The cockpit area was awkwardly quiet: Lucy was passed out in a chair by the window, Cooper was busy tinkering with a device, Tetrax sat behind the wheel, and Ben leaned against the wall. The ex-bounty hunter noticed Ben's close proximity to the room that held Carly, Gwen, and Hope. Gwen has been locked inside that room for 30 minutes now, and Ben hasn't said a word since he left it. The sunken, disheartened face of the man made Tetrax nervous about Ben's state of mind.
Tetrax Shard remembered when Ben was just a little arrogant squirt saving his local community from alien threats. It felt like it was yesterday. Then it escalated into saving the world and the galaxy. By the time the boy was 15, he had the title ' savior of the universe' under his belt. Tetrax could go to any planet and they'd know stories of Ben Tennyson, he was like a crazy ex you couldn't escape. Ben was everywhere. And now his image has changed so drastically in the past six months. Fighting the Plumbers was one thing, but restoring the trust everyone had in him was another. The way he saw it; Ben would never be a symbol of hope again.
Tetrax cursed at the scrambled signal he was getting from Earth. He hasn't been able to contact them since they entered the Milky Way galaxy. The alien hasn't told Gwen about it, that woman didn't need to worry anymore than she has. Tetrax hoped it was the distance between them that couldn't establish a line, but he knew better than that. Distance hasn't been a problem for radios since the late 1900's. There were times when he was three galaxies away communicating with Max on Earth. Something must've happened while they were away. Tetrax checked his logs, there were no messages left on the receiver. Please be okay.
**PAGE BREAK**
Planet Earth(approximately two days ago)
Hera had a lot on her plate as of this week. Gwen had left the week before and ever since then things have gone to shit. The heroes, if you can even call them that, were out of control. They were more like vigilantes hashing out their own twisted version of justice. None of them had a sense of responsibility for their actions. The Plumbers cracked down even harder on those who rebelled against the regime; it went from simple arrests and prosecution to violence and execution. Soldiers were kicking down doors to people's homes and dragging families away in the middle of the night. You could be arrested and never seen again. Neighbors were accusing each other of being a rebel and sold you out if you even looked at them wrong.
Citizens protested out in the streets of every big city in the world demanding change. Riots ensued on live television. There were even several massacres that the Plumbers were involved in. It always started the same: some paranoid twit pulls out a weapon and suddenly innocent people are being gunned down in the streets. There were political clashes every-day between the Plumbers and world governments in hopes to settle a peaceful deal. People were getting tired of the violence and nothing seemed to get better.
Heroes were fighting a war on two fronts: Plumbers and villains. The galactic organization found anyone mettling in their business guilty of rebellion, it didn't matter to them who they pointed their weapons at. There were a select few heroes that Hera was able to rally together in midst of all this chaos. They were strong and confident individuals that believed in a more altruistic sense of justice. But it wasn't enough, it wouldn't be long before the Plumbers took over Earth with brute force.
Hera's team was beyond exhausted. Every night they were out fighting or recruiting. They learned the hard way that it was smart to avoid the Plumbers during the night; the soldiers stalking the streets when the sun was down were monsters in their own right. Losing a friend or two in a battle told them that. Allen hasn't slept a wink in three days or more, he lost track at this point. Hera had appointed him as her right-hand so to say his job was difficult was an understatement. Allen was in charge of raids for supplies and resources needed to keep this resistance going. Some of the things he's seen would haunt him forever. Manny and Helen gave him as much support as possible in his time of need.
"Dammit," the young man cursed.
Word on the street is that his informant just got picked up in a sweep last night. That was his last source informing him on the Plumber's movement. Now he'd have no clue where they'd be during his raids. They could be walking right into a trap and he wouldn't know. They were in desperate need of supplies, especially medical items. His squad took a beating the other night and people got hurt. Really hurt. He'd been scouting a Plumber owned medical facility the past couple days; the last step was to contact the informant about soldier occupancy in the area. Now he had no idea who was going to be there.
Allen dropped his head into his hands and groaned in frustration. He held his door creak open and soft footsteps approached his desk. He didn't even bother looking up at who it was, he already knew from the scent of her perfume. Allen felt her sit in his lap and wrap her arms around his torso. She gave him a peck on the cheek and placed her head in the crook of his neck.
"You should rest for a bit," Julie cooed in his ear.
Julie and him had gotten back together in the meantime, at least that's what he thought. Allen also thought she was only using him as a shoulder to lean on in these chaotic times. Either way it didn't matter much to him at the moment, His mind was focused on other things and none of them were rest.
"You know I can't do that," he said as he raised his head up.
"You've been working nonstop for the last two days."
"And I'll continue to work until I'm finished."
Julie pouted, "You're being difficult."
"Someone has to be. If we all took it easy then nothing would get done."
"You know that's not true. You work so hard after all, it wouldn't be a crime to take some time off," Julie persuaded.
The woman batted her eyelashes at Allen in an attempt for him to listen. She touched his chest and traced his muscles down until she reached his pelvis.
"Julie I don't think-"
"Shh, you need this," she whispered seductively.
