Chapter 1: Aftermath! An Uneasy Alliance!
"Let me make this perfectly clear: We failed."
The calm, yet clearly annoyed tone of Mindflare's voice painted the picture perfectly clear as Kim could only listen. There was a shipment of the antidote that was to come to Middleton today. This was to be Dr. Helix's latest version of the antidote that was to remedy the recent Mu-Type outbreak – excluding which that resulted from the explosion at the warehouse. However, even in apparent death did Xanthos have followers who believed in his ideology of Mu-Type supremacy as it was all but certain that there will be an attempt to destroy the shipment before it arrived at the intended destination.
Four people were to be assigned to the mission. The lineup was originally X, Saber, Kittina and… Ugh… Machpunch. But due to her knowing the area better than the four of them, Kim's involvement in this mission was guaranteed, much to Machpunch's protests. Saber decided to step down to mission control, believing that serving as an extra set of eyes would be better. The mission was simple: Two teams of two were to guard one of the two trucks each. The pairs were decided: X and Kim, and Kittina and Machpunch. Aside from Kittina being – surprisingly – one of the few girls he could at worse tolerate working with (Where they even dating? How could she put up with him?), the pairs were based on adapting to their partner's skillsets. Given that she was replacing Saber and has already seen X in action a few times (on both sides no less), Kim knew that their team could work well. But even the best-laid strategies had a chance to fail.
"I wonder how that could've happen…" She heard the venomous words of the behemoth laced with sarcasm as she felt his eyes turned towards her. It was as if he was blaming this all on her!
Saber stepped in, "This wasn't some run-of-the-mill operation out of desperation. Somehow Xanthos figured that Dr. Helix would've been able to produce the antidote." Sighing, "They were ready for us. Not helping that they didn't need to actually take the shipment, as long as it didn't reach its destination." Their goal was to make sure that the shipment made it to its destination, while the followers' goal was to make sure it didn't. To them, whether if it were destroyed or not was irrelevant.
"They seemed to be a lot stronger than usual…" Kittina wondered, "Did they take some of the new Xenocide created back at the warehouse?"
"It would seem that the new Xenocide creates stronger Mu-Types." Mindflare reminded, "However Xanthos also took the same Xenocide, and if the side effects are anything to go by, anyone who takes this are in immediate danger. At any rate, Xanthos has created a new weapon that is potentially dangerous to both Mu-Types and non-Mu-Types alike."
"Yet anotha' thing to add on to the list…"
Kim narrowed her eyes, knowing exactly where Machpunch was going with this, "And what does that supposed to mean?"
"Y'mean you didn't get the memo the first time?"
"Are you saying that all of this is my fault?"
"Congratulations, you actually have a brain after all!"
"If I am responsible for the new outbreak of Mu-Types, then I'm sure as hell not the only one! After all, I'm not the one who came up with, let alone approved of the plan that involved filling Xanthos up with enough Xenocide to cause him to blow up the warehouse! Therefore, your team should be taking some responsibility for this mess!"
"Yeah, the plan only saved that other idiot who was dumb enough to go with Terra and Ryzin in the first place! Something, if I remember correctly, that was caused by you! Nevah'mind you givin' Xanthos the stuff he needed to make that Xenocide in the first place!" Machpunch scoffed, "I gotta say Possible, when you fuck up, ya really know how to fuck up big time! Always leave it to a girl to blame the opposite sex for her own screwups instead of actually takin' responsibility!"
X facepalmed, "Oh god not this again…"
"Girl?" Kim was just about at her reaching point, "Why you arrogant, sexist…"
"Once again you prove my point! When you screw somethin' up, you immediately point out other people's faults just to make yerself look bettah so you don't have to face the consequences of yer actions! That's the problem with you women: You bitch about equality and all that other bullshit, but when push comes to shove you play the victim card when yer expected to get as good as ya give! If ya don't wanna get hit, maybe y'shouldn't have made the first move and expect to use yer gender to just get away with it!"
"So you advocate Domestic Abuse?"
"Don't even try to put words into my mouth!"
"Any man who places his hands on a woman deserves everything he gets!"
"Any woman who falsely accuses or intentionally provokes a man into putting his hands on her deserves worse than what she gets!"
