S2 EP5: This Means War
Sup. Coming to you guys after I beat the vampires and Ellie moved in with me. Today is actually my 'day off' from crime-fighting because I was planning on video-chatting with Logan and Ben tonight and I wanted to be well rested for that. Right now, though, the Novas City Monetary Building is being robbed. Inside, two guys with ski masks were holding machine guns that were pointed at some hostages. A third guy was inside of the vault, collecting the money.
Robber 1: "Alright, alright, everyone keep quiet and nobody gets hurt. This doesn't have to end in a blood bath." He turned to his partner, "Make sure the cops are behaving themselves, outside. I'll see if Reed is done gathering the money."
Robber 2: "Got it." They walked off in different directions, the first crook heading toward the vault. When he got inside, he saw Reed lying on the ground. He was out cold.
Robber 1: "What the hell?" While his back was turned, I formed in behind him as Smoxe.
Smoxe: "He was like this when I found him, I swear! Okay, I lied. He was a teeny bit more conscious when I found him." He turned around and started letting off rounds as soon as he saw me. The bullets went right through me and I chuckled.
Robber 1: "Back the fuck up, Arsenal! I swear I will kill you, right now." After he was out of bullets, he dropped his gun and charged at me. He swung his fist at me, which went right through my face. I shook my head.
Smoxe: "So, there's something I've always been wondering. If the bullets don't work, why the punching?" I became smoke and flew back, then became solid again and transformed into Thornstrix, a form I got from Kyle. I looked like Poison Ivy from Batman with a red dress on and the symbol on my chest. I had a huge vine lift me up from the ground, then shot out a branch from my arm, pushing the robber into the wall and knocking him out cold. I had the vine carry me out into the main room, where the last robber was. Looking around, though, he was nowhere to be found.
Thornstrix: "Um, okay. First time a robber actually was smart enough NOT to fight me." I glowed red and became Spykeback, then went over and grew a spike out of my wrist to cut the hostages out of their restraints.
Spykeback: "You guys alright?" They remained silent, instead just staring right at me. "Uh, hello? Is it ignore the hero day?"
Hostages: "We all hail to the Sculptor." I raised an eyebrow.
Spykeback: "Um, alright." Suddenly, the bank faded away and I was yanked back into some kind of void by an invisible force. When I stopped, I found myself floating in some kind of orange vortex.
Spykeback: "What the hell?! Where am I?"
Voice: "I call it the Canvas." There was a flash of light and a huge guy with bright orange armor stood in front of me.
Spykeback: "The Canvas? Alright, Bob Ross, what the hell is this?" He shook his head.
Orange guy: "Oh, how little you know, Arsenal. I am the Sculptor, master of the universe's secrets. Everything that is, was, or will be is the result of my actions." I raised an eyebrow.
Spykeback: "You look like a giant tangerine to me."
Sculptor: "I urge you to take our meeting seriously, Arsenal. It is extremely important that you listen to me if you want to save this world." I rolled my eyes.
Spykeback: "Yeah, I don't think so. Here's what's actually gonna happen, carrot boy..." I glowed red and transformed into Mewtwo, "You're gonna let me out of this bootleg Forge of Creation or I'm gonna turn you into orange juice."
Sculptor: "I don't recall you always being this hard-headed." I glared at him.
Mewtwo: "You know nothing about me!" I charged at him, my fists glowing with purple energy. Before I could hit him, though, he held his hand up and I reverted to normal.
Trey: "The fuck? How'd you do that?"
Sculptor: "I told you, I am the master of the universe's secrets. Will you now listen to me?" I sighed.
Trey: "Sure, why not?"
Sculptor: "Excellent. Now, there is an urgent matter that, if not dealt with, will result in the destruction of the planet Tetris Nova."
Trey: "Alright, sounds like nothing I haven't dealt with before. Lay it on me."
Sculptor: "There's the Sergauson confidence. As you know, Trey, Novas City is home to Tombstone, one of the most powerful and dangerous crime bosses there is." I nodded.
Trey: "Yeah, I'm well aware. I've been trying to take him down but as ugly as he is, he's smart." Sculptor chuckled.
Sculptor: "What you do not know is there is another crime boss in Novas City that is equally as dangerous." My eyes got wide.
Trey: "Seriously? Who?" He shook his head.
Sculptor: "I cannot tell you that, I'm sorry. Anyway, the two crime bosses will wage war on each other that will be so damaging that it'll destroy not only the city, but the entire planet as well." My eyes got wide.
Trey: "You're kidding. How are a bunch of thugs with guns gonna destroy the planet?"
Sculptor: "I'm afraid it is much more serious than thugs with guns. You see, Tombstone has found a way to re-create the gene that gives meta-humans their powers and make it into a drug." I nodded in realization.
Trey: "Which he's going to give to his thugs. Great, a whole gang of meatheads with superpowers." I looked at him, "You're the 'master of the universe's secrets', right? Can't you tell me how to stop this?"
Sculptor shook his head.
Sculptor: "I am not a time-traveler, Trey, the only outcome I am fully aware of is one that does not include you. You have to stop this war on your own." I nodded until I realized what he said.
Trey: "Wait, doesn't include me? What do you-"
Sculptor: "Our conversation is over now, Trey. Goodbye and good luck, we shall meet again." I was suddenly pulled back into the warp and there was another flash of light.
...
I opened my eyes and sat up, seeing that I was in my bed. I yawned.