Julie continued her journey until she hit the helm of his pants, she slowly pushed her hand into his pants and fished around for the warm prize below.
"And here I thought you'd be more worried about getting medical supplies for your squadmates than the thing in your pants," Hera stated coldly.
Julie jumped off Allen's lap like a cat in water. She turned around and glared at the tall woman for intruding.
"Ever heard of knocking?" she snapped at the heroine.
"Sure if the door wasn't ajar and if the matter wasn't urgent. Plus I didn't think you'd engage in such activities in the office, or during wartime."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Julie quipped with a raised eyebrow and arms crossed.
Allen pinched the bridge of his nose, he really wasn't in the mood for this.
"Julie please don't act like this right now," he muttered.
Julie turned her attention to the man sitting in the chair. She looked pissed and betrayed at the same time.
"Act like what?" she prodded harshly. "Pfft. And to think I was gonna suck your dick, asshole."
The asian woman stomped out of the room with steam practically coming out of her ears. Hera couldn't hold in the small chuckle at the woman's comment. Earthlings were so sensitive. She glanced at the visibly tired raid leader and sat down at the chair across from him.
"I get that you're stressed-"
"Please," he interjected with his hand up. "What do you need?"
"We lost Top-Gun not too long ago. The medics said they didn't have enough supplies to keep him stabilized."
"But he was doing fine last night! Everything was fine!" Allen shouted.
Top-Gun was a gun slinging cowboy who believed in a free America, so the thought of the Plumbers taking over was nightmarish to him. He was a good guy with a family that he wanted to protect from the dictatorship of the Plumbers. His real name was Jesse Williams. Top-Gun was one of the people badly injured in the prior raid. Allen wasn't ready for that dreaded conversation with his family.
"That's not all, if we don't get our doctors the supplies they need then the others aren't gonna survive past this week either."
Allen felt his vision go red for a moment, his hands were shaking and his teeth were clenched. A second later all of his paperwork was sweeped onto the ground from his table by the enraged mutant.
"FUCK!" he spat out in frustration.
That tragic night replayed in his head whenever he closed his eyes. They were ambushed on all sides. His team was there to disrupt Plumber communications between districts in a wide spread area. Success would mean the Plumbers would be chasing them in the dark for a while. Things were going good, until they weren't. The battle was intense and seemed like it'd last forever, no one was backing down from this fight. At that point, they were only trying to escape from the soldiers.
Everything looked bleak in that moment; the Plumbers pinned them down on all sides. Allen's crew had already suffered several injuries, it would be disastrous for the battle to last any longer. Things were heading in the direction of a capture and execution for them. Atom made a sacrifice. Atom was their demolitions expert and a damn good one at that. His ability assisted greatly with that type of work; 'explosive touch' created a bomb out of everything he touched.
Allen just remembered a flash of white light blinding him in the moment then came the shockwave that blew him backwards. He got knocked unconscious but when he came to, the man was lying in a medical bed with Helen and Julie standing over him. He remembered asking what happened and Hera told him that the mission was a failure. He didn't get any more details until he met with her several hours later.
He was at fault. Hera insisted that it was out of his control and not to blame himself. But how could he not? Allen was supposed to be their leader; someone that they looked up to in their time of need. And the man didn't do jackshit that night and another team-mate had to step in, ultimately sacrificing their life for the others to escape. Allen tried to blame Atom at first, but the man made a decision that he couldn't. He was even more of a coward when he started to avoid seeing the ones that were awake, he couldn't look them in the eye after what happened that night.
"The run has to be tonight," Hera spoke softly.
"Okay. I'll go solo."
"Are you crazy?"
"As if we'd let you go alone!"
Helen and Manny, called out simultaneously, as they walked into the room. Allen whipped around to confront the two friends. Helen gave him a hug and Manny ruffled his hair. The man hasn't seen them much over the days, as they were assigned to their own positions. Helen was the recruiter and Manny was the trainer, those two had a fool-proof process to turn seemingly ordinary mutants into fighters and heroes. Allen was more than excited to see them.
"What are you guys doing here?" he questioned.
"To help you duh," Manny replied
"Absolutely not!" Allen snapped back. "Hera, why would you bring them into this?" He turned towards the tall woman.
"They volunteered," he said simply.
"Yeah what do you mean bring us into this?" Manny started. "Sis, little bro over here seemed to forget that we were originally a team."
Helen smiled, "He's right. Your problems are our problems, we gotta stick together."
Allen couldn't help but laugh at Manny's comment. Once upon a time, Allen hated when Manny called him "little bro", it was so embarrassing for the younger man especially since he was technically older than the Tetramand. Now he didn't mind being the "little bro" one bit. They wouldn't take no for an answer and the badgering won't stop until he agreed. The dark skinned man sighed loudly and put his hands up in surrender.
"Yes sir! That's what I'm talking about! The 'not so junior' Plumbers back at it again!" Manny shouted in praise.
