Chapter 7-
So, I'm back a bit early! And I thought you guys would enjoy this chapter. It's an eensy bit shorter than usual, but I'm hoping you'll like it. ;)
ALSO. I'm officially on Summer Break, therefore I'll be updating a bit more often. Who knows, I might even have a second chapter up this week. I actually had this chapter ready the day after I posted the last one, but eh. I decided to wait. Enjoy the chapter.
ALERT: This chapter uses POVs (like professionally announced POVs) which I won't be doing often, it just made this chapter easier.
Special shout out to Xy-Guy and Elianora Annora, they've been really supportive and super creative. You go bros. ;)
Shall we?
Abandoned Warehouse Facility
Coast of Manhattan
Lachlan/Anguish VS Dragunov
The Challengers stood face to face with the team of villains, now identified as the Shadow Syndicate. None of them had wanted to fight, but they had all seen it coming. From 18 year old Lachlan all the way down too little Eleanor, they all knew it would be violent. That's just who their past friends, turned enemies, were.
"Attack!" Naia shouted suddenly, her voice echoing around the warehouse.
Gunshots rang through the air, a series of them, unstoppable. Lachlan was thrown backwards, taking each hit to the chest. He winced, landing backwards with a solid thud. He then gasped, catching his breath. Anguish had protected him this time, but only because it was only Lachlan that enabled Anguish to move. Otherwise, Lachlan would be dead right now. The bullets lay in bent messes on his chest.
He lifted his head to see two things: the team staring at him anxiously, curious if he was okay, and Dragunov charging at him. "Go!" Lachlan shouted, jumping to his feet, bullets falling off his chest like sleds on ice, and charging towards Dragunov, swinging a wide punch at Dragunov's chiseled head.
His team jumped into action, attacking full force.
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Spencer/Psyox VS Daedre/Xenon
When Dragunov shot away, something hit his arm, but he ignored it. Instead, Spencer ran at Daedre as fast as he could, halting in his tracks abruptly and creating a force field. He pushed his hands forwards through the air and Daedre went flying backwards, crashing into an old computer panel that hung on the wall.
Daedre glanced at the panel, shaking his head. "Apologies," the blue skinned alien sighed, looking sincere. Spencer doubted it. They were evil now. Daedre set his hand on the panel, and suddenly it glowed, and Daedre's gloves double in size, turning into strength enhanced gauntlets.
Spencer cursed as Daedre ran at him, locking his fingers together and bringing them down full force on Spencer, who barely managed to create mini force fields around his hands. The fields acted as his own personal gauntlets, boosting his protection. Spencer felt a drop of sweat run down his forehead as Daedre punched him again and he created a force field to protect himself. Unlucky for Spencer, it took a truck load of concentration to keep focus on all of these energy fields.
"My employer is a dangerous man," Daedre warned, "He is not trustworthy. He has money, and power. You should be watchful."
Spencer ignored him and punched directly at Daedre's eyes.
"We do not have to fight…" Daedre said calmly, it almost sounded like he meant it. He swatted the punch away, but didn't throw any himself.
Spencer narrowed his eyes, sweat beading his forehead as Daedre attempted to knee him, and he jumped out of the way, swinging an energy field enhanced punch at the alien. "This was your choice dude!" Spencer retorted, "You're the one who tried to kill me with your freaky Mars gauntlets!"
Spencer saw a flash of surprise in Daedre's eyes. Spencer created a force field around Daedre's feet and shoved him backwards while he was surprised, pinning him to the ground with another field.
The yellow eyed teen opened his mouth, "I wasn't trying to—"
Spencer raised his fist, "Sorry Dae—"
Suddenly a blast of heat hit Spencer's side, shoving him over before he could deliver a final blow. Spencer landed harshly on his shoulder and tumbled around. His shoulders crackled with pain and his back smacked onto the ground in a painful stop.
A small girl, 9 years at most, was walking at him, her right eye glowed red, "His name is Xenon, freak."
Spencer's eyes widened as she fired another blast.
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Tamashi/Kensaku VS Daniel/Quintain
Tamashi slowly pulled out his wakizashi swords, yanking them out of their sheaths in one professional movement. 20 feet away, a deeply tanned Caucasian teen stood, smirking. The boy looked a bit older than Tamashi himself, with white hair and cold steel blue eyes.
The boy laughed once and pulled off the trench coat he was wearing, tossing it to the side. He unsheathed the katana strapped across his back. The boy was tall, a good 4 inches taller than Tamashi. He continued smirking as he ran at the Asian boy.
