Shorter chapter, and that's fine. It is FINE. That's alright. Just gotta keep telling myself that. Don't do anything more than what's needed for the story. Besides, the big event is gonna come up soon. And with that I can just go wild. So for now, it's all about pacing and patience.
Pacing and Patience….Sigh, I felt like I needed to do so much more with this one. Hopefully it's alright, but ya know, the final draft is never good enough.
I do not own Ben Ten or Worm, their creators would be upset if I said I did.
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X
Her face was carefully blank, a picture of calm and composure. But anyone who had ever worked with her extensively would know that PRT Director Emily Piggot was very very unhappy.
Before her desk stood Armsmaster and Miss Militia, both standing straight and waiting for what she had to say after their report from the only surviving member from the ABB's hideout.
"How certain are you that this is all true?"She eventually asked.
"One hundred percent mam,"Armsmaster confirmed as he stepped forward."I was using my lie detector to verify."
"You trust the results you got from a traumatized child?"The Director questioned with a raised brow.
"They were pretty even across the entirety of his testimony. I think we can safely say he was being honest."He assured. The Director took a second to process everything, before taking a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, and then releasing it in one long sigh.
She leaned onto her elbows, squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her jaw, and raised her fingers to massage her temples, doing her best to assuage the migraine she had been nursing for the past few days. Were she a lesser woman she would've started screaming and smashing her computer. And while the idea was tempting, she couldn't afford to lose her temper now. Nor did she want to buy another computer.
"Well, at least we finally have an idea about what he's doing."She muttered dourly.
The two heroes stayed silent and waited for her to gather herself.
She took one last breath before raising her head to look at the two.
"We can't let this happen,"She stated determinedly.
"Agreed,"Armsmaster replied."A fight between those two would be catastrophic. Lung would no doubt ramp up to the point of being unstoppable, add in Chimera who is already supremely powerful and we've got an event that the city most likely won't survive."
"Indeed,"The Director said,"We'll need full cooperation from everyone to try and stop this. The Chief Director is being unhelpfully slow with our reinforcements so we'll have to make due with what we have."
"Even if we manage a full collaborative effort with all hands there's no guarantee we'd be able to do much. I imagine we'd only be able to mount an evacuation of the surrounding area when the fighting starts,"Miss Militia added. The other two frowned at the pragmatic statement.
"She has a point,"Armsmaster begrudgingly admitted,"Chimera's shown us that if he wants to do something, he'll do it. Hiding in the city for 3 weeks, on top of eliminating most of the Empire's cape roster, he's crafty as well as being strong."
"I know,"Piggot groaned,"And that's what bothers me the most. For all we know he's already found Lung and he's just waiting for the right moment to strike. Hell, Lung's just as elusive as he is, so we have no way of scouting and making sure the two of them stay as far away from each other as possible."
"Our only options would be to stake out any and all known ABB facilities and patrol through their territory. Though those would carry problems of their own if Lung decides we're sniffing a little too close to what's his."Armsmaster deduced.
"We may just have to go with the lesser of two evils."Piggot drawled."An annoyed Lung is a bad day, but having those two brawling in the streets is nothing short of a disaster."
"If it comes to it, we'll have to engage Lung to try and hide him away somewhere Chimera can't reach,"Miss Militia supplied.
"And take the appropriate measures, now that we know he has a stranger power as well."Armsmaster added.
"Ah yes, that.''Piggot sighed,''We shouldn't be too surprised, how else would a cape like him be able to avoid being sighted for so long? I feel like we have to keep updating his file every time he shows up."
"What's his rating now?"Miss Militia asked curiously.
The Director pulled up his file on her monitor before swinging it around to face the two heroes.
"We had him at Mover 6, Breaker 2, Shaker 4, Brute 7, Blaster 9, an unsure Changer rating, and a tentatively stacked on Trump 6. Seems now we have to add a Stranger rating as well."
"This is final?"Armsmaster questioned.
"No. It's all tentative."The Director scowled,"Good thing too since he somehow keeps pulling more powers out of his ass."
"At this rate, we'll need nothing short of Triumvirate assistance to take him down."Miss Militia grumbled.
"So it seems."The Director agreed,"For now though, we have to try and keep what's left of this city from falling apart. I'll get in touch with the heads of the BBPD and National Guard to organize a city wide recon. Meanwhile our people will scope out ABB territory. Hopefully we'll have time to at least try to put a lid on this."
"In such a severe situation things might not-"Armsmaster started before he was interrupted by the Director's phone ringing. She quickly brought the receiver up to her ear and asked who was calling. The two heroes meanwhile stood back and waited for her to finish-secretly hoping that it wasn't anything serious.
Seeing the director's face slowly drain of color and crumble into an unpleasant frown broke that hope. She gently placed the phone down and stared the two heroes down grimly.
"There's been an explosion over on 46th street."She informed them. Armsmaster and Miss Militia felt their stomachs sink to the floor.
"That's ABB territory."Armsmaster stated.
