Chapter 17: Jailhouse Rock
With a monstrous roar, Oni charged at the heroes with El Macho, Bomb Voyage, Rollergrrl, Balthazar Bratt, and Mezmerella trailing behind him. At the same time, the Underminer lowered back into his drill tank as the door on the side slid shut and the drill started back up. Seeing the monstrous man coming, Ultraviolet stepped forward and held her hand up, forming a barrier between the heroes and Oni. Roaring, Oni lowered his shoulder and slammed into the barrier, causing it to ripple for a moment but hold as Ultraviolet let out a hiss of pain.
"Go!" Excelsior shouted to the guards behind them as Ultraviolet held the villains back, "Get out of here!"
At the hero's urging, the prison guards turned and beat a hasty retreat. Observing this, Enigma turned his attention towards Yokai.
"Professor," Enigma said, catching Yokai's attention, "Do you mind dealing with the heroes' new friend for us?"
Turning his gaze towards where Ultraviolet was, Yokai set his shoulders before leaning forward, the swarm of microbots carrying him forward in a rolling wave. Seeing him coming, Excelsior's eyes went wide.
"Ultraviolet, look out!" Excelsior called in warning.
Turning her attention towards Yokai, Ultraviolet's eyes widened in surprise before she thrust her splayed hand at him, forming another barrier between the two of them. Seeing this, Yokai surged forward, his microbot swarm slamming into the barrier like a wave against the shore. Then, after a moment, the microbots began crawling up and over the barrier, causing Ultraviolet to look on in shock.
"Violet!" Kaiju called out as a huge mass of Yokai's microbots surged upwards and slammed down on Ultraviolet's barrier, causing the whole thing to shake as she fell to one knee as her barriers dropped.
Snarling in fury, Oni rushed forward, charging on all fours like a massive ape. Seeing him coming, Big Guy leapt forward, grabbing hold of Oni's shoulders and forcing the monstrous man to a halt, his feet grinding into the gravel in the process. Snarling, Oni began grappling with Big Guy, but the android managed to hold him fast.
As the two struggled, Rollergrrl came racing forward, the ground glowing green beneath her feet as she seemed to skate along it. Reaching Oni, Rollergrrl lowered herself into a slide, zipping beneath both his and Big Guy's legs. As she passed under Big Guy, Rollergrrl placed her hand against the ground, causing the same green energy to spread across the ground underneath the android's feet. As it did, Big Guy's feet suddenly slipped out from underneath him, causing Excelsior to let out a cry of surprise from the android's back. As Big Guy slipped, Oni grabbed hold of the android's arms and turned, spinning around before tossing him away.
As Big Guy tumbled through the air, Excelsior leapt from the android's back, rolling across the ground as Big Guy slammed into the earth. As Oni roared and pounded his chest in triumph, Rollergrrl slid to her feet, rolling her shoulders as she smirked cockily.
As Ultraviolet pulled herself to her feet, she looked up with wide eyes as Yokai loomed over her on his column of microbots.
"I have no problem with you, girl," Yokai said with a warning tone, "You can still walk away."
"Yeah well, they told me about what you did," Ultraviolet replied as she clenched her hands into fists, causing orbs to form around them, "So I think I have a problem with you."
Growling, Yokai thrust his hand at Ultraviolet, sending a column of microbots shooting towards her. Seeing this coming, Ultraviolet slammed her arms together in front of her, creating a barrier that the column broke against. Gritting her teeth, Ultraviolet took a step forward before thrusting her hands towards Yokai, turning the barrier into a plow that drove through the microbot swarm, with Ultraviolet running behind it. As Yokai made a grasping motion with his hands, the microbots began to flow around Ultraviolet's barrier in an attempt to take her from behind.
Seeing the swarm coming, Ultraviolet formed a flat disc in front of her that she quickly stepped onto, before rapidly repeating the action so that she climbed into the air on a makeshift staircase. Once she had reached a height slightly above Yokai, Ultraviolet leapt off the final disc, a barrier orb forming around her fist as she pulled it back and dove at the criminal. His eyes going wide behind his mask, Yokai had just enough time to raise his left hand and form a thin barrier of microbots between him and Ultraviolet. Smirking triumphantly, Ultraviolet slammed her first against the barrier, the force of the blow sending the microbots flying. As the barrier shattered, Ultraviolet was able to see that Yokai now had his right hand raised, which was making a grasping motion towards her, right before she felt a tendril of microbts wrap around her leg. Ultraviolet had enough time to look at Yokai in shock before he made a pulling motion with his right hand, causing the tendril to yank back and slam the hero against the ground.
Letting out a cough of pain, Ultraviolet lay stunned on the ground, unable to do anything as Yokai came into hazy view above her. Looking down at the helpless superhero, Yokai raised a hand above his head, causing a large block of microbots to form a few feet over Ultraviolet. As Ultraviolet weakly tried to raise an arm to form a barrier and defend herself, Yokai dropped the block on to her.
Before it could land on Ultraviolet though, the block of microbots was suddenly blown to the side and the tiny black robots showered across the ground. Turning his attention towards where the "blow" had come from, Yokai saw Kitsune standing a short distance away, her arm outstretched towards him, palm forward, her white microbots formed into nine long tails behind her.
"You," Yokai growled as he fully turned to face her.
"Give up, Professor," Kitsune said firmly, "This didn't go well for you the last time."
"Yeah, since we kicked your butt up and down the street last time!" Anger added with a laugh.