Hera raised an eyebrow at the title, while Allen and Helen rolled their eyes at the bad joke. Helen lightly slapped the Tetramand on the arm for his poor taste in humor. Allen laughed at the whining alien claiming that Helen hurt him. This felt good, he needed this. Things seemed to be rolling in the opposite direction for once. Hera approved them for duty and gave them their orders, before leaving the room for them to plan.
Manny was throwing out ideas as he played paper basketball with Allen's garbage can. Each one crazier than the last. Helen kept shooting him down and told the muscle-head to shut up for once. She had to remind the alien that this was Allen's mission, so he should get to call the shots. Manny mumbled something underneath his breath but inevitably agreed with the speedster.
"This might sound crazy but hear me out…" Allen said.
"After the shit I heard Manny say, anything sounds great right now," Helen clapped back.
"We do this hit during the day."
"You're right, that is crazy!" Manny laughed loudly.
Which resulted in another slap from Helen, much harder this time. Manny calmed down and rubbed his arm in silence. Helen glared at him, daring him to open his big mouth again. When she was satisfied, the alien turned her attention back to Allen.
"Are you sure about this?" she spoke slowly.
"Yeah they wouldn't expect a raid during the day. Plus, more civilians around means more cover for us. The Plumbers wouldn't hesitate against regular civilians but what about the people that work for them? I'm sure they'd show some restraint for their employees, right?" Allen explained quickly. "We sneak in through the back, and grab what we need then dip out."
"Sounds simple," Manny commented.
"We need things to be simple," Helen insisted.
Manny nodded in agreement before asking, "So who's coming with?"
"Nah we keep this small and close. It's just gonna be the three of us, any issues with that?" Allen commanded.
"I like it. It'll be just like old times," Manny retorted, while cracking his knuckles.
"Exactly."
"So when are we doing this?" Helen asked calmly.
"Right now."
Helen's eyes widened at the revealed timestamp, she didn't expect everything to go down so quickly. Manny jumped up with his fist in the air. He was ready to get down in some action; the Tetramand was all about it.
"Hell yes! We're getting active! I like the way you think, bro!"
"Babe?"
Manny calmed down and everyone turned their attention to the door. Julie was standing in the door frame with a curious look on her face, she stepped forward into the room. Allen's smile disappeared off his face as he confronted his girlfriend.
"Yeah? What's wrong?"
"I could ask you the same thing; what's going on?"
"We were just-"
"Planning," Helen cut in.
"Huh? It sounded like you were getting ready to go somewhere, no?"
"Julie-"
"No, don't Julie me. You were gonna take off and not tell me, Allen?" Julie accused.
Allen had no words for her, so Helen stepped in for him.
"Why do you care, Julie? You're acting like he isn't on the streets every night."
"Oh so it's a crime to worry about my boyfriend now?" Julie snapped at the woman.
Helen stopped getting along with Julie ever since she broke up with Allen the first time. And now that she was back in his life, the alien couldn't help but get bad vibes from her. Helen had the suspecting feeling that Julie didn't actually care about him. Especially now, when he needs emotional support from someone and not the parasitic leech that Julie is.
"I'm just saying that you never showed so much care before."
"Sweetheart, I would appreciate it if you would see yourself out of our relationship," Julie snarled.
Helen was about to clap back when Allen stood between them and hugged his girlfriend, whispering something in her ear that satisfied her enough to leave the room.
"Sorry about that," Allen said.
"You're not the one who should be sorry," Helen retorted quickly.
"She's just under a lot of stress; Julie was playing tennis matches 3 months ago and now she's part of a resistance. This must be hard on her."
"I don't trust her, Allen, so please be careful."
Manny nodded in agreement with Helen's statement. Julie gave the Tetramand bad vibes whenever she was around. But if Allen didn't see a problem with it then he wouldn't prod any further. Allen appreciated the care they held for him, he'd never trade them in for anything in the universe. They wasted enough time; now was the time for action. The trio geared up for the raid, double checking all of their equipment. It was close to noon when they were finished, the perfect time to tee this off.
"Let's move out," Allen ordered.
The friends looked like modern ninjas, clad in sleek black armor and combat boots. The armor was strong enough to stop bullets, and had the flexibility to move freely. Allen remembered requesting their genius metal worker to make this suit for the fighters. Endless pockets to hold your equipment, the entire uniform was fire-proof, and very durable. Hera was able to find an engineer to develop a UI for those in charge of their own squads. It was capable of communications to home-base, showing the squad-mates vitals, and plenty other neat things. Allen was extremely grateful for the advanced armor set.
Manny and Helen went to start up the vehicle, while Allen checked in with Hera. She supported everything that they were doing and she told Allen to be careful. "No mistakes" was the phrase she used. They shared a handshake and a hug before Allen set out. He was moving through the hallway and felt eyes on him as he got closer to the door. The fire mutant glanced back to see Julie standing at the end of the hallway with a sad expression on her face. She must be still upset about the thing with Helen. I'll take her out on a date when I get back. Allen blew her a kiss and waved goodbye at her. The waveback was very lackluster but Allen could feel the amount of emotion behind it.