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone could see the stress that showed on his face as Mindflare massaged the temple of his nose, "Fighting amongst ourselves won't help our situation at all. Granted there is still a chance of recovery so the antidote isn't completely lost. However, due to the commotion that has caused from today's events, we will have to move discreetly. Kim, given that you know the area better than any of us I'll leave this task to you. While you are required to recover as much as you can, I do not expect you to gather it all."
Kim wasn't sure if she liked what he was saying, "What do you mean? Are you saying that it would be too much for me?"
"Don't mistake this as underestimating your abilities. Given your newfound infamy, it would be wise for you to not draw attention to yourself. This needs to be accomplished quickly. I trust that I do not need to inform you of the authorities that will be within the proximity?"
Kim nodded, understanding what the Omega Strike leader was trying to say: There was a chance that there may still be a truckload of the antidote inside of the trailer, provided that the doors remain closed. Thus trying to recover all of it would be the height of idiocy in this situation. "I won't let you down."
Mindflare heard a low "'bettah not" snark from Machpunch, "We may have different philosophies and beliefs, but we all have the same goal: The prevention of Xanthos' goal of Mu-Type Supremacy coming to fruition. Even through death he still attracts followers. Thus we all have to be united and work together. Each and every one of us," He narrowed his eyes towards Machpunch, "And I do mean everyone."
This did not go unnoticed as Kim could hear Machpunch grumbling to himself. At least Machpunch's attitude wasn't being ignored, given that even Mindflare seemed to be sick of it. X and Saber did tell her that this attitude was going on even before both of them joined. Hell, Saber used to get as much crap as Kim was getting now – Leading to X flooring him after one too many comments towards her. But she wasn't going to let that distract her. The most important thing now was to recover any remains of the Antidote she could.
…
"What's happenin', Sailors? Or non-sailors?
"Alright check this out! Middleton, I'm sure you gotta lotta cool stuff, but man would I not want to live in your town! I mean you already got a lotta supervillains crawling around the place! Yeah, I know that we have our own problem here in New York, but at least we don't have to deal with any explosions, let alone radioactive ones that turn people into mutant freaks. I mean from what I'm hearing, the scale is like off the charts!
"So what would you Sailors do in this situation? Would you move out or would you stay and adapt to this? Do you even live in Middleton? Go ahead and leave comments below!
"Anyway, thumbs up this video for epic explosion. And I'm not trying to make a joke of this, it's a pretty epic explosion. I'm talkin around level 9! Leave your thoughts and your comments below! This is LifeOnABoat, happy voyage!"
"Ugh…" She sighed as she angrily cut the feed. This was like the third one today, arguably one of the worst. "And what's with that pirate hat?"
"It's like this every time," Saber sighed, placing the tablet away. "A disaster like this happens and already the fame whores are making videos to increase their viewership in order to make money. Of course he has ads enabled. Honestly, the Alliance Program is one of the worst things that ever happened to the site…"
"Please tell me there's some karma waiting for that guy!"
"Well it's already has gone viral. Unfortunately for him, not for the reason he would've like. In fact many are already calling him out not for just being the typical DailyTubeShow whore, but for the insensitivity towards the victims. He already made a response, but all it did was dig himself deeper. Saying that he was trying to beat the other whores to it may've played a hand in that."
Kim sighed, "I'm not even going to think about that guy. What's more important is recovering whatever amount of the antidote we can before it's destroyed."
"In theory if the antidote is mixed in with the water in the city, it could serve as a cure for whichever Mu-Type gets the craving for tap water. However, that may lead to other problems… Regardless, if we can recover even a fraction of the antidote, it would be a win in my book. Hell, maybe even Machpunch would get off your case – finally…
"How can you stand him?"
"Let it go…" She sighed. She could understand Kim's frustration. All she wanted to do is to help out. To contribute to helping everyone affected by this outbreak. Only to have to deal with that. She could remember all the times she just wanted to eviscerate him for his constant insults, but knew that it wouldn't solve anything. If anything, it would just add more justification for his behavior. And that was something they all wanted to avoid. "Just thinking about it will just make things worse."