Trey: "Man, I've gotta stop eating all that pizza before bed. It's giving me seriously trippy dreams." I got up and stretched then picked up my phone to check the time, "11 AM? I've got a lot of time before Ellie wakes up. I should-"
I stopped in my tracks when I looked at my wall. It had the words "THE WAR IS NOW!" written in bold red letters.
Trey: "Alright, guess that wasn't a dream after all. Looks like it's hero time." I headed to my closet to get dressed.
Meanwhile at the NexCorp building, Thea Nexus was in one of her labs with her scientists.
Thea: "Fiona, the results?" One of her scientists, a lady with brown hair and glasses, nodded at her.
Fiona: "Right away, Ms. Nexus." She typed something on her computer, making an image of a DNA strand appear, "You see, Ms. Nexus, this is a regular strand of DNA."
Thea nodded.
Fiona: "And this is a DNA strand when combined with the artificial meta-gene we created." She pressed a button on the computer and the DNA strand turned light green. Thea smiled widely.
Thea: "So, we did it!" Fiona nodded.
Fiona: "Yes, Ms. Nexus, we have successfully produced a serum that will quite literally change the infrastructure of a person's DNA. We can create meta-humans."
Thea: "Fiona, this is groundbreaking news! With such a colossal discovery, we could change the very population of Tetris Nova. Diseased people will be able to heal themselves, handicapped people will finally be able to walk again." Before Fiona could agree, the automatic door flew open and Lincoln came in. Fiona rolled her eyes as he walked up to Thea.
Lincoln: "Thea, my love, how are you doing?" She smiled and kissed him, then gestured toward the computer.
Thea: "We did it, my love, we finished the meta serum. Once we mass-produce it, anyone who ingests it will become a meta-human." Lincoln grinned.
Lincoln: "That is excellent news, darling. So it is ready for mass-production?"
Fiona: "No, actually. We still have no way of knowing what abilities will manifest inside the consumer. We would not want to give the serum to a mentally challenged person and give them superhuman strength, we have to be careful." Thea nodded.
Thea: "She's right, it could take some time to get this just right." Lincoln glared at the computer screen, then looked back at Thea.
Lincoln: "Yes, time. I completely understand." He kissed Thea again before turning to leave, "I have important matters to attend to, dear, I will see you later."
Thea: "Okay." When Lincoln got to the door, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
Lincoln: "Hammerhead? Yeah, it's done. My darling fiancee says it needs time, though...No, time is something we do not have. I called you so that uou can have the contract ready by the time I arrive...Yes, we're hiring him." He smirked as he hung up.
Later that day, Kyrie and I walked toward the NexCorp building. I figured that whatever resources Lincoln used to recreate the meta-gene would be here so I asked Ky to give me a 'tour'. Today I was wearing a simple red hoodie and black track pants.
Kyrie: "Since when were you so interested in science, man? I thought law enforcement was your thing." I shrugged.
Trey: "It is, but I thought I'd finally come see the place that makes your family such hot shit. Besides, I've got nothing else to do." He chuckled and we walked into an elevator, descending down to the bottom floor.
Trey: "Where's CC, by the way?" He rolled his eyes.
Kyrie: "Don't even get me started on her, man. She's being ridiculous." I snickered.
Trey: "Ridiculous, how?"
Kyrie: "She's still hung up on this Arsenal thing. You know he and this demon girl were at the school the other day, right?" I nodded and he continued, "Well she's hell-bent on proving that Arsenal is some kind of bad guy."
I nodded slowly.
Trey: "And what do you think?" He shrugged.
Kyrie: "I'm undecided on the matter, actually. He saved my mom that one time, not to mention took down CoCo's dad. Did you know he used to hit her?" I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck.
Kyrie: "On the other hand, though, he seems to think everything is just a big game. He's probably the most powerful dude on the planet but he runs around, cracking jokes. I don't know how to feel about that." I nodded, taking in what he said. "What about you? How do you feel about Arsenal?"
I paused before answering.
Trey: "Uh, he's alright. It seems like he's trying to do some good. I do think the police treating him like a criminal is a bit unfair, though." He nodded as we walked into some kind of lab, where Kyrie's mom and one of her scientists, along with Mayor Lincoln was. They smiled when they saw us.
Thea: "Hey, baby." She kissed Ky on the forehead then smiled at me, "How are you, Trey?"
I smiled back.
Trey: "I'm good, thank you."
Lincoln: "Any particular reason you boys decided to drop by?" I raised an eyebrow. He sounded a bit on edge.
Kyrie: "We just wanted to see what these guys were working on, Mom sounded really excited on the phone." Lincoln looked at Thea.
Lincoln: "You told your son? Why would you do that?" Thea rolled her eyes.
Thea: "Because he's the heir to the company, Lenard. It's only fair that he gets to share in this discovery." I chuckled.
Trey: "And I'm just here to stand here and look pretty." They all chuckled.
Thea: "Alright son, here it is." The scientist pressed a button on the computer and it showed the image of the DNA strand. Kyrie's eyes got wide.
Kyrie: "Wait, that's a DNA strand. Are you saying...?" Thea smiled and nodded while I looked at the two of them, confused.
Trey: "Um hello, there is a non-genius in the room. Please say stuff out loud." Lincoln rolled his eyes. Ky turned to me.