Allen jumped into the van and slammed the door behind him, tapping his brother on the shoulder to show his readiness. Manny quickly put the vehicle into drive and sped out of the service tunnel they were parked in. The medical faculty was in the center of town, any minor event would draw the attention of everyone rather quickly. He'd be lying if he didn't say he was nervous. A lot of things were riding on this raid, they couldn't afford for something to go wrong. Allen prayed to God that he'd protect them on this journey. He kissed the cross he had their metal worker craft out of tungsten. It wasn't long before they arrived at their destination. Manny parked in the parking garage across from the medical faculty. He made sure to grab a spot on top of the 12 story building. They glanced across the multi-lane highway towards their target. This was it. The trio stepped out of the van with their respective packs.
Manny pulled a duffel bag out of the back and unzipped it to reveal wires and poles. He slammed the pole into the concrete and stabilized it. Underneath the items was a decked out harpoon-gun. Manny took aim across the huge gap and scanned the 10 story building roof-top for a stable point. He accounted for the wind and distance before shooting off a metal arrow, the projectile pulled a wire over the gap. It inserted itself into the concrete on the other side and the alien connected the gun to the top of the pole on their side. Manny had made them a zipline.
The red alien handed out zippers to travel across the line. Nobody would ever notice three people moving silently along a zipline 120 feet in the air. Everyone grabbed their belongings before attaching to the line and zipping over. It took them about a minute to cross the 100 feet gap. The trio landed on the medical rooftop quietly. Helen zoomed around the rooftop in less than three seconds.
"No sign of anyone up here and there's a service hatch on the south side," Helen informed.
"Roger. Let's get ready to move out," Allen directed.
Manny unfolded and put together his ballistic rifle. He screwed on the suppressor and inserted a magazine. He pulled back the charging handle to check his dust port, before pressing the clamp to hold his charging handle in place, to allow a bullet to shift into the firing mechanism. He did the same for his side-arms and other equipment. Helen checked over the set of small throwing knives she kept. She had become extremely proficient in the use of blades for throwing and melee combat. Guns weren't her forte but Manny begged her to keep a pistol on her hip. Whatever to keep that big oaf happy she supposed. Allen rarely ever used weapons, unless he was instructed to do so by Hera. He had some specialization added to his suit: his wrist-cuffs crafted in the resemblance of a barrel with a bunch of through-holes covering it. That allowed for oxygen to be sucked in or out to displace the unpredictable stream of his flames. The device kept the fire small; quiet; and less noticeable, while keeping the temperature up. It was similar to an advanced flamethrower and Allen loved every bit of it. This way his out-of-control flames were more manageable and less risky.
"Alright, we're on the clock," Allen said quietly.
The group made their way over to the hatch; Helen and Allen kept watch, while Manny slowly ripped the cover off. Manny shined a flashlight down the hole, but nothing dangerous caught his eye. The hatch led to a long ladder and ended on a catwalk of some kind. Helen descended the ladder first and scanned the area. It opened up into a big room filled with pipes and other HVAC things. She waved the others down and kept watch as they climbed down. Manny led the way from the catwalk onto another platform. There was no sign of guards yet, it wasn't too suspicious but it kept the trio's heads on a swivel.
The first person they confronted was a maintenance man checking gauges. Manny snuck up on him and slowly placed the barrel to his head.
"Don't move and keep your mouth shut. Nod if you understand me," he growled.
The man nodded slowly and put his hands up in surrender.
"Where do they keep medical supplies: medicine, bandages, surgery tools, the whole nine yards. And don't you dare say I don't know."
"I'm just a maintenance worker! I only know where the maintenance supply is, they don't tell you anything outside of your field. I swear on everything that I don't know where any of that is."
"Keep your fucking voice down. And you're telling me that you've never seen any rooms marked medical supply while roaming the halls? Don't fucking lie to me, Pedro," Manny spat viciously, as he checked the man's lanyard.
Pedro's eyes widened at the mention of his name. He felt the barrel push harder into the back of his head.
"Bro please, I have a family. I have no clue where any of that shit is."
Manny wasn't buying it and he was getting impatient.
"Wait wait! I can show you someone that'll know! I'll bring you to them!" Pedro begged.
Manny glanced at Allen for his input and the man nodded his approval.
"Ight. You're gonna move real slow and quiet like, yeah? If I get the slightest sensation in my balls that you're bullshitting me then I'm gonna blow your brains out."
Pedro nodded and started moving. He brought the trio down a long hall with pipes on either side of them.
"So who are you guys? CIA? Bounty hunters?" Pedro asked curiously.
"None of your damn business."
"I always wanted to be black ops, like top-secret shit. You ever seen the Men In Black? Like that."
"Pedro. Shut up."
The man silenced himself quickly when he felt the barrel tap his shoulder. He led the trio to a locked door.
"What are you waiting for? Open it," Manny ordered harshly.
"I can't. It's keycard-operated but this milf that I fuck with gave me an extra card to get in. It's in my back-pocket."
Manny grabbed the piece of plastic from the pocket and handed it to the man. Pedro scanned the card and several beeps indicated it was unlocked. The young man went to grab the handle.
