Static Force: Chapter 15-Gods of War
"One way or another Ebon, it all ends today!"
Static sneered at the dark villain, the whites of his eyes becoming a violet in response to his declaration. The shadowy criminal however returned the sneer as he glided closer to the floating hero.
"You got a lot of guts hero, coming into our crib alone. You on some kind of death wish?"
"He's not alone!" A new voice spoke, as RubberBand Man slid his form in a cohesive blob that melted from the heating vent and solidified into his natural form.
"That's right," Shebang remarked, making her presence known as Ebon turned to the flank to see the pink-garbed martial artist. "We going ta put you out of business spooky man."
Much to Ebon's unpleasant surprise, members of Static's team now surrounded him and the Breed. Talon stood in the shadows, her eyes impartial towards the scene but her body poised for the pending battle, while the large, gray-skinned creature Ebon was unfamiliar with barred the door with his mass.
"You okay Gear?" Static asked, his attention drawing briefly to his partner strapped to the chair.
"Yeah," the genius said, a crooked smile parting his face beneath the emerald visor, "I was wondering when you'd get here." With a slight shift of his attention, he summoned his as of yet unstable new powers, causing the straps that bound him to the chair to open and release their unyielding hold on him.
"Well, it looks like the gangs all here," Hotstreak growled, his own attention turned toward Talon, his anger causing the hairs on his arms to burn away. "This is great, we can kill you all here and now!"
"Then let's dance heroes..." Ebon said, drawing everyone's attention into the battle as he summoned a portal that immediately tore Talon from the scene only to form a new portal mere inches from the far wall and sent the winged young woman slamming hard into the unforgiving brick wall.
Shebang jumped immediately towards Hotstreak, dodging the many bursts of fire that the pyromaniac hurled at the martial artist before she connected a powerful blow to the vandal's chin, followed by an immediate spinning kick that sent the air from his lungs as he slammed into the nearby wall. Turning her attention back to the fight, Shebang lunged at the enigmatic Jersey before the slyly grinning villainess sent an energy beam that knocked the acrobat off her feet.
RubberBand Man contended with the brutal Chainlink, the thug using his metallic tentacles to batter the rubber body of the hero with little effect. Slipstream however sent a great gust of wind that swelled the elastic champion's form like a fully drawn sail, the latter forced to maintain his body else the gust of the attack knock him from his battle.
Slipstream was unable to maintain his attack for long however as Talon, recovering from her initial strike, had sent a sonic screech that sent the large hoodlum reeling. Meanwhile, Gear; able to refit his arsenal of techno-grenades moved to confront Puff.
"Out of my way Gear," the vaporous young woman said, breathing a toxic cloud towards the brilliant young man.
Gear activated a newly developed techno bomb that seemingly from nowhere, sprouted fan blades and dispersed the toxic air. "You don't have to do this Puff. I know you weren't favoring Ebon's plan. Help us out."
"Whatever Gear, I'll be going to jail regardless," she said, vaporizing her form to appear behind her enemy. "But I won't go without a fight!"
"Sorry," the young man sighed with deep reservations as he grabbed a second device on his belt and threw it at the toxic young woman. The device exploded almost instantly upon reaching her, the fumes contained within the sphere spreading over her body and causing a deep, agonizing scream to tear its way from her throat.
The phosphorous burst of heat that extended from the device had evaporated much of her form already. "What..." she attempted to choke out as her eyes stared fearfully at the young man before her.
"Don't worry Puff, this'll just wipe out your body, it won't kill you. I estimate once the pain subsides, you'll have about 36 hours before fully pulling your body back together." Another sigh from the genius before Gear continued. "I'm really sorry."
"Not as sorry as your going to be Gear for doing that to Puff!" Onyx screamed as he lumbered his way towards his intended opponent before being intercepted by Grendle.