Kyrie: "Oh, sorry Trey. See, this is how a person's DNA usually looks. Mom and her team said so." I nodded and the scientist pressed another button and the DNA strand turned light green.
Thea: "This is a DNA strand when exposed to our concentrated meta-gene." My eyes got wide too.
Trey: "Hold up, so you guys are saying that you found a way to give people superpowers?" They nodded. I glanced over at Lincoln. He was staring at the monitor with some kind of look in his eyes. Thea went over to some kind of safe and put in the combination. Opening it, she pulled out six vials of a green liquid.
Thea: "This is the only batch of the concentrated meta-gene that we have produced. In theory, all one would have to do is drink the liquid and their DNA would morph into that of a meta-human." I stared at the vials in awe.
Lincoln: "I wasn't aware you had produced a liquid version, my dear." He walked over to her and tried to grab a vial, but Thea moved it away from him.
Thea: "Sorry, honey, but this does not leave the lab. It is too dangerous." I smirked but frowned when I started to feel an aura.
Trey: "Oh, this should be good." Suddenly, the wall behind us exploded, blowing us all back. Out of the explosion came a huge guy with grey skin, a black beard and long hair. He had on a biker jacket and shorts, had a chain wrapped around his neck, and was riding a motorcycle.
Grey guy: "HELLOOOOOOO NEXCORP! RUGER HAS ARRIVED!" He got off of his bike and walked toward us, "Okay, little people, this is how this shit is gonna go down. This pretty little lady is going to give me whatever scientific bullshit that my boss paid me to come get, then I'm going to fuck this place up a bit just because I can, then I'll be on my way. Understood?"
Trey (thinking): "What the fuck is this dude? His aura almost feels like an alien's." I looked around for some kind of distraction, then spotted a tank of flammable gas. I smirked and quickly turned one of my fingers into an OmniFire one, shooting a small beam at the tank. The gas started to leak.
Lincoln: "What is the meaning of this, you monster?! I insist you leave my fiancee alone!" I rolled my eyes.
Ruger: "Can't do that, Mr. Mayor. My boss made it super fucking clear that he needs that serum. You know, you remind me of him." He smirked at Lincoln.
Suddenly, the tank burst into flames and exploded, blowing Ruger into the monitor. The scientist quickly ran over to the alarm button on the wall and smashed it, making the alarm blare.
Scientist: "The task force should be here in no time!"
Thea: "Everybody run!" She grabbed Kyrie and started toward the door.
Kyrie: "Trey, let's go!" I acted like I was following them but when they were in the elevator, I pressed the button to shut it.
Kyrie and Thea: "TREY!" The elevator went up and I turned back to Ruger, glowing red.
Orange fur grew out of my body, starting from my feet and covering my whole body. My nails grew into claws as two large claws grew out of the back of my hands. My teeth turned more carnivorous and I grew to about 7 feet tall. I roared and finished off the transformation as Rath.
Right as Ruger got up, I charged at him and nailed him in the jaw. He went flying back into his bike, rubbing his head.
Ruger: "What the fuck?!" I roared again.
Rath: "LEMME TELL YA SOMETHING RUGER, THE REALLY FUCKING UGLY BAD GUY THAT CAME OUTTA NOWHERE! NOBODY STEALS ANYTHING WHEN RATH IS ON THE JOB!" Ruger got up and cracked his neck, then smirked at me.
Ruger: "What do we have, here? You don't usually see an Appoplexian just running around. You must be Arsenal." I glared at him.
Rath: "Yeah, I'm Arsenal! What's it to you?!" He shrugged.
Ruger: "Nothing. It's just that...everyone assumed you were dead." My eyes got wide. He knows who I am.
Rath: "THAT'S IT! TIME TO BEAT THE MEMORY OF ME OUTTA YOUR BRAIN!" I charged at him and swung, but he caught my fist and punched me in the gut, making me drop to me knees, where he spartan kicked me in the face. I flew back and slid against the floor before getting up and leaping at him. I grabbed him by the neck and tried to hold him, but he grabbed my arm and twisted it until it snapped, then flipped me over and pummeled me in the face. I transformed into Godspeed and zoomed away from him, but he unwrapped his chain and flung it at me. I tried to dodge it but it glowed purple and wrapped around my tail. He used it to slam me into wall, then pulled me toward him and slammed me to the ground by my neck.
Godspeed: "What kind of freaky chain is that? It's a bit too kinky for me." I vibrated out of his grip, then became Biohazard and turned both my hands into BFS's.
Biohazard: "So tell me Ruger, does this boss of yours happen to have grey skin and a huge superiority complex?" He fired his chain at me but I slashed it with my BFS, then flew up and kicked at his face. He stumbled back and smirked.
Ruger: "Sorry, kid, but part of my contract is a pact of secrecy." I chuckled and turned my hands into the smack hands, charging at him and nailing him in the chest.
Biohazard: "Aww, that's so cute. What, did you guys pinky swear?" I swung at him again, but he suddenly moved at super speed and kicked me up into the ceiling, nailing me with his fist when I came back down. I gritted my teeth and flew at him. He tried to swing at me but I glowed red and caught his fist as Atomix, then launched a huge nuclear ball at his stomach. He stood there, unharmed, then pulled out a grenade launcher and blew me back.
Atomix: "I don't even wanna know where you pulled that out from." I suddenly burst into flames and rocketed toward him as Heatblast, then breathed a flamethrower at him. He grabbed me by my face and held me up in the air.