"Slowly," Manny reminded.
Pedro went at the pace of a snail as he opened the door. Inside was a small room with several windows that looked into more empty rooms. There were desks inside each room that had a computer terminal on top. A woman sat at a desk with a computer playing on her phone ten feet away from the door.
"You better not be coming back for round two after the shit you pulled," the older woman said calmly without looking up.
"Well actually I have a couple of friends that need some help finding stuff," he retorted.
"Huh? Tell them to call the front desk. What do I look like? A secretary?"
Manny glared at the uncaring lady. They were wasting time with this bitch.
"Lady, it would do you well to listen to your boy-toy right now," Manny interjected.
The woman looked up, annoyed, but her tone quickly changed when she saw people with guns, she screamed at the scene before her.
"Pedro what the fuck! Who are these people?!" she shouted at her forbidden lover.
"Hi Wendy," he waved. "Some dangerous people that need information."
"And you brought them here? Is there even a brain in that thick skull of yours?"
"Flirt on your own time. Where is the medical supply room?" Manny interrupted quickly.
"Why would I tell a bunch of delinquents that information? We have top-secret research being conducted in this building, and the last thing I want is a bunch of thugs ruining everything we worked hard for."
Allen was getting fed up with the shit coming out of the lady's mouth. Top secret research? The only thing the Plumbers are researching are ways to make people suffer.
"Bitch, I don't give a fuck about whatever you pencil-pushers are fucking doing here. I just want medicine!" Allen exploded.
Wendy smirked before saying, "What? Not enough drugs to sell on the streets?"
Allen clenched his fists. He was trying his hardest to keep from frying this chick. Wendy took the opportunity to lunge for a button on her desk, which would undoubtedly alert security to an emergency. Helen was already two parallel universes ahead of her. A blade tip rested on the woman's Adam's apple. It stopped her from moving forward to press the button by a foot.
"Touch that button and lose your fucking trachea," Helen threatened, her voice thick with venom.
Wendy narrowed her eyes at the alien but sat back in her office chair with her hands up.
"Medicine, bandages, equipment…" Allen lists off. "Where can we find that?"
"On every floor we have two rooms dedicated to medicine and other supplies. Although to get into the room with the prescription drugs, it requires two keycards and I'll be damned if I give up my associates like this peabrain over here."
"Lady, you don't have a choice," Manny remarked, pointing his muzzle at the woman's chest.
"It's gonna take more than guns to scare me, big guy," Wendy commented. "You can't even fathom what we're doing here. It's going to change the world."
"Wendy! They're gonna kill us if you don't give them what they want!" Pedro pleaded.
"No, they'll kill you because you're no longer useful to them. But they won't dare harm me, since I didn't give them any information yet. You gotta learn how these whole 'hostage' things work."
"What?"
"You're a cold bitch but you're right…" Manny stated calmly.
Pedro was still confused about what was going on until he felt an immense pain in his lower back. He yelped as he hit the table and dropped onto the floor. Blood immediately started to pool underneath his bullet wound. Manny was still holding out his pistol to the side with his free hand. He walked up to the man who was trying to crawl away and glanced at Wendy, giving her one more chance. But the woman had a simple poker face as she watched Manny fire another shot into the man's head.
"I don't know what you expected; he was just a quick fuck for me. Plus he was bothering me for money to help pay for his mom's doctor bills. I hate people who don't know their place in all honesty."
"You won't be far behind him," Manny mentioned.
"I already gave up my keycard but good luck finding someone on this floor, nobody arrives until after two o' clock. I'm only here for extra duty, otherwise you would've found no one here. Unlucky and lucky for you, I suppose."
The longer they were here, the chance of them being caught increased. Allen was already tired of this woman and no way in hell were they waiting two hours for more workers to show up. That left them with the option of descending further into the building or breaking into this floor's rooms. Allen had a bad feeling about all of this.
"Get up, you're coming with us," Allen announced.
"I hope you're not trying to brute force the doors open because that'll just set off the silent alarm and send the place into lockdown."
Wendy stood slowly with her hands up, Manny motioned for her to start moving. The trio followed the woman out into the long white hallway. Allen figured they might as well take the risk and break into the room quickly, then escape through the broken hatch. They arrived at a door marked "Pharmaceutical Medicine" within a minute. Manny nodded at the others before slinging his rifle over his shoulder and dropped his pack onto the floor. He unzipped it and pulled a large device out that looked like a circular saw. He placed it on the thick reinforced hinges of the door and a laser began to swiftly cut the metal.
"Give me one minute," Manny called out.
Ding! A sound echoed in the quiet corridor. Elevator doors opened at the end of the hallway. A figure walked out into the open by themselves. They looked straight out of a horror movie. A plague doctor's mask covered their face and they were clad in a black trench coat with dark camo pants and boots. Not an inch of skin was exposed, they even had black gloves on. Manny was still cutting the door but he expressed his worry.
"Who the fuck is that?"
"I got no clue," Allen replied quickly.