Tamashi jumped over his blade as the swordsman sliced at him.
"I don't believe we've met," the boy said, slamming the butt of the sword handle into Tamashi's side. Tamashi winced, pain aching through his ribs, but lashed out with his swords, aiming for non-fatal, but painful, areas. "You can call me Quintain. Can I call you Kung Pao?"
Tamashi narrowed his eyes, remaining silent as he slashed at Quintain.
"Nice try," Quintain commented, nicking Tamashi's shoulder with his blade. Tamashi winced secretively and swiftly cut at Quintain, barely grazing the older boy's arm. Quintain laughed. "Wow! You touched me! Come on! Give me something, China Boy!"
Tamashi huffed, trying very hard not to respond, he landed in a crouched position after jumping over Quintain's blade. Tamashi propelled himself upwards, leaping at Quintain and attempting to slice through Quintain's chest, only to find that it was guarded by a protective suit.
Quintain chuckled and spun 360, kicking Tamashi in the face and shoving him backwards to the ground. Tamashi groaned, bringing a hand to his bruised cheekbone.
He looked up as Quintain walked at him, blade drawn.
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Eleanor/Glow VS Emma/Scorch
Eleanor felt her feet get shoved backwards a bit as she blasted a beam of energy at Emma, who stood a good 30 feet away. Emma quickly caught attention and fired a scorching trail of fire at Emma. Emma grunted, getting shoved backwards as Emma's beam met hers and they faced off in a fiery battle.
The heat was unbearable, and the brightness practically blinded both Emma and Eleanor. Suddenly Emma ducked, the beam shooting over her head. Eleanor staggered forwards, her light beam trailing around the floor. She stopped it before it created too much damage and looked up. Emma had walked closer. Eleanor quickly lit her hands with an eerie glow and fired a blast. She missed a bit, only managing to swipe the edge of Emma's arm. The girl shouted, clutching her arm and stumbling backwards, but she swiftly regained her footing.
Emma fired a shot of heated flame and abruptly Eleanor's leg erupted with pain. She shrieked, falling backwards and clutching her burned leg.
"I'm sorry," Emma shook her head, tears lining her eyes. Eleanor's eyes widened in fear, matching Emma's. The two young girls looked at each other and Emma lifted her hands, blazing with fire. "Pray to whoever you worship….please…" Emma begged, "It'll be fast, I promise…" Emma sobbed. Eleanor stopped holding her leg and blocked her face with her arms.
But the blast never came.
Eleanor sobbed once, looking up reluctantly. Emma was no longer standing over her. She turned and saw Drew land harshly with Emma beneath him. Drew's tattoo arms were fully extended, all helping to pin the girl and punch at her. Eleanor scooted back, against the wall.
She tried desperately to catch a firm hold on her courage.
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Drew/Stripes VS Emma/Scorch
Drew pinned the younger girl to the ground.
"Stay away from her!" he growled angrily.
Emma continued muttering a series of 'I'm sorry's, squirming under Drew's dozen handed grasp. Drew punched her evenly with one of his real hands, landing the punch across her face. His good side urged him not to, because it was a girl, but after what she did to Eleanor, his good side quickly gave in.
He pinned her wrists to the ground when she began escaping his grip. Emma's hands then locked around his wrists and a terrible sharp pain hit both of his wrists from both directions. He gasped, drawing back but replacing his actual hands with two of his tattoo arms.
"I'm sorry," Emma sobbed, kicking at Drew. Drew blocked them rather easily with his extra arms, but favored his charred wrists. A tap came at his shoulder. On instinct, the 16 year old spun his head around. A mistake, he quickly realized as someone's fist makes contact with his jaw. Drew winced, looking up at Rebecca, who now stand before him.
She smiled mischievously, "Sorry baby," she said, making a faux pouting face.
She quickly fired a blast of magma at Drew.
Drew didn't have time to shout, frozen in fear, he instinctively brought all of his arms up, creating a shield around his face. He looked up when no molten rock came into contact with his homemade shield.
A girl stood in front of him, accompanied by the terrible smell of burning flesh. Drew bit back his vomit as he saw that the girl before him had a gaping hole in her stomach, still smoking.
"Dang girrrrrl!" the girl gave a disappointed-parent look, "What'd I ever do to you?!"
The blonde haired girl unsheathed two butterfly knives, running at Rebecca—who had a very confused look—the hole still burned in her stomach.
Drew got up, quickly spotting Eleanor and running over to help her.
