to the point that he was just floating in his newly formed prison of sand.

  “Hunter,” Danielle said in a gasp as she watched in horror alongside Cayden. The sand swirling around him began to move him closer to a large floating chunk of debris, or perhaps simply a large rock. From their distance, they couldn’t tell. What was clear to Cayden and Danielle was who was on top of the rock.

  Standing in the front center, her pink hair could be seen even through the night, yet they didn’t know how. Surrounding her were four metallic men, each flanked by their Warden’s Circle. A loud crashing sound exploded in the silence around them as Flex came over the coms. “It’s. Done.”

  He shook his arms to relieve the pain in them and turned around to see what they were all looking at across the night's sky. While his team was in shock of Omega’s sudden appearance, he could feel fury forming in his sore body. They had him. Paragon. Hunter. His friend was being held by a Warden now.