"I can't do that," Yokai answered with a shake of his head. As he spoke, Kitsune felt a wave of fear roll off the older man.
"Do you think it could be his daughter again?" Sadness wondered.
"Is this about Abigail?" Kitsune questioned, her voice concerned, "Are these guys threatening her? We can-"
"You're the ones who stole her from me!" Yokai roared with a fiery flash of anger as he thrust his fist at Kitsune, sending a column of microbots thundering towards her.
"Have it your way then," Kitsune muttered with a sigh before turning to the side and making a sweeping motion with her hands, causing the column to break apart and turn into a flowing tendril as it bent around her. Spinning in place, Kitsune caused the tendril to flow around her before she thrust her hand at Yokai, causing the microbots to shoot back at the man. Seeing the attack coming, Yokai dodged by jerking to the side, before his eyes went wide as Kitsune anticipated the move and made a sweeping motion with one of her arms, causing one of her tails to break off and shoot at the villain. Acting on instinct, Yokai held a hand out to stop the attack, and was caught by surprise when the tendril of white microbots suddenly froze in place.
"What!?" Fear screamed as Kitsune looked on in shock while Yokai experimentally waved his hand, causing the tendril of white microbots to collapse to the ground.
"Well," Yokai chuckled as he focused on Kitsune while his microbots gather back around him, "Looks like you're not the only one who can get upgrades, girl."
Setting her shoulders, Kitsune called her microbots back to her, reforming all her tails and running towards Yokai as he charged on the back of his mass of tiny robots, the two forces slamming together in a storm of black and white.
Managing to pick herself up off the ground, Ultraviolet took stock of her surroundings, watching as the rest of Big Hero 9 fought with the members of the Syndicate.
As Oni resumed wrestling with Big Guy, he pulled his fist back to strike the android in the face, but was stopped as Miss Chemistry threw a pink chemball at his hand, which popped into a mass of pink goop that stuck his hand to the ground. Caught off guard by the sudden turn, Oni was unprepared as Big Guy grabbed the mutated man by the legs and flipped him onto his back.
Snarling in fury, Oni righted himself as best he could before he began trying to free his hand from the pink goo. After struggling for a moment, Oni paused as a small, red device was suddenly tossed into the goo. Oni looked at it in confusion for a moment before letting out a yelp as the device exploded, splattering the goo and freeing the monstrous man's hand. Oni looked at his hand in surprise for a moment before grinning maniacally as he turned his attention back toward Big Guy and charged at the android.
Blinking in surprise, Miss Chemistry turned her attention towards where the device had come from, only to find Bomb Voyage walking towards her, tossing another one of the small explosive devices up and down in his hand as he did.
"Mademoiselle Chimie, oui?" BombVoyage questioned as he looked her up and down, "I must say, eet ees an 'onor to meet one as lovely as yourself."
"Sorry," Miss Chemistry apologized as she narrowed her eyes at him, "Not interested."
"Non?" Bomb Voyage questioned in surprise, "But we share zhe same passion."
"There's more to chemistry than explosions," she countered as she squared up to him.
"Ees zehre?" Bomb Voyage asked doubtfully, before a savage grin spread across his face and he hurled the explosive device at her.
Before the explosive could reach her, a yellow disc came spinning into view, striking the device and knocking it to the side, where it exploded in a shower of gravel. Snarling, Bomb Voyage turned to see where the attack had come from, glaring at Torque as she smirked at him while catching her returning disc.
Torque's smirk quickly vanished, however, as Rollergrrl checked her from the side and knocked her to the ground. Picking herself up, Torque glared at Rollergrrl as the other woman grinned while gliding past her.
"Sorry, wanted to see if you were any good on those things," Rollergrrl taunted as she shrugged her shoulders helplessly, "Guess not."
Snarling, Torque pushed herself back to her feet and went chasing after Rollergrrl, causing the villain to smile broadly as she picked up her pace.
"Torque wait!" Laserblade called after her, "She's trying to goad you!"
Laserblade's attention was quickly pulled away from Torque as El Macho ran up and dropped kicked the young man in the chest, completely knocking the hero off his feet.
"I would worry more about jourself," El Macho said sternly as he bounced back to his feet, and walked over to where Laserblade lay, groaning in pain. Reaching down, El Macho grabbed Laserblade before easily picking him off the ground and tossing him away.
Seeing her friend in trouble, the Driver turned the van towards El Macho and readied the vehicle's pulse gun. As it fired though, Balthazar Bratt powerslid between the two while whaling on his keytar. As he did, waves of concentrated sound erupted from the instrument, and slammed into the pulse blast, the two attacks managing to cancel each other out.
"Wow, lame," Bratt mocked as he rose to his feet while El Macho charged after Laserblade, "You've got to turn that sound system up to eleven if you want to rock with me."
As Bratt played a few bars on his keytar and did a mocking dance, the Driver's eyes narrowed.
"Alright, I'm going to paste this guy," Driver said as she turned a knob on the van's dashboard and prepared to fire another shot. As the weapon powered up though, the ground beneath the hovering van began to shake ominously.
"Tip!" Strange Visitor exclaimed from next to her, "Be lookings out!"
Looking down, Driver watched in surprise as the Underminer's drill tank burst out of the ground beneath them, shooting directly into the air with it's drill buzzing. Strange Visitor had just enough time to activate the van's shield before the drill tank plowed into them, the drill striking the bubble around the vehicle and sending it flipping through the air.
"Haha!" the Underminer's voice boomed over the drill tank's loudspeakers as it landed on its treads, "Flight cannot protect you from the reach of the Underminer!"