Ruger: "I always wanted to fight you, Doppelganger. Everybody always thought you were so powerful but I knew I could kill you." I placed my feet on his chest and became Crashhopper, then launched myself away from him.
Crashhopper: "If you really thought that, dude, you're about as smart as you look." I launched myself at him, but his bike suddenly released purple energy from it's exhaust, trapping me against the wall. Ruger zoomed over and stopped in front of me, smirking.
Ruger: "You don't want to mess with me, hero, trust me. If you know any better, you'll let me do my job. Unless you want to wind up dead, for real." He walked away from me and picked up a vial of the meta-liquid, then got back on his bike, "For the record, Arsenal, I was just fucking around. Next time I'll fight you with all I have."
He revved up his bike a sped off. The purple energy went away, making me drop to the floor, gasping for air. I reverted to normal.
Trey: "That could've gone better." I walked over to the whole in the wall, turning my eyes into Brainiac ones and scanning it, "This energy reading looks like it comes from a Toonsapien like Freakazoid. But there's no way in hell that's what he is."
I turned my eyes back to normal, then turned my legs into Red Lightning ones.
Trey: "I should check on the others, make sure they're alright." I zoomed out of the hole in the wall, then up the side of the building and around to the front. Turning my legs back to normal, I stumbled out from behind a task force car. Kyrie noticed me and ran over, along with his mom, Lincoln and a task force operative.
Kyrie: "Dude, are you okay? What the fuck happened?" I looked at the task force guy, who looked like he was ready to arrest me on the spot.
Trey: "It was wild, man, Arsenal came out of nowhere and took on that Ruger dude."
Task force guy: "Arsenal? I have to phone this in. Did you see anything else, kid?" I nodded and looked at Thea.
Trey: "Ruger took off with one of the vials. Arsenal...couldn't stop him." Thea looked worried as soon as I said that. Lincoln, on the other hand, looked pretty pleased.
Thea: "This isn't good at all. That serum is dangerous in the right hands, who knows how destructive it could be in the hands of that maniac." I looked at the ground. I really screwed up this time.
Task force guy: "We'll need to ask you a few more questions, Ms. Nexus. The rest of you are free to go." Thea nodded and kissed Kyrie on the forehead, then turned to Lincoln.
Thea: "This shouldn't take too long, dear, do you want to come along?"
Lincoln: "I am needed back at my office, I'm afraid. I will call you later." He walked off quickly, leaving Thea frowning. After that, she walked off with the Task force guy. Kyrie turned to me.
Kyrie: "So Arsenal, huh?" I nodded slowly.
Trey: "Uh, yeah, I hid behind the computer and watched the whole thing. He..totally failed." Kyrie nodded.
Kyrie: "Yeah, I figured as much. He's not doing a very good job at being the hero, if you really think about it." I raised an eyebrow at him.
Trey: "What do you mean?" He shrugged.
Kyrie: "I mean, look at the facts. Sure, he's taken down a few guys but they were small compared to that Ruger guy. I don't know if we should even be depending on him." I thought about his words.
Trey: "Yeah, you have a point." My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, seeing a text from Lola.
Trey: "Lola is apparently heading over to my place, you wanna come over too?" He shook his head.
Kyrie: "Nah, I have to go work on my English assignment with CoCo." I smirked.
Trey: "What happened to your whole 'do your best work at the last minute' philosophy?" He laughed.
Kyrie: "That shit went out the window when I started dating CoCo. You know she doesn't play that shit." We both laughed and I patted him on the back.
Trey: "That's rough, dude. You guys wanna meet up later?" He rubbed the back of his head,
Kyrie: "CoCo and I have-" I cut him off by holding my hand up.
Trey: "Say no more, man. Catch you later." I started to walk off, leaving Kyrie sighing.
Across town in a warehouse by the river, a guy with dark jet black skin and snow white eyes with no pupils was at his desk with a couple of his hired guns.
Black guy: "How is the shipment to Emerald City doing, Kemba?" Kemba, the thug to his right, showed him something on his phone.
Kemba: "Not so good, boss. As soon as the shipment got across the river, it was intercepted by the cops. Half of our guys were arrested, that very same night." The black guy's eyes glowed white and he gritted his teeth.
Black guy: "FUCK! DJ, what about the shipment to Lancaster?" DJ, the thug to his left, shook his head.
DJ: "Same deal, boss. Our guys didn't get 10 feet into Lancaster before the cops busted them. There were too many of them." The black guy looked super pissed now.
Black guy: "This is ridiculous! How are we going to spread the Nixel throughout the world if we keep getting busted before we get it to our dealers in other cities? We need some kind of edge." At that moment, the door opened and in came Fiona, one of NexCorp's scientists. As soon as she walked in, DJ and Kemba pointed their guns at her.
Fiona: "Whoa! Boss, it's me." The black guy motioned for them to put their guns down and nodded at Fiona.
Black guy: "Fiona, good to see you. I assume you have news on what NexCorp is working on." She nodded.
Fiona: "Yes, sir. We have succeeded in creating a concentrated version of the gene that creates meta-humans." The black guy's face lit up with excitement.
Black guy: "Really? Fiona, that is just the boost that we need to put our gang over the top. I need three crates of it, immediately." Fiona frowned.
Fiona: "That's where the problem arises, sir. We have only produced a handful of the liquid meta-gene, as of right now, and Thea Nexus has most of it."