"But that doesn't justify the way he treats women! I deserve to be treated for who I am, not because we both have a different chromosome."
"In a way, you are the person who is responsible for the new mutagen gas that a known supremacist has at his disposal so he is treating you in accordance. But still, he could be a lot less of an ass about it."
"And he's with Kittina, too? How can she stand that guy?"
"It's a long story. Of course he wanted nothing to do with her. Then after multiple dealings with the Fang clan and they started to bond."
"Fang clan?"
"A Beast Mu-Type faction that consists of Mammal-based Mu-Types such as bears and tigers. Their leader is Leonard Jaeger, also known as King Leo. Three guesses what type of Beast Mu-Type he is…"
Kim nodded, "Let me guess, after being comrades at arms long enough, they developed a deep respect for each other?"
"Yeah, but it's not easy. Due to his… history with women, it's very difficult for to respect, let alone trust one. But when that rare moment does happen, it'll take a lot to break that trust. However, once his trust is broken, it's near impossible to fix."
"I doubt it…" Kim wasn't convinced. As far as he concerned, a woman could bump into him and he would mark her as an enemy. But she wouldn't let that bother her.
Saber just remembered, "Oh, and some advice? You're going to the "Survivor" rally, right?"
"Yeah." Of course Kim was going to be there. It was a rally to raise awareness of domestic abuse held in Phoenix every year. She was to appear as a guest among young women who has or is making an impact in the world and how young girls can look up to her as a role model. The idea is that by seeing such outstanding and strong women, they won't make the mistake of finding themselves in a relationship that could only end in tragedy. Among all the things she has gone through over the weeks, at least there were still people who supported her.
"I wouldn't mention any of it around Machpunch."
Kim had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, "Why am I not surprised."
"Let's just say that Jennifer Aerith is a good way to get on his worst side."
Kim didn't bother resisting this time, "Which woman wouldn't?"
"To a degree, but this?" She shook her head, "Let's just say that it's best to keep it to yourself, or you'll never hear the end of it…"
Sighing, "Whatever…" Machpunch's issues were getting worse and worse the more she heard of him. Jennifer Aerith is the founder and face of the "Survivor" organization, having being a survivor a long abusive relationship herself. What's wrong with her trying to keep women from making the same mistakes and falling into the same horrifying sitch she was in?
Asters Residence
"I am so over this…" Sighing, Zach dropped the keys onto the bar counter top that separated the living room from the kitchen as he thought about the debacle that happened today. All he wanted to do was collapse onto his bed and sleep it off like a bad hangover. However… "Don't you have your own house to go to?"
"Not my fault you keep your spare key under the Welcome mat…" Bonnie scoffed as she placed a handful of popcorn into her mouth, laying on top of the couch as she watched TV.
"You know my uncle's not going to be happy seeing you laying there eating up all the popcorn."
"Like hell he is, he's barely even around! I mean has anyone actually met your uncle? I'm seriously wondering if he even exists!"
"But still, if you're going to laze around the house like that, at least put some pants on." As if to prove his point, he grabbed a pair of discarded jeans before tossing them towards her…
"Rude much? I'm under a blanket so it's not like I'm showing anything!" She smirked, "Unless you want to actually peek, knowing you…"
Rolling his eyes, "Again with the pervert cracks…"
"You brought it on yourself! Don't think I haven't noticed you looking during cheer practice!"
"I just find the idea of girls contorting themselves and showing great agility while wearing skimpy outfits appealing. Nothing perverted about that."
"Right… 'appealing…'" The arrogant smirk on her face said it all, "You would love for this blanket to be out of the way, would you?"
"Not that much… Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep!"
Bonnie could sense the frustration in his voice, "Fine… what's wrong…"
"…Are we really doing this?" Zach wasn't sure if she was sincere or was being sarcastic. And right now he honestly didn't care.
"Come on…" She smirked, patting the now-empty space on the couch, inviting him to sit down. "Tell Auntie Bon-Bon all about it!"
"You're not gonna let it pass aren't ya?"
"Hello, I'm under a blanket in my underwear, and I'm inviting you to sit next to me! How could you turn down this chance?" She watched Zach walk over, "Good boy. So tell me, what's wrong?"