As he spoke, ports opened on the top of the drill tank from which a half-dozen rockets came shooting out, heading straight for the van as the Driver managed to stabilize it. Her eyes going wide, the Driver could do nothing but watch as the rockets barreled towards them.
Suddenly, before the rockets could hit them, a barrier formed between the van and the missiles, causing the explosives to crash into it and explode prematurely. Looking around, the Driver managed to spot Ultraviolet standing a short distance away, her hand outstretched towards the van.
Grumbling to himself, Enigma turned his attention towards where Kitsune and Yokai were battling.
"Professor!" Enigma called insistently.
"I'm a little busy at the moment!" Yokai shouted back as he turned to glare at Enigma.
Turning his attention back to Kitsune, Yokai's eyes widened behind his mask as he found a tendril of her white microbots lashing towards him. As the tendril struck him however, Yokai suddenly exploded into a cloud of black smoke.
"What the heck!?" Disgust exclaimed as Kitsune looked around in surprise, watching as Yokai's swarm of black microbots also dissipated into streams of black smoke.
"Don't worry, Professor," an ethereal voice said as the black smoke began to flow together, "I'll handle this."
As Kitsune watched, the black smoke coalesced into a human form before it disappeared and Mezmerella stepped into view.
"Hello," Mezmerella greeted, waggling her fingers at Kitsune before pointing one at her, "You must be Kitsune."
"Who are you?" Kitsune questioned wearily.
"The name's Mezmerella," the villain answered with a small curtsey, "And I have to say, I've been looking forward to this. It's been so long since I faced off with another psychic."
"How did you-" Kitsune began to ask before stopping as Mezmerella lifted her hand up and tapped herself on the temple.
"Come on," Mezmerella chided, "I'm sure you can feel it too."
At first, Kitsune didn't understand what the villain meant, but as she focused, she realized she could sense something something she hadn't noticed before. A kind of writhing, incorporeal tendril that was connecting the two of them.
"What. Is. That!?" Fear demanded.
"W-What are you doing?" Kitsune questioned, trying and failing to keep a quaver out of her voice.
"Isn't it obvious?" Mezmerella questioned with a contemptuous sniff, "I'm mesmerizing you."
As Mezmerella spoke the words, Kitsune looked around, only to discover, to her horror, that everyone else had vanished, leaving the two of them alone in the prison courtyard.
"Stop it!" Kitsune screamed as she thrust a hand at Mezmerella, shooting a tendril of microbots at the villain. However, when the tendril struck her, Mezmerella simply vanished in a cloud of black smoke that quickly dissipated.
"Oh come now, that's not going to work," Mezmerella taunted with a laugh, her ethereal voice seemingly coming from everywhere at once, "We're not in the real world anymore. We don't play by those rules."
As Mezmerella spoke, Kitsune's microbots suddenly began to melt, turning into a white goop that puddled around the girl's feet. As she looked around wildly, Kitsune failed to notice Mezmerella rise up out of the goop behind her. Suddenly sensing the woman, Kitsune spun around to face Mezmerella, only for the villain the reach out and grab the top of the girl's head with one hand.
"We're in my world now," Mezmerella stated softly as she loomed over Kitsune, "And we play by my rules."
Before Kitsune could react, Mezmerella suddenly pushed down on her head, causing the girl to suddenly sink into the white goop, the remains of her microbots swallowing her whole as she let out a scream.
While this was happening to the two of them, to everyone else, it appeared as though both Mezmerella and Kitsune were standing silently before one another, looking into each other's eyes as the woman gripped the sides of the girl's head in her hands, both heedless as Yokai moved away from them and went rushing towards Ultraviolet. Seeing this from across the battlefield, a pang of fear lanced through Excelsior's heart.
"Ba-I mean Big Guy!" Excelsior called out, causing the android to look over at the boy even as he continued to wrestle with Oni, "Kitsune's in trouble!"
Looking towards the girl in question, Big Guy nodded his head before punching Oni hard in the face, causing the villain to stumble back and giving the android the opportunity to rush over to Excelsior's side, letting the boy climb up onto his back.
"No leave!" Oni bellowed as he charged towards Big Guy and Excelsior, "Fight!"
Before Oni could reach them, Kaiju came leaping in, landing easily on the villain's shoulders, standing directly in front of his face.
"Fire breath!" Kaiju shouted before spewing a gout of flame directly in Oni's face. Oni screamed in pain and fury as he thrashed madly at Kaiju, forcing him to backflip off the villain's shoulders.
"Go, I've got this!" Kaiju yelled as he looked back at Big Guy and Excelsior, who nodded in return and took off across the courtyard. Turning his attention back towards Oni, Kaiju saw that the villain had recovered from his attack, the flames having done little more than singe the mutated man's eyebrows.
"Know you," Oni growled as he glared at Kaiju.
"Yeah, we've done this dance before," Kaiju replied as he bounced eagerly from foot to foot, "You looking for a rematch?"
"Crush you!" Oni roared before he charged at Kaiju, causing the young man to let out a warcry of his own as he rushed forward as well.
Flying low across the courtyard, Excelsior and Big Guy sped towards where Kitsune and Mezmerella were, the pair still staring into each other's eyes, heedless of the world around them. Suddenly, Phantasma stepped into their path, her expression blank as the pair barreled towards her. Then, just before Big Guy slammed into her, Phantasma leapt into the air, easily clearing the android before kicking Excelsior in the chest. The blow managed to knock Excelsior clear off Big Guy's back, sending the boy tumbling through the air before he crashed to the ground.