Black guy: "Most? What do you mean most?"
Fiona: "I mean that Ms. Nexus has every vial of the liquid meta-gene except for one. That one was stolen by a being called Ruger. He said he stole it for his boss." The black guy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
Black guy: "Tombstone. He must've hired this Ruger to steal the liquid meta-gene so he could give it to his gang. If he manages to mass-produce it, his gang will be running this city in no time."
Kemba: "So what do we do, boss?" The black guy smirked.
Black guy: "Tombstone isn't the only one who can get things done, Kemba. Bring me my suit, it's time to run some errands." Kemba nodded and left the room.
Fiona: "There was something else, sir. A friend of Ms. Nexus's son said Ruger had to fight off Arsenal to get the liquid meta-gene. He may be a problem."
Black guy: "Arsenal is of no worry to me, Fiona. Nobody is. Now, leave me." Fiona nodded and quickly left the room.
Black guy: "Time for Mister Negative to take care of business."
Later that night, I was on my couch watching the news.
Reporter guy: "...Witnesses say Arsenal was also at the scene, earlier today. It was said that he fought to his best ability but was simply overpowered. We have no word on what this Ruger was there to steal, but we can all assume that it was of great importance to NexCorp." I rolled my eyes.
Trey: "Overpowered? Get the fuck outta here, I wasn't even trying hard." Lola came out of my kitchen with a soda and sat in the recliner next to the couch.
Lola: "It's alright, Trey, everyone gets beaten sometimes." I shook my head.
Trey: "Not me, I never get beat! At least, I never used to. Back when I had my team." Lola came and sat next to me, then grabbed my hand and started rubbing my palms.
Lola: "Trey, what's wrong? You seem muy triste." I sighed.
Trey: "It's just that...back on Earth, I was the greatest superhero ever. People knew they could depend on me to stop the bad guys and keep them safe. Here, nobody trusts me and I understand why!"
Lola: "Trey, it's oka-"
Trey: "No, it's not okay! The vial that Ruger stole held the very thing that could destroy the fucking planet and what did I do? I let him kick my ass and get away with it. And I have no idea where the hell he ran off to!" My eyes glowed red, making Lola scoot away from me a little. I sighed, "Sorry."
Lola: "You're fine. Just not used to this whole alien thing, yet." I nodded and she continued, "So, what did you do back on Earth when a case had you stumped?"
I shrugged.
Trey: "Like I said, I turned to my team. Whenever I didn't know what to do, they would offer words of support or some kind of way to help solve the case." Lola nodded.
Lola: "Well, maybe that's it, right there?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
Trey: "Huh?"
Lola: "Your team on Earth consisted of your friends, right? Well, you have a friend here that knows who you are." I was confused until I realized what she meant. I immediately shook my head.
Trey: "Four words. Hell to the no. I am not getting you involved in this." She groaned.
Lola: "Why noooot? You told me your secret a week ago and I haven't told anybody."
Trey: "It's not about that, Smurf head, it's way too dangerous. What if a bad guy found out about you, huh? I can't be responsible for you getting hurt."
Lola: "Hate to burst your bubble, chico superheroe, but I'm 19. Nobody is responsible for me except me." I groaned.
Trey: "Lola, I know you want to help and I appreciate it. But you just aren't qualified enough for this." She looked pissed as soon as I said that.
Lola: "Really? I'm not qualified enough to help you save lives but I'm qualified enough to shake my ass for you between the sheets?! Real nice, Trey!" She stood up to leave.
Trey: "Lola, that's not what I meant." She rolled her eyes.
Lola: "Save it, chico tonto. It's nice to know you think so highly of me." She grabbed her bag and stormed out the door, slamming it behind her. I slumped back onto the couch.
Trey: "Good going, hero, you managed to piss off the one normal person who accepts you." A door opened and closed quickly and I turned to my left, seeing Ellie there. Her hair was down and she was wearing a pair of my boxers and one of my Bellwood shirts.
Ellie: "You're not very good at talking to girls, shape-shifter." She smiled at me. I smiled back and shook my head.
Trey: "Yeah, bloodsucker, I do have a habit of saying stupid shit around females. I'm assuming you heard all of that." She nodded.
Ellie: "Sounds to me like she just wants to help. I know you have this insane hero complex, but it may not be such a bad idea."
Trey: "I don't know, Ellie. I mean, having another person brainstorming crime-fighting ideas would be awesome, but she's not like us. She can die super easily." Ellie scooted closer to me and laid her head on my shoulder.
Ellie: "That's true. But if you ask me, you're way more than capable of keeping her out of harm's way." We sat there in silence for a while until she stood up, "What do I know, though? I'm not a hero." She kissed my cheek and walked to the back of the apartment, toward my room. I smiled and shook my head.
Since the night I let Ellie move in, I've really gotten to know her. We're not dating or anything but we cuddle and stuff like that sometimes because that's just the way Ellie is. She told me that she's done some really...heavy stuff over the years and that being intimate is her way of showing she trusts me and is comfortable. She also has a habit of not wearing too many articles of clothing, not that I really mind. I doubt she thinks of me as much more than a close friend, though. It's cool, I'm not even sure I like her that way.
My thoughts were cut off by my phone ringing.
Trey: "Speak on it."
Lola: "Trey, I just saw something funky flying toward NexCorp. You may want to get over there." I nodded.