He could have died.
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Tamashi/Kensaku VS ?
Tamashi leapt again as a blade whizzed barely a quarter of an inch beneath his face. He landed and staggered backwards a bit, getting tired. The Japanese looked up at Quintain, who had barely broken a sweat. The older boy smiled, running swiftly at Tamashi and slicing at Tamashi's neck. Tamashi ducked, but the katana cut into his cheek. Tamashi cringed, blood now flowing freely down his cheek.
He brought his swords together as Quintain brought his sword down, slamming it down on Tamashi's. Piper—who had recently been assisting Spencer with the mysterious 9 year old—'s scream pierced through the air and Quintain shouted, getting tossed backwards by the sheer power of the scream. Tamashi dipped his head in a thanks and Piper acknowledged with a distracted thumbs up as she continued to scream at Quintain, who barely dodged any of it.
Tamashi looked over to see that Lachlan was laying in a Lachlan-sized crater. Dragunov was on top of him, pounding the…what would Americans say? Crap? Pounding the crap out of him. Lachlan continued to try to escape, but Dragunov aimed every hit at Lachlan's chest, shoving him further into the concrete floor.
Tamashi began teleporting at Lachlan, his swords drawn. Every time the boy teleported, he entered his own personal dimension—the Port as Spencer called it—and exited it a split second later. In, out. In, out. In, out. That's how it went when he teleported. In, ou—
A sharp pain cut him off. It felt like someone had taken his skull and crushed it inwards. He closed his eyes and locked his jaw, not giving whoever was doing this the joy of seeing his pain. It was at that moment that he realized he wasn't fully through. Tamashi's eyes snapped open and he painfully ducked his head to see that he was flickering. He was currently half in, half out. His blood and internal organs constantly flickered, in, out, in, out. It sent terrible pain racking his body. He let out a shout of agony, struggling to move, but something was stopping him. Someone else was invading his mind and causing him terrible agony. Who else could it be? Naia was ruthless as she dug her claws into his soul, tearing it to shreds and keeping him frozen, unable to move. It brought back terrible agonizing memories.
And he was powerless to stop it.
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Piper/Siren VS Daniel/Quintain and ?
Piper shrieked at the mysterious teen that had attacked Tamashi. He had announced himself as Quintain, but she had never heard and/or seen him back at Hydra. She had absolutely no idea what to expect. She let out another screech at Quintain, shoving him backwards, into a series of wooden packaging crates. She swept her gaze over the room, eyes quickly widening at what it found.
Tamashi was frozen. Like a broken computer, he flickered, disappearing and reappearing at a startling rate. He was shouting in pain and cursing at Naia. The Italian girl was standing a few feet away, hand raised at Tamashi. Piper began trotting over when she noticed that Lachlan was getting pounded to a pulp over to her left.
All that could be seen of the Irish born was his arms, groping at the edge of the large cement crater he was in. Dragunov mercilessly pounded him down, almost as if he was trying to dig a tunnel and use Lachlan as the drill. Lachlan moaned in pure pain, trying helplessly to escape Dragunov. Piper figured Anguish was probably screaming at him as well.
She turned her gaze and saw Drew struggling to help Eleanor to her feet. The girl's calf was a charred mess, trailing blood in random places, and the 13 year old was sobbing, not daring to touch her leg, but feverishly limping to her feet. She let out a shout as her leg skimmed Drew's and she would have fallen if Drew's extra maroon arms hadn't been there to catch her.
Spencer had a single force field around himself. Sweat beaded his forehead and soaked his bronze hair. His chest raises and falls every other second, struggling to keep up with Spencer's ragged pain stricken breaths. Daedre swings at him with enlarged gloves, slamming them down on Spencer's force field while the strange 9 year old fires a continuous beam out of her right eye. Spencer grits his teeth as Daedre swings another punch, aiming lower this time, at one of the weak points, this is added to the 9 year old's blast and shoves Spencer backwards, his boots scraping the concrete.
A mysterious girl catches Piper's attention. The girl has long blonde hair that's buzzed off on one side and currently brought back into a messy ponytail. She wields dual butterfly knives and continuously slices at Rebecca, who's aiming magma filled punches at the girl. Meanwhile the blonde jumps and ducks, shouting things like "Ai yi yi!" and "Ye Haw!" A large hole seemingly has been burned into the girl's stomach, but—as Piper notices in disgust—red meaty material is weaving together, mending the hole and sewing it back together, leaving only the blood that has previously trailed down the girl's white t-shirt. Piper can't predict what she's going to do next at any moment, but she seems to be on the good side.