As Phantasma landed behind him, Big Guy spun himself around in midair before rushing back towards the woman. As he flew at her, Big Guy pulled his fist back into a haymaker, but she easily sidestepped the attack as he reached her. Landing hard on the ground, Big Guy threw another half dozen punches at her, but Phantasma managed to duck and dodge around each attack before she backflipped out of the android's reach. Steadying himself, Big Guy pointed an arm at Phantasma before firing a rocket fist at her. Seeing the attack coming, Phantasma stood her ground until the fist was practically on top of her.
And then Phantasma's entire form shifted.
At first, Excelsior wasn't sure what was happening, even as he watched it unfold as he kneeled on the ground. As he watched, a line of bluish light ran down Phantasma's body from the crown of her head to the bottoms of her feet. The transformation only took a split second, and when it was done, what had once been a pale skinned, dark haired woman dressed in black clothing was now a writhing, black mass in the shape of a person, the hem of what had once been a coat melding seamlessly into her back while three inch heels sprouted from the bottoms of her feet. Then, a line formed from the top of Phantasma's head down to her waist before her entire body split open along the line, bending outwards like a banana peel, allowing Big Guy's rocket fist to harmlessly pass through the empty space where her torso had once been.
As Phantasma reassembled herself back into her original shape, Excelsior realized what the wiggling black things she was made up of were.
"Microbots?" he questioned in shock as Big Guy's fist returned to him.
"Yeah, I got my hands on them and I just couldn't stop tinkering," Enigma said as he walked over to Phantasma's side, rolling the shoulder of his artificial arm as he did so.
"B-But how?" Excelsior questioned as he watched the blue light flash over Phantasma again and she returned to her original appearance. As Excelsior watched, Phantasma's body seemed to absorb her coat into her while her hair retracted until it was no longer than a pixie cut.
"I took a mass of microbots, linked them all together on an electronic neural network and added in a learning AI of my own creation," Enigma answered with a shrug as he looked Phantasma over, "I'll admit, the built-in, micro image inducers was more style than substance, but sometimes you've just gotta throw in a little pizzazz, you know? Hope you don't mind."
"Why would I mind?" Excelsior questioned wearily as he rose to his feet.
"Come on, kid, I'm not dumb," Enigma chided before he gestured at the battle happening around them, "All of this is your tech. Everything terrestrial, at least. Look, I'm sure some of the other members of your team are smart, maybe they've even got a couple PHDs among them, I don't know. But I can tell one thing straight away, and it's that you're the brains of this outfit."
"So you stole my tech?" Excelsior demanded as he glared at Enigma.
"Well, I did need to get the Professor his weapon of choice back," Enigma explained, "But I got to looking at some of your other stuff and I decided, I just had to have it."
"Other stuff?" Excelsior questioned wearily.
"Of course," Enigma answered with a chuckle before clenching his metal hand into a fist, causing a red plasma blade to suddenly burst from a section of the limb just above the wrist, "After all, they same imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
And then Enigma was rushing as him, the plasma blade held out to his side as he ran.
His eyes going wide in shock, Excelsior only had a split second to jump backward as Enigma slashed at him with the plasma blade, the attack scouring a cut into the ground that the boy had been standing on a moment before. Acting quickly, Excelsior pointed a fist towards Enigma and fired a taser dart at him, but with inhuman reflexes, the villain lifted his robotic arm up as a panel opened on it, allowing four prongs to extend out and form a small circular disc of energy similar to Big Guy's shield, which he used to easily block the attack. Then, grabbing the shield, Enigma disconnected it from his arm and hurled it at Excelsior, forcing the boy to duck as it whizzed by before arcing to return to the villain with a magnetic hum.
Seeing Excelsior in danger, Big Guy attempted to come to his aid, but found his path blocked by Phantasma, who threw a punch at the android as he approached, her arm extending unnaturally long to strike the robot in the face. As Big Guy reeled from the blow, Phantasma rushed forward, her arms morphing into a pair of tendrils. Lashing out, Phantasma latched onto Big Guy's armor with her tendrils before she pulled herself up onto his shoulders. Standing on his shoulders, Phantasma began to slam one of her feet repeatedly against Big Guy's head, prompting the android to try and grab her. As Big Guy wrapped his hands around Phantasma, her form shifted, allowing her microbots to flow between the android's fingers. Reforming back on Big Guy's shoulders, Phantasma shifted her arms into lashes again and used one to grab hold of one of the android's arms and pulled it against his body, quickly repeating the action when he tried to grab her with his other hand. With Big Guy's arms bound, Phantasma resumed her assault on his head with her foot.
Seeing this, Excelsior moved to help Big Guy, but was stopped when Enigma threw his disc at the boy, striking the ground at his feet, causing him to skid to a stop.
"You know, I get it," Enigma said as the disc returned to him, "It's smart having someone around to do your dirty work for you. But I think you'll find that sometimes you have to learn to do things yourself."
With that, Enigma rushed at him again, plasma blade at the ready. As Enigma slashed at him, Excelsior hopped backwards before shooting a pair of shock darts at him, but Enigma managed to block the attacks with his disc before hurling it at Excelsior. Acting quickly, Excelsior ducked under the disc, before extending his hand at it with his fingers splayed, using the magnetic glove to pull it to him and snag it out of the air.