Trey: "Gotta be Ruger. Thanks, Lola."
Lola: "Whatever." She hung up and I sighed, then stood up.
Trey: "Ellie, I'm going to fight Ruger, I'll be back!"
Ellie: "Don't forget the milk!" I laughed.
Trey: "You don't even eat!" I glowed red and became Big Chill, then phased out of our apartment. After I got outside, I became Jet Stream and flew toward NexCorp.
...
Inside one of NexCorp's labs, Mister Negative was floating around the room looking for something. He had on a black and white battle suit.
Mister Negative: "The data for the concentrated meta-gene has to be around here, somewhere. NexCorp wouldn't be so stupid as to delete everything." He floated over to a computer monitor but before he could type anything, I materialized in front of him as Rhapsody, a grim reaper-like ghost alien that I got from Kyle.
Rhapsody: "Hey, you're not the ugly guy I fought earlier. Come to think of it, you look more like a video game character that hasn't been unlocked yet." He stepped back and chuckled.
Mister Negative: "Arsenal, I presume. I was hoping you would show up." I floated over to him.
Rhapsody: "I'm not signing autographs right now, dude. Sorry." He shook his head.
Mister Negative: "You are mistaken, my vigilante friend. I was hoping you would show up so I could get you out of the way. You might become a hindrance to my business." My eyes got wide.
Rhapsody: "You're the other crime boss." He smirked.
Mister Negative: "Mister Negative, pleased to meet you."
Rhapsody: "Can't say the same, dude. Riddle me this, though, why are you here? I thought you'd hire some big ugly dude to do your dirty work." He chuckled.
Mister Negative: "I prefer to stretch my legs, every now and then. You understand. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some data to find." He powered up energy in his hands and shot out glowing swords at me. I phased right through them and went Chromastone, then shot a rainbow beam at him. He went flying back into the wall behind him. I flew at him to follow up, but he blasted me back with a white beam and I froze in mid-air.
Chromastone: "What the hell?" Mister Negative smirked.
Mister Negative: "Impressed, Arsenal? The result of a little accident that happened, a while ago. I used these powers to become the most powerful crime boss in Novas City." I became Gravattack and broke out of his grasp, then became Web Head and shot webbing in his face.
Web Head: "There's a stone-faced guy I know that would really disagree with that, my guy." I flipped up and stuck to the ceiling, then shot web lines at his back to pull him up toward me, kicking him back down when he got to me. He crashed down to the floor and I landed on his back. He levitated me off of him and made an energy sword appear in his hands, then slashed at me. The impact of the sword caused an explosion, sending me flying through a wall and out into the main lobby. He flew at me but I shot webbing in his eyes to blind him, then flip kicked him in the chin when he got to me, sending him flying upward and crashing into the ceiling. He recovered in mid air and I smirked at him.
Web Head: "Come on, dude, I'm not even breaking a sweat. I'm starting to miss Ruger." I suddenly felt an aura, right before I was tackled into the front desk. I looked up and saw Ruger.
Ruger: "Be careful what you wish for, motherfucker." Mister Negative floated down, frowning.
Mister Negative: "What are you doing here, contract hunter?" I struggled against Ruger's grip.
Web Head: "I second that question and add GET THE FUCK OF OF ME!"I went KaBoom and exploded, blowing him away from me. I reformed. Ruger recovered and looked at me, then at Mister Negative.
Ruger: "Well, would you look at this. Two of the boss' biggest threats in one place. I'm gonna ask for a bonus for taking you guys out." Mister Negative and I looked at each other before I went Elaskimo and stretched my arm out to grab him and fling him at Ruger. He slammed into him and they both tumbled across the floor.
Elaskimo: "You guys didn't tell me this was a party. I would've brought chips." Ruger pushed Negative off of him, then zoomed at me and grabbed me by the neck.
Ruger: "I came here for the rest of the meta-gene data, but seeing you here is a dream come true. I really regretted letting you live, earlier." He held his other hand up and a red energy fist materialized. I gulped and he slammed the fist into my face, sending me flying back. Before I crashed, he zoomed over and slammed me to the ground. I went Ghostfreak and phased into the ground then burst out as Power House. I swung at him but he caught my fist with one hand, then spun around and kicked me back into the lab.
Power House: "What the hell is this guy's deal? I have never seen anything like this." I heard a chuckle and saw Mister Negative at the computer.
Mister Negative: "I have done my research on Ruger, Arsenal. He is apparently from another planet but crash landed here, years ago. Through numerous contracts, he has been able to upgrade his own abilities." I stood up, rubbing my head.
Power House: "Okay, and why are you telling me all this?" He smirked but didn't look at me.
Mister Negative: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, dear boy. If Ruger kills you, he'll be even more of a problem for me." I rolled my eyes.
Power House: "You're a true friend, dude. Too bad neither of you are getting that data." I became XLR8 and zoomed at him, kicking him away from the monitor. His eyes glowed with rage and he flew up.
Mister Negative: "You have made a royal mistake, hero!" He charged at me with glowing fists but I zoomed away from him, only to be grabbed by my tail by Ruger. He swung me around and slammed me into the wall, where Negative impaled me with his energy swords. I went Hydro Tide and blasted him away with two powerful water blasts, then landed on the ground and went Blackout, then shot numerous electric bolts at him. He was extra hurt because he was wet. I powered up and launched a huge electric blast at Ruger, nailing him spot on and making him drop to his knees in pain. I went Boombox and was about to fire a soundwave but Ruger's chain shot out from his neck and wrapped around my arm, pulling me away and giving Ruger an opportunity to create a red energy cannon and nail me with it. I went flying back and reverted to normal. I quickly hid behind a console so they wouldn't see me.