'Let's get this over with…' He sighed, "You've work with Kim, right?"
"Duh!" She smirked, "Let me guess, she's a total pain in the ass?"
"Not really, but she is a source of my current stress right now…"
"'A?' You mean she's not the only thing stressing you out?"
"She's fine on her own, but put her and Machpunch within a yard of each other and all hell breaks loose."
"Machpunch?"
"Guy with the slugs, big buff dude?" Received a raised eyebrow, "Has a low opinion of women?"
"Oh, that sexist jerk?"
"Let's just say that when things went south, the latest game of Blameball was played. Not that things were going well in the first place before it all went to hell, but at least there wasn't any yelling." He sighed, "There were two trucks that were carrying the vaccine that was supposed to be the cure everyone's been waiting for. Our job was to make sure that the trucks got to their destination. Two of us were to be assigned to a truck. It was supposed to reach the MMC. However, there were these guys who were covered head to toe in bone."
Bonnie blinked, "Bone?"
"Yeah. They basically have some sort of marrowkinesis or something. From being able to grow weapons made from bone or even possibly creating bone armor. And believe me it's not pretty. At any case, Truck #1 went down in the ocean, leaving Truck #2 the only one left. I had to dive after the driver in the downing truck, Kittina got locked inside of the trailer with one of them. Guess who were left alone together."
Bonnie didn't need to ask to know the answer to that question, "It went south, didn't it?"
"Umm…Yeah. The main thing was a conflict of interests. Kim wanted to break in to save Kit, Machpunch stated that she could handle herself and wanted to keep the truck going on course. Machpunch's right, she could handle herself, given where she came from. But given that she's in with a Dangerous Mu-Type and not to mention crates of the antidote, Kim had a point on how it was crucial to get both of them out of there. Kim proceeded to open the door, only to find a horrifying sight."
"And that was…"
"Let's just say by the vest he was wearing, he was looking to cause a big bang. Luckily we were able to get her and the driver out of the way in time before it went off…" He could see the horrified look on her face, "Yeah, it's that horrifying. Luckily, everyone was okay. …For the most part. After it was all said and done, Kim and Mach started the blame game and insults were thrown around."
"Nice to see that I'm not the only one who sees Kim for the pain-in-the-ass she really is." Bonnie's comment provoked an eyeroll, "Well she is! You've been to practice a few times!"
"I'm more worried about the collateral damage. Not to mention any remnants of the antidote that could be recoverable. The lake where the first truck was sunk into would be a good place to look."
"So all you have to do is find someone with water powers or some fish guy to go underwater and retrieve the goods and the antidote should be safe and secure? No big!" Bonnie scoffed in disgust, "Now I'm sounding like her."
"True, but there's also the possible water damage as well. Given the impact, the bottles may have been broken and its contents may have spilled into the river." Zach sighed, "I'm gonna worry about this tomorrow. Right now, I'd like to sleep this off like a bad han-Oh what now?"
A smirk formed on the brunette's face as she grabbed her pants, watching Zach reluctantly head through the door. It's so fun to see him this frustrated. If only it could go on forever…
"Let's get this over with…" Sighing, the knob was turned as the dreadlocked boy opened the door, much to his surprise, "Tara, what's up?"
He saw the platinum blonde girl, eyes watery and filled with worry. "It's Hope…"
"Hope?" Bonnie walked over, "What happened to her?"
Tara noticed her best friend adjusting the buttons of her jeans as her eyes widened, "Umm…"
"Eh?" Both teens looked to each other than back together before suddenly putting two and two together… "WHAT? NO! GOD NO!"
"Me and Asters? As i-" Bonnie realized that both of their reactions were similar. Too similar… "What, what do you mean by 'God no?' Are you saying that I'm not good enough for you?"
"Focus here, Bon-Squared." Zach resumed his attention towards Tara, "What's wrong with Hope?"
Tara looked down to her white sneakers, "S-she's at the hospital."
Next Chapter: Hope is at the hospital, and the only thing that can help her may cause more harm than help. Also, with tensions flaring, Kim decides to do what she feels should have been done a long time ago. Two things...
Chapter 2: Hospital Blues! Mu-Type Sense!