The fire was spreading too fast-choking the afternoon sky with plumes of toxic black smoke. The fire brigade futilely tried to extinguish it before it could go any further.
An entire quarter of the block was set ablaze, the old wooden buildings helping to feed the flames insatiable hunger. The panicked residents stood in the street, some shaking and covered in soot, others crying and screaming for their homes and the unaccounted family that wasn't with them.
This was the sight that greeted Armsmaster and Miss Militia as they both pulled up on their motorcycles. Dismounting their bikes, and walking up to the edged of the crowd, the two heroes couldn't help the sinking feeling that settled in their stomachs. Both being drawn back to that night three weeks ago, and now feeling the dread of knowing what this was. This was an ABB neighborhood, and no doubt many gangsters lived in those houses. Even if they didn't, this was still a direct attack on Lung, coming into his territory and harming people that were under his 'protection' looked bad for his reputation.
They were brought out of their musings when an old woman shuffled up to them, face black with soot and stained with tear marks.
"It was that monster-that one from the news, he did this. Why? What haven't you caught him yet? He's killing us, why aren't you stopping him?!"She sobbed. She was hurriedly grabbed by a woman who may have been her daughter-who appeared equally as heart broken-and dragged her back over to their family.
Miss Militia swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.
"Something's not right,"Armsmaster muttered."He would've gotten Lung's attention just with last night's stunt. So why do this?"
"Do you really think there's a reason for him doing any of this?"Miss Militia droned as she watched a Fireman trudge out of a burning apartment with a heavily burned child encircled in his arms, what must've been the boy's family clambering around them, wailing at his injured state.
"Maybe. He's proven to be craftier than he looks."Armsmaster grumbled.
They both flinched when a red blur suddenly stopped at the corner of the block-only to relax when they saw it was Velocity. Seeing his two superiors, he jogged over to them.
"I just heard, was it...?"He asked when he reached them.
"Yes,"Armsmaster answered."He's targeting Lung. Letting him know he's coming."
"Shit…"He swore."First the Empire, now Lung. What's next, the Merchants?"
"That'd be a pretty big step down."Miss Militia said with a raised brow.
"But not an impossibility, not with how he's been going lately."Armsmaster replied."He took us and New Wave out on his first night here, now he seems to be aiming for every other Cape in the city."
"Wonderful,"Velocity drawled."Just what we need-"
He was interrupted by the distant sound of an explosion.
The people on the streets screamed and looked around in alarm when the street started to vibrate. The three heroes took a second to compose themselves when the shaking finally stopped.
"That sounded close."Miss Militia stated.
"Velocity!"Armsmaster said, turning to him.
"On it!"The speedster aqueaised before disappearing in a crimson streak.
"Shouldn't we follow?"Miss Militia asked.
"Not yet, we'll let him scout ahead first. If it's urgent we'll back him up."
"And if it's Chimera?"
Armsmaster fell silent for a few seconds.
"...I'll follow him. You stay here and help."He finally said as jogged over and clamored onto his bike.
"But what about-?"She started.
"I'll radio if I need support!"He snapped before revving his bike and driving after Velocity.
Miss Militia watched him leave, feeling frustration bubble in her chest. Sighing, she turned and went to go ask the Fireman how she could help. Vaguely she wondered while thinking on his brief show of temper, what was driving her team leader? Was it Duty, or Vengeance?
A dozen blocks away, Velocity arrived on sight to a scene he just left. Buildings all along the street were on fire, completely engulfed in angry writhing flames. It was a sight he wished he didn't have to see again for a while, but what was more concerning however was...how quiet it was. Besides the sounds of the fire there was nothing. No screaming. No crying. No shouts for help. Absolutely nothing. Were they all…? He shook away the dark thoughts and radioed the situation to the fire department before calling Armsmaster.
"What is it?"His Commander asked over the radio.
"Half the block's on fire!"He screamed over the roaring flames.
"Do you have a visual of Chimera?"
"Wha-? No! No visual! How should I proceed?"He panicked.
"Search the surrounding area. See if you can find a trace of him."
"Sir there might still be people trapped inside!"
"Can you get to them?"Armsmaster asked.
He took a look at the burning apartments surrounding him, feeling a mixture of anger and helplessness at the situation. Sure he could get in no problem but with how thoroughly the fire had already spread, and no sounds or sights of people coming from the insides...would there even be a point? His teeth ground together in frustration.
"Velocity!"Armsmaster barked."Can you get to them?"
"...I don't think so sir."He relented despairingly. There was a moment of silence between the two.
"...Move on then. We'll have the fire brigade deal with this, you search around, see if you can find anything."
"Rodger."He murmured. He cut the link, casting a forlorn look around the neighborhood before he sprinted off, feeling the hopelessness he had tried so hard to distance himself from returning again.
Trying to keep up with Velocity was always a challenge, but today it was almost imperative that he try his best. He swerved around any stray cars and took back roads to avoid any heavy traffic and stop lights.