Trey: "This is not good. I need backup." I pulled out my phone and called Ellie.
Ellie: "Hello?"
Trey: "Ellie, I'm getting totally owned over here. How quickly can you get to NexCorp?"
Ellie: "I'm not a hero, shape-shifter. What's going on? What happened to you being 'a super awesome superhero'?" I groaned.
Trey: "That was before I let the Earth down! Ever since then, something hasn't felt right."
Ellie: "Oh I see, this is a mental thing. Trey, I'm not about to give you an inspirational pep talk because we aren't partners. What I'm gonna tell you to do is get over yourself. You fucked up, it happened. And it's going to keep happening if you don't let it go and do your thing. Are you a hero or not?" I thought about her words. Suddenly, my eyes glowed bright red and a familiar energy sparked inside me. I smirked.
Trey: "Thanks, bloodsucker. I'll see you later."
Ellie: "Do your thing, hero." I hung up and hopped over the console, becoming Godspeed and zooming out toward Ruger and drop kicking him. He went flying back and slammed into the wall.
Godspeed: "It's over, ugly. Either you give yourself up or I lay the smackdown on you." Ruger stood up and cracked his neck.
Ruger: "Confident now, are we? It's about time, I knew something was off about you." I smirked.
Godspeed: "You can tell that but couldn't tell that mullets went out of style like 25 years ago. You need to work on your priorities, dude." I became Lightshow and turned my tentacles into machine guns, letting off hundreds of rounds at him. He blocked all of them with his forearms, then filled his chain with red energy and slashed it at me. I jumped up and flipped over it then went Flame Wingman and blasted him away from me. He slammed into the wall and I landed on my feet. I stuck my tongue out at him and did a little shimmy dance to mock him. He gritted his teeth in fury and pulled out a machine gun, letting off rounds at me. I flew right over them and glowed red, landing on the ground as Freakazoid.
Freakazoid: "What's the matter, Ruger? Not used to being out-crazy'd?" I pulled out a frying pan and nailed him in the face with, making him stumble back. Before he could recover, I shot him in the face with water from a Super Soaker, then ran up to him and dropped a stick of dynamite in his pants. It blew up, sending him sliding across the floor.
Ruger: "THAT"S IT!" He pulled out twin battle axes and charged at me, but I pulled out some balloons and blocked his slashes, then slid under him, pulled out a pogo stick and used it to drop kick him in the back. Before he landed, I ran over and placed a banana cream pie on the ground so his face slammed right into it. I burst out laughing.
Freakazoid: "This is awesome! Why don't I use Freakazoid more often?" Ruger's chain suddenly grabbed me by the neck and pulled me to him. He grabbed my whole face in his hand and slammed me against the wall.
Freakazoid: "I'm sensing some hostility, here." He slammed me again.
Ruger: "SHUT UP! Do you know how fucking annoying you are?!" I smirked.
Freakazoid: "I have a pretty good idea."
Ruger: "You think you can just turn into MY species and use elementary tricks to beat ME?! Fuck no! I have trained for years on this stupid ass planet, not to mention worked for all those fucking scumbags, just to become the most powerful Toonsapien ever! I will be damned if I lose to a fucking Doppelganger!" He reached behind his back and pulled out a golden shotgun, "This is a Judas gun, one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. It cancels out even the most powerful of healing factors. Bad news for you, welp."
He aimed it at me and cocked it back, then fired. Before the bullet hit me, I glowed blue, emerging from the glow as Ultimate Freakazoid. My skin was light grey and my hair grew wild and turned light purple. I had on a red military jacket with the evolved symbol on it and black sweatpants with smiley faces on them. I held my hand out and it inflated into a balloon, easily stopping the Judas bullet. Then, I pulled out a giant mallet and swung it at Ruger, knocking him to his left and making him drop me.
Ruger: "Oh shit, you can evolve." I giggled like a schoolgirl.
Ultimate Freakazoid: "Sure can! Another reason why I'm so much cooler than you." I stretched my lips over to his ear, "Not to mention better looking."
Ruger: "Fuck the stupid contract! I WILL KILL YOU!" He charged at me at full speed but I suddenly disappeared before he got to me, reappearing on top of his head.
Ultimate Freakazoid: "Rugey, do you have a perm in here? No wonder your hair is so full of life." I backflipped off of him then pulled out two firecrackers and lit them up, "Kids, don't try this at home."
The firecrackers exploded, launching Ruger through the roof and out into the atmosphere. I saluted him mockingly and did my shimmy dance again.
Ultimate Freakazoid: "Who got overpowered this time, grease monkey?" I suddenly remembered Mister Negative and ran toward the lab. When I got there, the computer was completely blank and there was a note that said "We'll meet again, Arsenal."
I reverted back to regular Freakazoid, then reverted to normal.
Trey: "Great, I was so busy clowning Ruger that I let the actual crime boss take off. Maybe Lola was right." I started to hear sirens, meaning the task force was coming, "That's my cue to make my heroic exit."
I became Teleportal and teleported out.
Back at Mister Negative's warehouse, he was uploading the meta-gene data to his computer. He smirked.