"Not bad," Enigma admitted as he pointed his arm at Excelsior, before ports on the sides of his hand opened and it shot forward like one of Big Guy's rocket fists, the red plasma blade extended like a spearpoint. His eyes going wide, Excelsior rolled out of the way as the fist and blade slammed into the ground behind him. As Excelsior rolled to his feet, Enigma rushed at him before leaping into the air, something in his boots sending him flying higher than should have been physically possible. As he did, a port opened on the bottom of his arm, from which a nozzle emerged that began spiting flames down at Excelsior. Using the disc, Excelsior protected himself from the flames before throwing it at Enigma as the villain landed. However, Enigma caught the disc with his metal arm before pointing it at Excelsior, who noticed that it ended in a tube now that his hand was detached. A moment later, Enigma fired a trio of pink chemballs, which struck Excelsior on the legs and exploded into pink goo that held him fast.
"But not good enough," Enigma added as his rocket fist returned to him and locked back into place.
Excelsior struggled to free himself from the goo as Enigma walked towards him. Growling in frustration, Excelsior turned his attention back towards Enigma and fired more shock darts at him, but the villain easily blocked the attacks. Standing over Excelsior, Enigma extended his plasma blade and held it up to the boy's throat.
"You know, it doesn't have to be this way," Enigma stated as he looked down at Excelsior.
"What?" Excelsior asked in confusion.
"This doesn't have to be the end," Enigma explained, "For you, at least."
"What are you talking about?" Excelsior questioned, glancing wearily between the plasma blade and Enigma's shadowed face.
"Look around you," Enigma instructed. Hesitantly, Excelsior pulled his gaze from the plasma blade at looked at the battle raging around them.
"You see your friends?" Enigma questioned as Excelsior's gaze fell on Ultraviolet. Currently, the young woman was battling with Yokai, holding his swarm of microbots back with one of her barriers. Spreading her arms, Ultraviolet caused the barrier to expand, scattering Yokai's swarm before she dropped the barrier and rushed towards the villain as he loomed over her on a column of the tiny robots. Thrusting her fist forward, Ultraviolet created an orb shaped projectile that slammed into the column, knocking it out from under Yokai. Landing on the ground with a grunt, Yokai tried to pull himself back to his feet, but was stopped as Ultraviolet pinned him down with a barrier dome.
As Yokai struggled against the barrier, Ultraviolet stood over him and reached down towards his mask. Before she could grab it though, a tendril of microbots wrapped around her wrist and held it in place. Looking at in shock, Ultraviolet struggled against the tendril for a moment before it yanked her backwards, pulling her off her feet and slamming her onto the ground a short distance away.
As Ultraviolet picked herself up, the microbots swarmed over her. Grunting with effort, Ultraviolet formed a barrier dome around herself, pushing the swarm back, causing the barrier holding Yokai down to drop. Rising back to his feet, Yokai held his arms out towards Ultraviolet and made a clenching movement with his hands, causing the microbots to swarm over the hero's dome.
"I gave you the chance to walk away," Yokai said as the microbots swarmed onto the dome and began to constrict. Inside the swarm, Ultraviolet stood with arms outstretched, sweat forming on her brow as her legs started to shake from the strain.
"They're as good as dead," Enigma continued as Excelsior's eyes drifted to where Rollergrrl and Torque were racing around the courtyard. As they approached the prison itself, Torque began to gain on Rollergrrl, prompting the hero to throw a disc at the villain. Seeing the attack coming, Rollergrrl ducked under it, slowing her down enough for Torque to catch up to her. Before Torque could grab her though, Rollergrrl leapt up towards the prison, the wall of the building glowing green under her feet as she glided along it.
Torque raced along the ground beneath Rollergrrl, but was thrown off when the villain came to a stop on the wall. Skidding to a halt, Torque looked back at Rollergrrl, the villain's hands and feet glowing green as she clung to the wall. Smirking, Rollergrrl wiggled her fingers at Torque before sliding down the wall and returning to the ground. Glaring at the other woman, Torque went charging towards Rollergrrl, who stood her ground, hands on her hips as she watched the hero rush towards her.
As Torque drew closer, Rollergrrl lifted one foot before stamping it against the ground. The moment her foot made contact with the ground, a wave of green energy radiated out from her. As Torque rolled over the energized ground, her discs suddenly lost traction, causing her feet to kick out from under her. Hitting the ground, Torque found that it had somehow become slick as ice, her momentum causing her to slide along the ground towards Rollergrrl. Grinning manically, Rollergrrl spun in place and slammed the heel of her boot into Torque's face as she slid past her, the force of the blow enough to crack the hero's visor and snap her head against the ground.
As Torque lay dazed on the ground, she continued sliding until she reached the end of the energy field and finally came to a stop. Groaning in pain, Torque managed to push herself to her hands and knees, lifting her head enough to see Rollergrrl skating towards her before lowering herself into a slide, her booted foot raised and aimed directly at the hero's face.
"You've all bit off more than you can chew," Enigma went on as Excelsior looked at where Laserblade was fighting with El Macho.
His plasma blades drawn, Laserblade slashed at El Macho, but the villain dodged with a nimbleness that caught the hero off guard. Ducking under Laserblade's follow up attack, El Macho stepped inside the hero's reach before slamming his shoulder into the young man's chest, sending him stumbling back. Catching himself, Laserblade took another swing at El Macho as the villain rushed him, but the older man grabbed the hero's arm and held it fast. Desperately, Laserblade swung his other arm at El Macho, but the villain caught this attack as well, holding the hero's arms outstretched at his sides.