"You'll have to finish with me first monster," the large creature said as the two powerhouses began to battle. Gear turned his attention towards the fight, slightly more than surprised to see the massive Bang Baby he'd never seen before fighting on his behalf. It was probably that reason and none other that caused Gear to completely miss the movements of Jersey as the winged woman swooped through the various battle and snatched him from the scene.
"Gear!" Static screamed as he watched his best friend getting carried away by the mysterious woman. Turning his attention back to Ebon, Static took a few steps towards the villain, his casual pace advising his enemy that he had no fear of him. "I'm ending this today Ebon. You've gone over the edge."
"You'll never get anywhere hero, if you only stop at the edge," Ebon said, summoning a portal behind the electric hero as it was quickly blasted from existence by the latter.
"Whatever Ebon. It's the edge that keeps us from falling into madness. You though, I think went over the edge a long time ago." The two propelled themselves at each other, each using their attacks in an attempt to defeat their opponent as the room was soon filled with strobes of light and darkness.
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Hotstreak recovered himself as he glanced at the madness that surrounded the large chamber. Wherever he turned his attention, a fierce battle was taking place, and not one to sit out on a good fight, the pyromaniac engulfed his body in flame and made his way toward the battling Slipstream and Shebang before a new person stepped from the shadows. Garbed in a thick, winter coat, the young girl looked timidly at the larger villain, as if she were wholly out of place in the scene at all.
"Who the hell are you?" Hotstreak barked, expecting his vicious tirade to cause the frightened girl to cower into her coat further until she disappeared. Instead of fleeing however, the naïve girl raised her head to face the fire starter.
Permafrost said nothing to the raging criminal, merely expelled a small sigh that exited her tiny mouth in a cloud of condensation. Waving her hand in response to the burning villains temper, the frost maiden sent a blast of ice that cut viciously into the wall of flame he had formed around himself. Staring despondently at the far wall, Maureen whispered, "I don't like it here."
In response to her dissatisfied declaration, large pillars of ice exploded from the ground, as Permafrost called forth the water stored within the building's pluming as further arsenal. Hotstreak jumped and tried desperately to avoid the erupting attacks, using his own power to melt the stalagmites of frozen water back to the source. However, the floor of the room was soon flooded with several inches of water, which did nothing to fuel Hotstreak's power. With a final wave of her hand, Permafrost caused the liquid about the extinguished opponent to freeze, trapping him in place.
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RubberBand Man held his side in painful response to the attack Chainlink had initiated. Having realized the flat of his tentacles did nothing to the elastic hero, Chainlink sent the edges of his weapons at the purple-garbed hero. RubberBand Man dodged all but one of the spear-tipped vines, the spike of the victorious tendril ripping into his left side and spilling a fair amount of blood.
"Well, well...looks like the living Puddy-boy can bleed after all," the thug said, stepping closer to his intended victim, his long, spidery weapons lashing madly as if eager to run the hero through. On signal, the twelve deadly vines hurled at RubberBand Man, however before any could connect, the elastic champion extending his body and stretching his form in a many holed shape, much like a woven net. As the metallic spines soared through the holes RBM opened, the resilient fighter retracted his form once again, capturing the criminal's power. RubberBand Man was not without his weapons however, and having pinned Chainlink's weapons within his own body, sent both arms extending to their greatest strength, driving the hammers of his fists into the brute's face and sending him into unconsciousness.
Shebang was having a less than difficult time dealing with Shiv, however Slipstream's intervention prevented either herself or Talon from landing a decisive blow on their opponent. Jumping in preparation for a vicious windmill kick to the weapon master's head, Shebang was blown aside by one of Slipstreams wind gusts.
"This ain't going to be easy." Shebang said as she struggled to her feet, Talon by her side and watching the two enemies as the continued to work their way around the heroines in their less then subtle attempt to flank.
Staring at the water that had covered the ground, Talon looked for a moment at the rotund hoodlum before the idea came to her. "Shebang, when I make my move, attack Slipstream as quick as you can."