Mister Negative: "Arsenal's interference gave me the perfect opportunity to complete my mission. KEMBA!" A few soconds later, Kemba came running in.
Kemba: "Yeah, boss?"
Mister Negative: "Tell Fiona she will be busy for the next few days. Now that we have the data, we can begin producing the meta-drug."
Kemba: "Meta-drug, boss? What are you talking about?"
Mister Negative: "We will not be wasting our time turning the meta-gene into a liquid. Instead, we will be compressing the gene into pill form. It is more convenient and we will be able to distribute one to every member of the gang. I hope you like having superpowers." Kemba smirked and left the room. Mister Negative walked over to the window and looked out into the city.
Mister Negative: "Novas City will soon be mine and no one will be able to stand in my way. Especially not Arsenal."
...
Across town, Lincoln was pacing back and forth in his office when Hammerhead came in.
Hammerhead: "Boss, we still haven't heard back from Ruger about getting the date from NexCorp." Lincoln gritted his teeth and punched a wall, making the whole office shake.
Lincoln: "Fantastic! I send an alien to do a man's job and he deserts me. What could have happened?"
Hammerhead: "The boys and I think Arsenal may have gotten to him, boss. There was an awful lot of commotion coming from the NexCorp building." Lincoln looked even more pissed.
Lincoln: "That stupid vigilante. Thanks to him, we only have one vial of the meta-liquid and no way of producing more. How is the Tombstone Gang supposed to get ahead if none of them are powered?" Hammerhead thought about it for a second, then snapped his fingers.
Hammerhead: "What if we got someone who knew how to produce more meta-liquid without the data?"
Lincoln: "What are you on about? The only person who would have that kind of knowledge is Thea Nexus and she still has no idea about any of this. She still believes that Vulcan was the only meta we wanted to create."
Hammerhead: "No, boss, listen. The boys and I did some digging and found a couple more folks that might have powers. One of them may or may not be super smart." Lincoln's face lit up.
Lincoln: "Really? Very good job, Hammerhead. Who is this super smart meta?" Hammerhead smirked.
Hammerhead: "You may know him, actually. His name is Kyrie Nexus." At the mention of Kyrie, Lincoln broke out into an evil grin.
Back at my place, Ellie, Lola and I were standing in Ellie's room.
Lola: "I still can't believe the vampire girl is living here." Ellie rolled her eyes.
Ellie: "The vampire girl has a name, you know. I advise you learn it before I show you how it feels to be a juice box." Lola looked scared and stepped closer to me. I chuckled and shook my head.
Trey: "Chill, Candy head, Ellie isn't going to hurt you. She's just teasing." Ellie pouted.
Ellie: "Thanks for blowing my scary factor, asshole." I stuck my tongue out at her. Lola looked at the both of us and cleared her throat.
Lola: "So, what did you call me over here for, Trey? I'm still pretty pissed about what you said." I rubbed the back of my neck.
Trey: "Yeah, about that. I'm sorry for saying you weren't qualified to help me, Lola, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just didn't want you to die because of me." Ellie turned to Lola.
Ellie: "I told him he was being stupid." Lola giggled and I rolled my eyes.
Trey: "ANYWAY, I realized tonight that you might be right. I thought I could do this by myself but I can't, there's more to crime-fighting than just fighting bad guys. I need a support system to help me."
Lola: "Why the change of heart?" I sighed.
Trey: "I let another bad guy get away with some meta-gene data because I was dealing with Ruger. If I had some help, maybe that wouldn't have happened."
Ellie: "So what are you saying, shape-shifter?"
Trey: "Look, something big is about to go down and if I don't stop it, it's gonna spell the complete destruction of the planet. But I can't do this alone, it's too big a job for even Arsenal. I need you guys' help."
Lola: "Wait so you're saying..." I nodded.
Trey: "Ellie, Lola...welcome to the new Team Arsenal." Lola squealed in excitement and Ellie wrapped her arms around me.
Ellie: "I guess I can't say I'm not a hero anymore." I smiled at her and she returned the favor. Lola stopped squealing and glared at the two of us.
The end
And done. This chapter was pretty fun to write because it really sets up the circumstances of this season (which will have 13 episodes like normal, by the way). I was contemplating whether or not to have Trey form a new team because this is his solo hero season, but I figured a new team dynamic would be pretty cool, Trey will still be taking on baddies by himself for the most part, but the team will play the same role as the original team did in season 1 of Hero Generation. Also, I know I said this chapter would feature Logan and Ben and I did have that chapter written but after looking over it, I decided it didn't meet the standards of my usual chapters. I probably won't do a flashback chapter but Ben will absolutely appear this season, along with some other familiar faces. Let me know what you guys think. Review time!
Pro Fic Reviews: Wow, that was a really detailed review and really gave some perspective on how others might view the characters. I really enjoyed reading it. Glad to know you like the series' and I would love for you to continue reviewing. Good luck on your journalism career, my girl!
DaQuanHarrisSull: Appreciate the read, as always, my guy! Yeah, I'm not too fluent in Spanish either, I just put the phrases into Google translate lol. And I've always appreciated your constant readership on this story and the first one. A bunch of people have kept up with the story but not many are as dedicated readers as you are. As for your question, Ellie will help Trey out sometimes and she will have plots of her own. Not all the time though.
Well, that's it, guys. See you guys next time. Peace!