"What is de matter, little man?" El Macho questioned as Laserblade struggled against his grip, "Can't fight wit honor? Need jor weapons to do jor fighting for joo?"
As El Macho spoke, he tightened his grip on Laserblade's arms, causing the metal to groan with strain. Then, in a shower of sparks, El Macho crushed Laserblade's gauntlets, the young man letting out a cry of pain as his plasma blades sputtered and died. Laserblade's cries were then cut off as El Macho slammed his head against the hero's face, dazing the young man as his visor cracked under the blow. Holding the young man up by his arms, El Macho headbutted him again, forcing Laserblade to his knees as blood began trickling out of his nose. Releasing Laserblade's arms, El Macho let him fall to his knees and regarded the hero with contempt for a moment before kicking him in the chest, sending the young man rolling across the ground.
"Come now, joo must have more fight den dat," El Macho chided as he walked over to Laserblade and grabbed the hero by the back of his armor before hauling him off the ground, "On jour feet!"
Getting his feet under him, Laserblade managed to shake off El Macho's grip before punching the taller man in the face. The blow seemed to do little more than daze El Macho, who shook his head as he looked down at Laserblade.
"My abuela heet harder dan joo," El Macho stated before punching Laserblade in the face, the blow connecting with a sickening crunch, blood freely running down his face now as he stumbled back. Catching himself, Laserblade threw a punch at El Macho as the villain approached him, but the older man sidestepped the attack before grabbing hold of the hero's outstretched arm. Turning around, El Macho held Laserblade's arm over his shoulder before yanking it downward, bending the young man's elbow in the wrong direction and eliciting a cry of pain. Still holding Laserblade's arm, El Macho then flipped the hero over his shoulder and slammed the young man against the ground.
As Laserblade lay stunned on the ground, El Macho reached down and wrapped his arms around the hero's chest. Lifting Laserblade off the ground, El Macho performed a German suplex, the force of the blow knocking some of the surrounding loose rocks into the air. Using Laserblade as a pivot point, El Macho flipped over the hero, still gripping his torso before lifting him up and slamming him shoulders first onto the ground, leaving the young man curled up with his feet flanking his head. Reaching down, El Macho wrapped his arms around Laserblade's stomach and lifted the young man up so his legs were draped over the villain's shoulders before the older man powerbombed him onto the ground, the force of the blow cracking the ground beneath them. Still holding onto Laserblade, El Macho shifted his grip to the hero's legs and spun in a circle before hammer tossing the young man away.
As Laserblade rolled to a stop, he lay on the ground looking up at the night sky, unable to move. His head was still spinning from the throw and the vicious series of slams left his whole body screaming in agony. As he lay on the ground, chokingly trying to regain his breath, Laserblade could do nothing as El Macho walked up and loomed over the young man.
"Padetic," El Macho observed with a shake of his head, "If joo were goeen to lose so badly, joo could have at least done me de honor of makeen it entertaineen."
Reaching down, El Macho grabbed hold of Laserblade before lifting the young man above his head with both hands.
"Let's put an end to dis, shall we?" El Macho questioned as Laserblade hung helplessly in his grasp.
"Rookie mistake," Enigma commented with a chuckle as Excelsior watched Kaiju fighting with Oni.
Roaring in fury, Oni charge at Kaiju, heedless of the fire the hero was spewing at him. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Kaiju leapt to the side as Oni lifted his fists and slammed them down on the spot where the hero had been standing, the force of the blow sending chunks of earth flying. Catching himself, Kaiju leapt at Oni and hit the villain in the chest with both feet, but the blow didn't budge the monstrous man an inch and Kaiju bounced harmlessly off him, landing backfirst on the ground.
Laying stunned for a moment, Kaiju was unprepared as Oni reached down and grabbed the hero by the foot. Lifting him up, Oni glared at the dangling Kaiju before smashing him against the ground, repeating the process six more times as he whipped his arm back and forth. After the final slam, Kaiju managed to get his other foot under him and tried to superjump away, but Oni retained his grip on the hero's leg and dragged him back to the ground.
"No jumping!" Oni snarled, planting his foot against Kaiju's chest, grabbing his legs with both hands and yanking on the limps, the legs of the suit ripping away with a tearing sound and a shower of sparks.
Stumbling back as the legs gave way, Oni lifted them up and looked at them in confusion. Kaiju used the opportunity to pick himself up off the ground and start running away on his now exposed human legs. Seeing this, Oni grinned as he tossed the suit legs to the side.
"Little legs!" Oni laughed as she stomped after Kaiju, his long strides quickly gaining ground, "Like bug!"
Stepping up behind Kaiju, Oni kicked the hero in the back, knocking him flat. As Kaiju rolled over onto his back, Oni reached down and dug his claws into the ground between them. Grunting as the muscles in his arms strained with effort, Oni yanked on the ground until a large slab of concrete broke away. Lifting the slab above his head, Oni loomed over Kaiju as the hero tried to scramble away.
"Crush you!" Oni declared, "Like bug!"
"But that's not what has to happen to you," Enigma said as Excelsior's gaze shifted to where Miss Chemistry was facing off against Bomb Voyage.
Palming an explosive device, Bomb Voyage hurled it at Miss Chemistry, but the hero countered by throwing a blue chemball at it, which exploded into an ice formation that surrounded the explosive and rendered it inert. His expression impressed as the ice thudded against the ground, Bomb Voyage pulled half a dozen explosives off his bandoliers before grinning as he hurled them at Miss Chemistry.