Wendy took her chance to go running to safety. Helen went to grab for her but Allen stopped his alien friend short. The lady sprinted as fast as she could towards the black-clad person, screaming that she was taken hostage by terrorists and that they killed a man already. The plague doctor didn't speak and pulled at their tight glove instead. Wendy basically ran into their arms with crocodile tears.
"Thank you for coming to save me! I was so scared! I thought they were going to-"
"Unclean."
Wendy was puzzled by the person's comment but she didn't have time to respond as their pale hand touched her throat. Allen wanted to vomit at the scene occurring before him. The lady clawed at her now collapsing throat. Her skin became gray and festered with pus and dead flesh, her skin was rotting insanely fast. She couldn't even scream because her vocal cords had already rotted inside her neck. The area around where the plague doctor touched was decayed like she was previously rotting for years. Decomposition set in instantly, bubbles of flesh popping with a dark liquid. She scratched her throat and her nails went straight through her skin like melted butter. Wendy's head literally slipped off her shoulders and rolled onto the ground like an old pumpkin. Her body dropped next with a thud. It occurred within 30 seconds.
Helen was completely thunderstruck. Allen's teeth were chattering in pure terror. No wonder he stopped Helen from chasing after the woman. This person smelled like death, they were bad news.
"You are all unclean," a raspy female voice called out.
She began to walk towards the trio again, stepping over the headless corpse. Allen was stunned by the sound of the door falling onto the floor. He glanced in the room and saw row after row of medicine. He even saw boxes marked "excess surgery". That's perfect, they wouldn't need to open the other door now. Not that they had the time anyway.
"Get inside and start grabbing supplies! I'll deal with this freak!" he yelled at his friends.
Allen waited till they were safely inside to turn his attention back to the strange woman. He activated his flame regulators and aimed his hands at the approaching foe.
"Burn," he murmured.
Two steady lines of flames erupted from his hands that opened up into an inferno the further it traveled. He glanced at his friends scrambling around the room collecting items as fast as they could.
"You really shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent."
The plague doctor burst through the flames with her exposed hand extended towards Allen. The man's quick reactions allowed him to limbo underneath the enemy soaring through the air. He can feel the breeze of air as her fingertips narrowly pass his face. The plague doctor landed on all fours behind Allen with an animalistic growl and he spun on his heels to face his opponent. Allen was a bit nervous about her being in close proximity to him and his friends. From what they saw one touch spelt death for them; Allen would have to keep his distance.
The mysterious woman stood to her full height. Allen was surprised to see no damage besides a few scorch marks on her doctor's outfit. It wasn't by any means his hottest flame but what he attacked with would fry any normal person. I guess that costume isn't just for show, Allen told himself as he rethought his plan. The only part of her skin that was exposed was her left hand, so he'd have to keep to her right side. At least that's what she's thinking he'd do. He doesn't know the extent of her powers so he'll have to work with what he's seen already. It would be better for him to continue fighting with this knowledge, instead of forcing her to change her tactics.
Allen twisted his wristbands; he'll need a smaller, more defined flame like one out of a blow torch or a jet tail. He was switching to fighting in her favor so he'd need the smaller flame for heightened agility and power. Allen was grateful that he wore a full-body suit on raids, he needed it more now than ever. The foes ran at each other full speed; Allen's combat boot collided with the woman's pale hand. His hypothesis was correct, her ability only worked on the cells of organisms. He was relieved but that didn't mean she was any less scary. Allen spun into an overhead ax kick that was dodged by the woman gracefully. She lunged for a counter attack with her left hand. Allen's hand came underneath and pushed up on the Plague Doctor's covered wrist, forcing the deadly hand to slip above its intended target: Allen's shoulder. The sudden movement made her move further than expected, stepping into both of the fighter's guards. Allen grabbed her left covered forearm to keep her from retreating and delivered a swift hook to her masked face. The glass covered eyeholes of the plague mask cracked before shattering from impact, Allen made eye contact with the woman's bloodshot hazel eyes. He engulfed his fist in a heavy flame for extra power and released the woman's arm simultaneously. Allen grunted loudly as his body twisted through the punching movement; the woman's body crumpled against the wall with a thud.
Allen watched the limp woman for a moment. He jumped when a hand grabbed his shoulder. It was Manny with several duffel bags full of supplies, Helen was right behind him with a determined face. No words were exchanged, they simply took off down the hallway. The group ran into the office to see the dead Pablo right where they left him. Manny gave him a sorrowful look but didn't stop as they entered the maintenance hall with all the pipes. Allen pointed to the catwalk they were on earlier.
"We need to get outta here now!"
Allen used his hands like jet engines to fly him onto the above catwalk. Helen zoomed off and was next to Allen within a second.
"Yeah no shit, sherlock!" Manny yelled, easily jumping 20 feet into the air onto the platform. "And that's easy for you to say when you got no bags!"
Allen only laughed as they climbed back onto the roof, running around the side to their zipline. Manny dropped the duffels to pull out his zipper and ready himself for the trip back. Helen glanced down and saw the entire building surrounded by Plumber security vehicles.
"Guys, we have a problem!"
"Good thing we're going over them then," Manny retorted.