"What?" Shebang asked, her eyes widening in uncertainty of the plan the winged Bang Baby had concocted. "Are you nuts?"
"You have to trust me on this." Talon said, knowing she was asking the impossible. Turning her attention back towards the wind expert, Talon let loose a sonic screech at the ground that caused the building water to launch skyward in a miniature tidal wave that rose in intensity as it gathered speed.
"What's this? You think that little trickle is going to stop me?" Slipstream boasted, using his power to blast the water, however the thousand of droplets that made up indoor wave merely separated and continued their course, dousing the large thief in water. However, before Slipstream could wipe the water from his eyes, Shebang had delivered three quick, powerful blows, which alternated stomach, chest, and face and sent the large man slumping to the ground.
Talon however had not stopped to see the success of Shebang's attack as she hurled herself at the cackling Shiv, who was unable to avoid the speed of his former ally as she snatched him up and slammed him face first into the wall.
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Onyx had expended little energy in his battle with the hulking Grendel, the latter staggering as he stared at his opponent through his one eye that was not swollen closed. Despite the large purple bruise that covered the left side of his face, a small trickle of blood ran from the muscular hero.
"You seem to be pretty new at this fighting thing aren't you?" Onyx said, his eyes narrow as he swiveled his large head from side to side while mocking the rookie fighter before him. "You have no skill boy."
Grendel snarled as he threw his fist at the rock-like bounty hunter, only to have the granite warrior catch the blow in the palm of one massive hand. Before Grendel could respond however, the hammer of Onyx's fist punished the right side of his face. Staggered by the blow, Grendel dropped to his knee only to be pulled back to his feet by his opponent, a second blow landing to his face once more.
"You've got no talent and no business being here rookie." Onyx mocked once more, throwing another blow at the swaying giant, only to have his own punch come up short as Grendel's tail snaked around the massive wrist of the stony behemoth and outstretched his arm. Startled by the sudden counter to his attack, Onyx was unable to avoid Grendel's reverse grip as he twisted his entrapped fist free.
With both arms pinned, one by Grendel's right hand, the other by his tail, Onyx was unable to block the series of punches the furious creature landed, driving the rock-hard villain to the ground in a heap of unconscious rubble.
"I may be new, but I improvise." Grendel said, his heavy breaths coming in great, heaving gasps as he fell to his knees.
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Jersey had dragged Gear into an alternative room, throwing the genius against the far wall and knocking the wind from his lungs. "I must admit, Ebon and his little friends are slightly amusing for a while, but I'm rather bored now."
Gear leaned heavily against the wall and pushed himself up from the ground with his legs, only to be knocked back to the ground by the energy blast Jersey sent at him.
"You see little puppet...I don't really care if you live or die, or any of them for that matter. I just need to extract that lovely information from your head on how to build the device Ebon wanted."
"You can't be serious!" Gear coughed, wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth as he glared at the red-skinned thief. "You'll kill everyone in Dakota with that!"
"Wrong little boy," Jersey said, kicking Gear in the chest and knocking him back to the ground. "I'll only kill non-Bang-Babies. I should be perfectly fine. Besides...imagine what the information would be worth to the right buyer. Either I sell it to a madman, or I ransom the city...either way I'm sure to make a killing..." She cooed, straddling him as sat on his chest, his arms pinned by her legs. Reaching her hands to his helmet and pulling it from his head, she ruffled his hair slightly as she looked down at him.
"Your kinda cute kid. Too bad you'll vegetate after this."
"Don't do it...:" Gear pleaded, instinctively understanding her intentions.
"Sorry sweetheart, but it's a dog eat dog world...and me, I'm a real bitch." She said, latching her hands to either side of his head, intending to extract the information she sought. The problem was, she couldn't determine what information flooding into her mind was the right source. "NO..." she hissed, her eyes squeezing shut from the overload of knowledge she couldn't contain. "NO!"