Even while navigating the city, he was thinking. Trying to put together what the meaning was behind these random attacks-against civilians no less. Chimera had already shown his willingness to massacre innocents, along with a cleverness that contrasted his appearance. So if he was targeting Lung, why go through all this trouble? His massacre of the ABB gangsters last night was a clear challenge, there was no room for a misunderstanding. So why do all this? What was the point? Provoking Lung like this did nothing unless he was trying to…
His eyes widened underneath his helmet. Hurriedly, he patched a line to Miss Militia.
"What is it?"She answered.
"I know what Chimera's doing!"He informed her as he sped past a bus. "He's trying to draw Lung out!"
"Draw him out? Then that means-"
"He doesn't know where Lung is!"He exclaimed. Miss Militia took a second to digest that before responding.
"So what does that mean for us?"She implored.
"It means we still have time. We can still stop them!"
"That doesn't mean much if Chimera blows up most of Lung's territory along the way."
He bit back a sharp reply before the sound of another explosion resounded through the air.
"...Did you hear that?"He asked her.
"I did."She solemnly replied.
"Relay what I said to the Director, I'll call if there's any trouble." He switched off the line before reconnecting with Velocity.
"Velocity come in! There's been another explosion. How far away are you?"
"I'm already here!"He answered,"It was only a few blocks away from me. This doesn't look like a residential building though. Could be a storehouse."
'Weapons? Drugs? People?'Armsmaster thought with a frown.'No telling what it could've been. But why switch targets so suddenly?'
"Be on the lookout."He told the speedster,"He seems to be moving from location to location in random order. If we're gonna have any hope of tailing him then we need to try and reach the next site before he can leave."
"Might be easier said than done."Velocity muttered,"I might not be able to keep up. He's at least as fast as-...wait, what was...?"
"What is it?"He asked, his chest suddenly constricting. Velocity let out a startled cry.
"Oh shi-! HE'S STILL-"The line was cut off.
"Velocity!"He screamed, the scratchy sound of static being all he could hear on the other end. He swore, feeling a shot of adrenaline shoot through his body as he activated the tracker from Velocity's radio. He sent a quick message to Miss Militia telling her to rendezvous at Velocity's location. He turned off the safeties for his bike and pushed his engine to the limit, blasting down the road at breakneck speeds.
Wind whipped furiously against his visor as he flew down the street. His eyes tracking Velocity's frantic movements on his hud. The red dot indicating his teammate was racing up and down the neighborhood, no rhyme or reason to his movements, simply running in pure panic. He had to constantly change his course for every turn, curve and circle that Velocity did to lose his pursuer. He started to snarl and grind his teeth in annoyance when Velocity suddenly came to stop near Mason Ave. Armsmaster felt a mix of relief and apprehension at the sudden halt and raced to his teammate's location.
It took him 10 long minutes to reach Mason Avenue, when he finally arrived, it was to the sight of a horrible conflict. The fire from the now burning store fronts casted an eerie light over the crumbling area, craters and carved buildings surrounded him, making him feel all the more uneasy since he didn't see a sign of Velocity anywhere.
He parked his bike near the corner of the block before dismounting and pulling his halberd from his bike, readily extending it and activating the plasma function on the blade, making the sharp edge glow with a soft white energy. Armsmaster pushed any trepidation aside and instead focused on the signal from his teammate's communicator.
He cautiously advanced, using his armor's sensors to scan the surrounding area for any surprises, all the while encroaching on Velocity's position. His search led him to an alley half a block away, the fire light illuminating the dark space. As he entered the narrow space he suddenly froze, feeling his heart stop with him.
'No.'
His grip on his halberd faltered just a second before he tightened it and slowly walked into the mouth of the alley. Each step a thousand times heavier. Each breath an arduous chore. Each heartbeat feeling like ten.
'Oh God no.'
Armsmaster finally stopped right before the alley wall, taking in full view of the latest atrocity that Chimera had left them. Against the wall was the unconscious form of Velocity, his arms pierced above his head by two large familiar looking crystals, the wounds leaking a steady stream of dark blood. His mask was torn, showcasing half of his bruised and bloodied face. His legs dangled awkwardly, broken so severely that he doubted that even one piece was left whole.
'Please,'He internally begged,'Please, don't let me have failed again.'
Armsmaster gulped, his stomach swirling and his heart beating painfully in his chest.
He stepped forward, letting his armor do a brief scan of his teammate, before he sighed in quasi-relief. He was still alive, for now at least. He opened his communications.
"This is Armsmaster, I need immediate medical assistance. Velocity is down."He hollowly called over the open channel. He gave his location before closing the line and lifting his head up to the words scratched crookedly just above his teammates' prone body.
STAY OUT OF MY WAY
X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.
Breath in, Breath out.
Shorter chapters are okay.
There's nothing wrong with shorter chapters.
Don't mind me just trying to convince myself. And mostly succeeding. Maybe about 70 percent, I don't know.
Anyways, thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it, tell me what you thought in reviews-stay safe and have a good night.