Everyone was almost ready when a dark chuckle came from behind them. Manny and Helen instantly pointed their blades and barrel at the lurker. Allen's eyes widened at the person glaring at them. Was this the same chick I fought? The woman originally dressed up as the plague doctor was now stripped of her robes. She still wore her knee-high platform boots but the rest of her looked dressed for the beach. The black mini-skirt with a dark bikini top left little to the imagination. Manny was basically drooling at the well endowed woman. If she didn't produce a man-eating bacteria from her skin, Allen would probably be staring too. A tattoo took up most of her chest, depicting the words "Plague" in bold, times new roman font. It was eerily attractive but he'd never admit that out loud. Plague tucked a strand of her long black hair behind her ear, she gave Allen a crazed glare with a devious smile. A burn scar covered half of her perfect face Allen noticed. The man had an odd attraction to mysterious women. But this lady might be a little too murderous for his taste.
"I can't allow the unclean to escape!"
Yup. Too weird.
Allen whispered to his friends quickly, "Get back to the van."
"No way! We're not leaving you with this weirdo and all these Plumbers!" Helen shot down.
"I got this, guys. I'll be right behind you."
Manny stared at his lil bro for a moment and saw the determination in his eyes. He nodded in agreement and grabbed the bags. The Tetramand trusted his best friend not to die. Helen was a bit hesitant but eventually agreed. They didn't have all day to argue after all. He watched his friends zipline back to the parking garage. Allen cracked his knuckles and turned back to his opponent. This time he won't hold back.
Plague growled at the sight of escaping invaders and let out a roar of frustration. She charged the man with extreme speed. Allen had to be even more cautious now that 95 percent of her skin was revealed. He gave his wrist-controls a few more twists. Allen was just stalling for time at this point. He wasn't going to fight this woman with Plumbers on their way. He aimed his hands at the approaching foe and his palms erupted with a stream of intense flames. No armor meant no protection against his fire.
Plague darted to the side to avoid the incoming inferno. She ran along-side the deadly attack, hoping to close the distance between them. She had a feeling it wouldn't be as easy as before. Plague constantly had to sidestep away from the spew of orange light, she wasn't getting any closer at this point. Allen kept her running in a circle. She could see the disappearing forms of his friends. They're getting away! Her prayers were answered as a helicopter came into view of the rooftop. A sliding door opened and a gun-man popped out with a large looking laser rifle. The soldier looked at the fight between Allen and Plague, he also noticed a tetherline connected to the building roof. His eyes followed the zipline to two people retreating along it. Two vulnerable targets.
Allen saw the helicopter swing around in the direction of his friends. A nervous lump formed in his throat, he couldn't warn them of the impending danger. They were too far for them to hear him anyway. This game of ring around the rosie was quickly getting old for both "players". Allen had to handle the helicopter before they hurt Helen and Manny. No more people were going to get hurt on his watch. No more death.
Allen pointed his right arm and unleashed a storm of flames that rushed towards the helicopter. It wasn't enough; between the wind the helicopter was making and the wind from being so high up in the air, he needed at least 20 more feet of solid fire. Allen knew taking his attention away from Plague would prove detrimental to him in the long-run. But he didn't care. Manny and Helen were in danger. Nothing would stop him from keeping them safe.
The young man added his second arm to his first without hesitation. An inferno exploded from his extra hand to join the original stream in a mix of deadly hellfire that completely engulfed the helicopter within seconds. Helen and Manny reached the parking garage and turned around to see a mini sun consume the helicopter that was previously aiming at them. Manny smiled at Allen's handiwork as he watched the vehicle crash into the streets below. His joy disappeared when he saw the scene partaking across the gap.
Allen grunted in pain as Plague's hand pressed firmly against his lower stomach. It seemed he was wrong about her bacteria only affecting living things because it ate right through his suit. He tried to blow her away with flames but she jumped away in time. Allen dropped to one knee and held his disintegrating stomach. He only had one option; but it only delayed the inevitable. The man emitted a high temp low flame from his fingertip to close off the festering wound, and hopefully kill off the bacteria before it spread too far. He almost passed out from the extreme pain. Images of dead friends and their funerals he attended appeared in his head. Determination clawed back into his mind as he remembered why he was doing this. The people who were waiting to be treated back at base, the same people who sacrificed everything to fight for others.
"I admire your desire to protect your friends," Plague announced. "If only people like you were around when I was younger."
She trudged closer to the kneeling man. Allen could see the burn marks he left on her from his position.
"It's no-not too late to change. You can fight for others too," Allen choked.
The pain was making it hard to stay awake. Plague ignored the man's statement and continued to walk. Allen struggled to rise to his feet, it took everything he had to stand. He weakly raised his right arm, keeping his left over his stomach.
"I'm surprised you can even stand."
"If I don't stand up for them, then who will?"