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Static glared at Ebon. Each had taken a fair number of solid blows, and both were beyond exhaustion. It was only their own dislike that kept them fighting.
"You ain't got a prayer hero. I'm going to take you down." Ebon said, vanishing within yet another portal, only to reappear behind Static to deliver a well-placed blow. Static however, was ready, prepared for the same attack Ebon had used with great effectiveness early in the battle, and charged his electrical aura to send Ebon flying the length of the room.
"Your getting predictable Ebon." Static said, gliding towards the downed villain. "Just give it up and save us both a lot of trouble."
"You're a fool Static...you think I don't know your weaknesses?" Ebon mocked, glaring at the pool of water that had settled on the floor before summoning a portal that caused a large portion of it to disappear, only to reform the vortex above the hero. A large shower of water poured from the portal and doused the charged protector, shorting out his power and causing him to fall to the ground.
Gritting his teeth as his power spiked at dangerous levels within his body, Static dropped to his hands, heavy breaths tearing from his lungs as he struggled to right himself. "You know what Ebon? You're starting to piss me off."
"Just so you know Static...before I send you to hell I want you to know I finally beat you." Ebon said, coming to stand over the downed hero.
"Ebon, you don't have a clue," the hero replied, reacting with reflexes that surprise even his most familiar enemy. Latching his arms around Ebon's shadowy form, Static looked at the dark master and smiled triumphantly. "Lights out Ebon."
With those words, Static began drawing forth the electrical energy from the building itself, recharging his power, yet at the same time shorting himself out as the water around his feet deactivated his power, causing the painful energy surges from the positive/negative reaction to transfer into Ebon's body.
"Basic science Ebon," Static said above the screams of his archenemy. "Electricity always will find a grounding agent. It's just unlucky for you that grounding agent is you." After a moment of the painful explosion of electrical energy, Static released his prisoner, allowing Ebon to fall to the floor unconscious, yet still twitching.
"Gear!" Static said, remember his partner being drawn into the battle with the mysterious Jersey before the tech genius staggered from the room and leaned heavily against the doorframe.
"I'm cool V, but she's not." Gear said, signaling back inside the room. "I've done what I can for her but there's not much response. She tried extracting the information on how to make that bomb from my head. Unfortunately for her, she didn't know how active my mind was and she couldn't control the information. She overloaded her brain. I doubt she'll ever recover." Gear said, a deep sigh echoing past his lips as he shook his head sadly at the greed that drove the woman to her current state.
Feeling sympathy for his best friends apparent, yet unfounded guilt over the situation, Static made a mental note to talk to him later. Now however, they had more pressing matters to attend to.
"Is everyone alright?" Static asked, watching as Shebang and Talon made sure the bonds of everyone were secure, a concerned look crossing his features as he watched RubberBand Man attempt various methods to stop the bleeding of his punctured side. In truth, Permafrost seemed to be the only unhurt member, as she stood cautiously in the far corner, unwilling to mingle with the heroes.
"I think for the most part we are all fine," Grendel said, his swollen face a horrible mixture of pain and grotesque deformation.
"Well regardless," Gear said, his eyes growing slightly wide as he held a Shock Vox in his hand, "Our informant just called. Seems the SCU has been alerted of our presence here and are on their way. I don't think anyone is going anywhere, so we need to get out of here and let the police deal with the cleanup."
"Agreed," Static said, floating on his disk while drawing more energy from the building's power supply. "Let's go."
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The day had been full of news as Shelley Sandoval made her way from Channel 8 News Building and into the bustling streets of downtown Dakota. She loved this city, and the people who resided within its limits, yet that didn't stop her utter disgust with recent happenings of the city. The mayor, at the center of the controversy, had effectively turned Dakota into a war zone by outlawing all Bang Babies.
She had just filed the story with her editor in fact only moments ago. The mayor, in her power hungry public address, had not only refused to accept help from other substantial Meta-human groups such as the JLA or the Teen Titans, but went so far as to say they would be treated with equal courtesy as Static Shock and his friends, should they come to Dakota.