Reacting quickly, Miss Chemistry rapidly typed a series of chemical compounds into her bag, which produced a green chemball that she quickly grabbed and spiked against the ground. As the chemball burst, it produced a green liquid that formed a dome around Miss Chemistry before solidifying into a hard resin. A moment later, the explosives impacted against the dome, the force of the blasts shattering the resin and sending Miss Chemistry rolling across the ground.
As Miss Chemistry pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, she looked up at Bomb Voyage as he approached her, clapping his hands slowly.
"Bravo," Bomb Voyage congratulated her, "Bravo."
Her eyes narrowing, Miss Chemistry palmed a pink chemball she had made before tossing it at Bomb Voyage, striking the villain in the hands just as they were coming together for another clap, releasing pink goo that encased the villain's hands. Looking at his hands in surprise, Bomb Voyage struggled with the sticky goo before glaring at Miss Chemistry as she threw another pink chemball at him. Ducking his head, Bomb Voyage managed to avoid the chemball before he pulled an explosive off of his bandolier with his teeth and spat it at Miss Chemistry. The hero's eyes went wide with surprise as the explosive tumbled towards her before it exploded with a bright flash and a deafening bang.
Her ears ringing, Miss Chemistry rapidly blinked her eyes as she tried to remove the spots that were clouding her vision. After a moment, her vision cleared, though the ringing in her ears remained as she watched Bomb Voyage say something to her, having managed to free himself from the goo while she was distracted.
"What!?" Miss Chemistry questioned louder than necessary.
Slumping his shoulders as he clearly let out a sigh, Bomb Voyage pointed at something. Following the line of his finger, Miss Chemistry looked down at her back before her heart froze in terror as she saw one of Bomb Voyage's explosives attached to the side with some sort of adhesive. Looking back at Bomb Voyage, Miss Chemistry saw that the man was now crouching down with his eyes shut and his fingers stuck in his ears.
Acting quickly, Miss Chemistry unslung the bag from her shoulder before using the strap to toss it as hard as she could. Mere moments after the bag left her hands, the Bomb Voyage's device went off, causing the bag to explode with titanic force, the blast wave knocking Miss Chemistry off her feet and sending her rolling across the ground. Bruised and battered, Miss Chemistry pushed herself up enough to watch the remains of her bag fall to the earth as burning debris while an ugly cloud of black smoke rose into the air.
"Now zhat ees what I call a chemeecal reaction!" Bomb Voyage cheered, his eyes filled with a violent intensity that frightened Miss Chemistry as they turned towards her.
"But, alas, like all great works of art, our beautiful partnership must come to an end, Mademoiselle," he continued, placing one hand theatrically to his chest while using the other to pull an explosive off his bandolier.
"C'est la vie," Bomb Voyage finished with a shrug, before activating the explosive and tossing it at Miss Chemistry.
"Because, you see, you've got that certain spark," Enigma went on as Enigma looked to where the Underminer's drill tank was chasing after the van.
Flying backwards, the van shot off another pulse blast, but it barely shook the drill tank as it trundled along after the flying vehicle.
"Such a puny weapon can not shake my creation!" the Underminer's voice bellowed through the drill tank's loudspeaker, "Behold the true might of the Underminer!"
With that, the drill tank fired off another salvo of rockets, the projectiles leaving over a dozen tails of smoke in their wake as they shot towards the van.
"Oh!" Driver shouted, her voice panicked, "I can't avoid all those!"
"Be worrying nots!" the Strange Visitor declared as he adjusted some of the devices set into the vehicle's dashboard, "Shields are being set to their maximum-"
The Boov's words were cut off as the rockets slammed into the glowing, translucent sphere that surrounded the van, causing it to sputter and die under the assault as the console in front of the Strange Visitor exploded in a shower of sparks. Letting out a scream of surprise and pain, Strange Visitor swatted at the burning sparks that assaulted his face as he was rocked back into his chair.
"Oh!" the Driver screamed before letting out a wail of fear as a projectile pierced the bottom of the van, penetrating into the passenger area with a screech of bending metal. Looking back, Driver saw that it was some kind of harpoon-like device covered in prongs that held fast to the van. Looking back out the windshield, she saw that a metal cable trailed behind the harpoon, connecting it to some form of cannon that had risen out of the drill tank's back.
"You have been struck!" the Underminer declared as the drill tank rolled to a stop before the cable began to retract into the cannon, dragging the van down with it, "Now see what it is to be grounded!"
Grabbing hold of the van's controls, Driver yanked back hard while slamming her foot on the accelerator, causing the vehicle to try and fly upwards away from the drill tank, but the harpoon held it fast, though she managed to stop the van's descent.
"Oh no, no, no," the Underminer chided, "We shall have none of that!"
A moment later, a pulse of electricity shot up the cable before surging into the van, shocking Driver and Strange Visitor while completely shorting out the van's systems. As the lights in the van died, so did its engines, causing it to plummet back to the ground. Screaming in fear as she held her shocked arms close to her chest, Driver could do nothing as the van slammed against the ground, the force of the crash throwing Strange Visitor through the passenger side window and onto the ground outside in a shower of broken glass.
Her now broken sunglasses hanging askew, Driver whimpered as she reached up and touched the large bruise that was now forming on her forehead from where she had hit it against the steering wheel in the crash. So frightened and distracted was she that she failed to notice the Underminer walking up to her side of the van until he had grabbed the door with his robotic gauntlets and ripped it free with a piercing shriek of ripping metal. As Driver screamed in fear, Underminer tossed the door away before grabbing her and yanking her out of the van, her seatbelt holding her fast for a single, painful moment before snapping against the villain's strength.