It was a battle of speed, whoever can touch the other first was the victor. Both of them were eager not to lose this fight. Plague was aiming for the same place he hit him before. That would be a guaranteed quick death without having to be in the vicinity of him for too long. He was on his last limbs, she was expecting him to let loose. Her ability, Rot, filled her body with deadly bacteria that she was immune to; anyone or anything she touched was instantly invaded by the bacteria. The bacteria broke down atoms at a microscopic level by consuming their electrons and protons. A normal human would be dissolved in one simple touch. Aliens or mutants with more complicated cell formation and DNA could tank multiple touches. But she's never seen anyone escape her deadly touch for long.
A blur of movement between the two foes. Plague smiled when she got to her destination a split second faster. Allen futilely tried to grab the woman's arm with his left hand, his right hand making contact with her face. A second went by and Plague was confused as to why he hasn't fallen apart yet.
"Carbonized cells can not degenerate," Allen grimaced.
Plague's eyes widened as she tried to pull away from the man. She felt an intense burning on her wrist and glanced down to see a red color emitting from his hand. He's burning the bacteria! Another second passed and his entire body exploded into his true fiery form, engulfing the suit as well.
"I'm sorry," he said gently.
The hand on her face erupted with a red-hot flame, encasing her head in thousands of degrees of fire. Plague's body went limp in three seconds as her brain turned to vapor underneath the extreme conditions. Allen released the girl from his inferno and allowed for her to slump against the floor. All that was left of her head was a charred neck stump. The man dropped next to the corpse, leaning against a vent. His true form extinguished quickly and left the young man exhausted. He winced from the wound he received and "treated". The Plumbers were probably seconds from reaching the roof. He figured he wouldn't last very long against them. Allen hoped Manny and Helen were alright. They were probably already at base handing out supplies. That made him happy to think about. A blurry large shadow came into view before his eyes fluttered closed from exhaustion.
Helen zoomed through the service tunnel into their hideout. She had tears in her eyes. Manny never yelled at her like that before. He went on a rant about not leaving his brother behind and for her to take the van and return back to base. Watching Manny cross that zipline again was the scariest thing in her life. She had thought about going on foot but they couldn't risk the van being compromised, unfortunately those supplies were meant for a lot of injured people. She met Hera in the meeting room speaking to several heroes. Hera ushered them out when she saw the lone teary-eyed woman.
"There's medical supplies in the van," Helen croaked to the passing fighters.
"Where's Allen and Manny?"
"Manny went back for Allen… but I don't think Allen is…"
"Manny is smart, he wouldn't go back if he knew Allen was a lost cause."
Helen knew that wasn't true at all but respected Hera's attempt at trying to calm her down.
"I have good news. We got a transmission from space. Gwen is coming back with Ben," Hera informed.
Relief flooded the woman's mind. Ben was going to be here soon. He'd turn this whole war on its head. Now the Plumbers stood no chance against them. At least that's what she wanted to believe. Dangerous Plumbers were popping up all over the place, she wasn't confident that Ben would be able to beat all of them. Ben would eventually meet his match, if he hasn't already. A commotion pulled the speedster from her thoughts. Helen and Hera rushed to the door to see nurses rolling someone past on a stretcher. Hera watched her raid leader be rolled past her into the medical wing. Manny was behind the flock of people with a solemn expression on his face.
Helen ran up and enveloped him in a hug that he returned firmly. She let the tears flow freely at the sight of seeing her two favorite people in such a state. Manny gently stroked Helen's back as he shed some tears of his own out. Hera walked up to them with a comforting look.
"Will he make it?" she asked the large man.
"I don't know…"
Manny pulled away from Helen so he could report to the commander on their mission. The only good news being that they brought a van full of stuff back to HQ. Hera can already tell this success wasn't worth the trade for Allen, 100 victories couldn't replace him. He was a good man and an even greater leader. Allen cared about his squadmates dearly and him going on this mission proved that. He was willing to give up his life to save his friends. Helen stood by as Manny addressed their commander. She couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes on them. A quick glance back revealed a set of brown eyes looking from beyond an ajar door. They disappeared as soon as Helen caught them eavesdropping. She left the conversation to approach the door slowly, the woman heard voices from inside the room. Helen carefully opened the door and stuck her head inside to see Julie facing the wall talking on the phone.
"I thought you said no one would get hurt!" Julie quietly shouted.
Helen couldn't hear the voice on the phone but she kept listening anyway.
"You lied to me!"
The woman wondered what they were talking about, as she snuck inside the room.
"Where is my family! I did what you said, I told you where they were going to show up!"
Helen's eyes widened at the reveal.
"What?!" she shouted without realizing.
Julie jumped and turned around to see who was there. She dropped her phone in surprise when she saw Helen standing there. The woman was about to speak but Helen already had a blade at her throat. Julie instinctively screamed at the show of violence. Manny came rushing into the room to see Helen holding Julie at knife-point. He grabbed Helen before she caused any damage; she was flailing around as the man pulled her away.
"Helen! What are you doing?" Hera shouted.
"She did it!" Helen snapped.
"What are you talking about?" Manny asked.
"She told whoever is on that phone where we were going to be today! She fucking sold us out to the Plumbers! SHE'S THE REASON WHY ALLEN IS GOING TO FUCKING DIE!"