In fact, the only significant revelation despite the mayor's obviously public image campaign was news that the SCU had apparently apprehended the so-called Meta-Breed. That caused only slight relief in the young reporter, as it meant the mayor, for the time being, would forego requesting aid from the National Guard. The last thing this city needed to survive was to be gripped in the stranglehold of a police state.
But regardless, she was a reporter, and her duty was to report the news in an unbiased and fact-based manner, her own opinions be damned. Though of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't help those in the position to prove the controversy surrounding the interior of the hostile situation from finding the truth. That was why she had now moved into the vast maze of alleys that led into the guts of the city, hoping her informant would not be late. Although she understood his desire to keep things secretive between them, she couldn't help the frustration at his instructions to meet in such an obscure location.
Coming around the final corner to her destination, she saw Static leaning heavily against the far wall. "You okay kid? You look pretty banged up."
Static smirked as he waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing a bit of rest won't fix. I heard the mayor's boasting how the SCU battled Ebon into submission. Well at least she'll leave us alone for a couple of days."
Shelley cocked her head slightly; uncomfortable with the feeling of unfamiliarity with Static's wording and posture she got while listening to him blow off the accusations of the mayor. When Static first came to her, he was indignant that the mayor had called him and his friends nothing short of terrorists. Now, Static seemed to merely brush it off as if it were an expected, everyday occurrence.
Brushing it aside as battle fatigue, Shelley continued. "Well, I'd say get some rest when we conclude our business."
A smile, much different than the one he normally wore crossed Static's features as he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew the digital disk. "Gear found this in one of the control panels after the SCU left. You'll find footage of the battle."
A smile passed Shelley's face as she accepted the disk. "You didn't by chance plant cameras that weren't on the specks did you? You know news tampering is illegal."
"Don't worry, like I said, Gear found those cameras. It seems even Ebon didn't trust his allies." Static said, shrugging one shoulder in a manner of nonchalance.
"All right, I'll take of it. But, if you come across any more info you know where to find me." Shelley said, giving a half smile to the hero before turning to make her way out of the alley.
Static stood a moment, a vicious grin painting his features as he watched the reporter depart. When she was out of sight, the form of Static quickly shifted as Marvin Roper stood where the hero had once been. Opening his communications link, he spoke into the shiny device. "It's done Mr. Alva. Shelley will be airing the report to show the mayor is a liar."
"Perfect, the aged voice from the other side of the communicator responded. "Once the mayor is removed from power for her incompetence, we will own this city. Well done Replikon."
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Shelley Sandoval wasn't the best investigative reporter in Dakota for nothing. She picked up immediately the cues and body language the pseudo-Static had used, the whole mannerism and language was wrong from all previous times she'd met with him, but regardless played along until discovering out his motive. By doing so, she also knew who was behind the ruse. It was easy enough to be trusting of other people, even easier to take advantage of that trust. Shelley however, was never a person to be taken advantage of.
Quickening her pace while stealing a quick glance over her shoulder to ensure she was not being followed, Shelley fumbled with the disk the imposter had given to her, before returning it to her purse. Reaching her car is far less time than it had taken to arrive at the rendezvous, Shelley quickly unlocked her door and started the car before pulling yet another device from her purse, a small, silver communicator, different from the bulkier and sturdier Shock Vox's used by Static's team and more like a cell phone, yet never the less, effective.
Flipping open the panel as Gear had shown her the basic operation; Shelley brought it close to her lips. "He's making his move."
Having reported to her sources, Shelley put her car in drive and merged with traffic. Static would notify her when to meet next, that was the arrangement of their agreement. It gave her a lift of spirit, however, as she considered that she was doing her own small part to help save Dakota.
-To be continued
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A/N: Gah...it took forever to write this up. Sorry for the delayed update, but the move into the new apartment took longer than expected. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.