"Why, you're just a child," Underminer observed as he held the Driver aloft, her feet kicking as she struggled against his metal grip. As she fought, a cold chill filled her heart as Underminer's grip shifted so he was holding her by her throat.
"Children are so much easier to end," the Underminer commented as a savage smile crossed his face and his gauntlet squeezed on Driver's windpipe. Panic filling her eyes, Driver began to struggle twice as hard against the Underminer's grip, her legs flailing wildly as throat burned and tears began filling her eyes.
"Something I recognize from when I was your age," Enigma said as Excelsior watched the Strange Visitor pick himself up off the ground with a groan, small burns and cuts maring the Boov's face.
His gaze drifting to where Underminer and the Driver were, Strange Visitor let out a shocked gasp as he saw the villain strangling the girl.
"Tip!" Strange Visitor screamed as he scrambled to his feet, "Tip, I am comings!"
Before Strange Visitor could run over to where the Driver and Underminer were, however, Balthazar Bratt stepped in front of the Boov, blocking the way.
"Sorry, E.T.," Bratt said with a shake of his head, "No can do."
His skin turning an angry shade of red, the Strange Visitor let out a high-pitched scream of challenge before charging at Bratt, his arm tentacles flailing wildly. Smirking, Bratt shifted his stance, raising his arms above his head while standing on one foot, lifting his other foot so his knee was near his chest.
"Hiya!" Bratt shouted before jumping and snapping a kick at Strange Visitor, striking the Boov in the face and knocking him onto his back, the alien's skin returning to its normal, purple shade as he let out a dazed groan.
"Shamone!" Bratt yelled as he moonwalked over to where Strange Visitor lay before spinning in place, lifting his leg, and stamping hard on the Boov's chest, eliciting a pained wheeze from the alien.
"You know, that color changing trick is pretty cool," Bratt observed before a predator grin spread across his face as he shifted his foot so he was standing on Strange Visitor's throat, "I wonder what color you'll turn when you die?"
Gasping for breath as Bratt's heel pressed down on his throat, Strange Visitor's skin turned a panicked shade of yellow as he flailed around, trying to free himself.
"I could teach you things. Things no self-righteous hero would," Enigma said as Excelsior looked over to where Big Guy was still fighting with Phantasma.
His arms still bound by Phantasma's lashes, Big Guy managed to clench his left hand into a fist, causing his shield to activate, slicing through the lash as it expanded and sending the microbots flying. With his hand free, Big Guy reached up and grabbed Phantasma before throwing her off his shoulder, causing her to release her grip on his other hand. Flying through the air, Phantasma flipped around before landing on her feet as the rest of her microbots returned to her.
As Phantasma recollected herself, Big Guy lifted his right arm and fired a rocket fist at her. Seeing the attack coming, Phantasma rushed forward, easily rolling under the fist before rushing at Big Guy. As she reached him, Phantasma shifted her arms into dozens of small tendrils that she thrust at Big Guy, the squirming strands of microbots aiming towards his outstretched arm. Before Big Guy could react, the tendrils thrust themselves into the gaps in his armor and began swarming forward underneath his protective shell.
Taking a step back, Big Guy attempted to pull out of Phantsma's grip, but she held fast, the armor of his arm buckling and sparking as the microbots wrecked havoc beneath it. Suddenly, there was a loud popping noise as Big Guy went stock still before slowly crumpling to the ground with the sound of a deflating balloon. As Big Guy collapsed, Phantasma retracted her tendrils before walking over to where the android lay.
"Your internal structure is easily ruptured," Phantasma observed as she stood over Big Guy, "This is an inferior design for combat operations."
"I waaaas not built fffor com-com-com-...ffffighting," Big Guy replied, his voice slurred and electronically distorted, "I wassss designed f-f-f-...tooo heeelp peoplllle."
"Illogical," Phantasma stated flatly, "There is nothing to be gained from such action. To aid humans in such a way is illogical."
Her hands shifting back into tendrils, Phantasma lashed at Big Guy again, latching onto his chest plate before tearing it off in a shower of sparks and broken metal, revealing the android's rubbery, deflated form. Moving so that she was straddling Big Guy's chest, Phantasma looked down at the android as one of her hands shifted into a series of small prongs.
"Your programming is inferior," Phantasma observed dispassionately, "I shall erase it."
Reaching down, Phantasma thrust the prongs into the panel on Big Guy's chest, causing the android to convulse violently, the robotic woman watching without a hint of sympathy.
"So, what do you say, kid?" Enigma questioned, drawing Excelsior's attention back to him, "Do you want to die here? Or do you want to help us change the world?"
Excelsior looked up at Enigma with a lost moment, and then realized to his horror that he was actually considering Enigma's offer. At that point, a noise caught his attention and Excelsior looked at Kitsune and Mezzmerella. The pair were still standing where the had been before, oblivious to the world around them, though now, Excelsior could see Kitsune's shoulders shakening, and realized after a moment that she was crying. His face twisting in rage, Excelsior turned his attention back towards Enigma.
"Go to hell," Excelsior spat.
At this, Enigma sighed and shook his head in disappointment.
"Such a waste," he bemoaned.
Then he lifted his robotic arm and swung the plasma blade down at Excelsior.
A/N: So obviously, this ended up being a massive chapter, but I couldn't help it, there was just so much action to write! Hope you guys liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!