Suddenly a muscular arm is locked around Piper's throat, restraining any air that tries to enter her lungs. She chokes, gasping for air and smacking her fists down on Quintain's arm. Quintain brings up his free arm, wiping the trail of flood that runs out of the corner of his mouth. He laughs.
"You're pretty good," he says, "I might've even considered dating you if we were on the side."
Piper ignored him, angrily clawing at his arm as black spots danced in her vision.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Quintain growled, grabbing her hands firmly and trapping them behind her back. And with that,
Piper inhaled one more time before everything went dark.
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Naia/Vixen
Naia had focused almost all of her energy on traumatizing the boy she now had in her psychic hold. He was frozen, mid teleport, and she was angrily pulling the life out of him, one small step at a time. The only way her concentration was broken was when Kris's voice came through on her earpiece.
"Vixen," he said smoothly, "Release the Asian boy and tell them that this was a warning."
She didn't respond.
"Vixen," said Kris, a bit more sternly.
Naia huffed, releasing the boy, who collapsed to the ground, eyes wide, and turned to the team of heroes, most of whom where unconscious.
"This is a warning!" she called over the space, "Don't mess with us!"
~AOS~AOS~AOS~
Drew/Stripes
Drew kneeled on the ground, protecting Eleanor who was huddled behind him, as Naia approached.
"This is a warning!" she shouted angrily, "Don't mess with us!"
Drew's stripes hovered, ready to attack at any moment, their pointed tips ready to pinpoint anywhere that was open just to protect the 13 year old that sobbed behind him. He tensed as Naia stalked closer, like a lioness hunting her prey. His wrists burned angrily but he ignored it.
A terrible skidding noise accompanied by grunts and groans poisons Drew's ears and he snapped his glance over to where Tamashi and Lachlan were being dragged over by Dragunov. Tamashi clutched his head between his hands, eyes screwed shut. Lachlan had his arms wrapped over his chest tightly, cringing in pain. Blood trailed down Tamashi's cheek and Lachlan's costume was stained with blood across his chest. The grunts came from Lachlan while Tamashi was continuously groaning and shaking his head.
Dragunov roughly tossed the two boys over to Drew, who didn't retreat from his defensive position, even as the boys landed harshly a couple inches away. He turned his attention to where Piper was being hauled over by Quintain, the mysterious katana wielding teen. Piper was unconscious and strong red marks suggest she was choked by Quintain. He smirked as he threw her to the ground, wiping a trail of blood from his cheek.
Dragunov and Quintain walked over to join Naia. Rebecca walked over as well, dragging the limp corpse of the unknown knife-wielding girl who had defended him earlier. A singed hole was burned through her head, taking out one of her eyes and most of the left side of her face. Her other eye was open, unmoving, haunting Drew with a deathly stare. Rebecca dropped the body by Drew and walked over to Naia. The striped teen remained stony faced, not daring to take another glance at the girl with the butterfly knives.
Daedre marched over, dragging Spencer behind him. Spencer was out cold, obviously exhausted from the latter events. The 9 year old—Drew swore he heard her say her name was Beam—trails behind the alien, looking sternly proud of her work. Daedre almost seemed remorseful as he almost gently set down Spencer by Lachlan and Tamashi. The older teen walked over by Dragunov while the little 9 year old stood by Naia.
"Deliver the message," Naia hissed suddenly, "Don't mess with us, or we'll actually try next time."
And with that, the Shadow Syndicate turned and left. The 16 year old mutant looked over at his team, and then at the singed hole in the blonde haired girl's head, which was slowly starting to mesh together. Drew's extra tattooed arms dropped limply to the ground, he fell forwards, landing on his arms and elbows.
And with that, with the image of blonde haired girl's face reforming, with the image of Tamashi shaking, with the image of Lachlan wincing in pain, with the picture of the red marks coating Piper's throat, with the image of Spencer's exhaustion, with the image of Eleanor's burns, all piled up in his head. Drew cried.
I know, I'm a terrible person. XD But it had to be done. While this story won't be extremely dark, it's not exactly gonna be for those readers who freak out with action. So, fair warning for this story: there will be lots of injuries, mentions of blood and quite a bit more—although NO sexual content will take place—will take place. Be prepared, things are starting to heat up!
More battles to come, more injuries to be received. What do you think will happen?! Please leave a review!
What did you like? What didn't you like? Who do you want to hear more of? I love reviews!
-AG