Chapter Two.
The New Hero In Town.
The nervous reporter stepped out of the news van, her cameraman slowly following.
"I'm scared, Roxy." The cameraman said.
"Me too, John." Said Roxy.
"Well, you're hiding it better than me." John replied, nervously sliding his camera out of its case and placing it on his shoulder.
"Externally, anyway." Replied Roxy, "come on, we don't want to keep our new rulers waiting."
"Why can't the police stop them? How about the army?" John asked, a little louder than intended.
"All we can do," said Roxy in a quiet tone, "is hope that someone can." The two silenced themselves and walked up the stairs to the large man. They walked up just in time to see him drop a girl on the ground. She was wearing a red dress, with red boots and a white coat. Her orange hair bounced as she was dropped.
"Take her to the harem room," said the large man, "I'll be visiting shortly." Two men in all black get ups with machine guns on their backs grabbed the girl by the arms and hoisted her up. Apparently, she wasn't going down without a fight.
"Let go of me you crazy bozos!" She asserted, managed to rip her hand out of one of their holds and strike him in the groin. The man grunted, before collapsing to one knee like he was about to propose. Roxy had hope she could get away. But just then the sound of a whip cracking came out. A black thread, but one made of black metal and rubber, wrapped quickly around the girl's wrist, causing her to grunt in pain and surprise.
"Get your head on straight!" Said a woman's voice, in a dialect Roxy couldn't quite place. The speaker was tall and lean. Her skin was pale, almost snow white, and her long black hair ran unfettered down to the middle of her back. She wore a black jumpsuit with black finger-less gloves.
"Good work, Ivory." Said the large man. "Escort her to the room, and if she misbehaves again, show no mercy." Ivory nodded, jerking the whip back, causing her captive to stumble towards her. Ivory then grabbed her by the back of the neck.
"Consider this mercy," she said, "this is your only warning." Then without another word, Ivory began to walk off with her captive. Roxy didn't know where they were going, but she silently prayed that the girl would be okay. The big man turned his cold gaze to them.
"Well," he said, "I'm waiting." Roxy nodded, walking up to him and standing next to him. John uneasily turned the camera on.
"We're live in five, four, three." He began the countdown. Roxy made sure everything was fine before going live. When the red light turned on, she began her spiel.
"Good evening, Diamond City. I'm Roxanne Ridges, reporting live from what used to be an abandoned prison, but is now Diamond City Hall. We...we've been taken over by-" Before she could finish, the big man grabbed the microphone harshly.
"Thanks, Miss Ridges," said the man, brutally shoving her to the side. "I'll take it from here. What's up losers of all generations? I am Wrecking Crew. Your new ruler! For the last five years, my crew and I have hid in the shadows, posing as a mild street gang. But now, we're coming out and we're taking charge. All of you are instructed to go to your nearest Police Station, or, rather, Wrecking Crew Hub, and register as slaves. Anyone refusing to do this will be-" suddenly, there was the sound of a powerful punch, and the scream of a man who went for an unexpected flight. Wrecking Crew looked up, just in time to see a man whiz by the camera. John quickly looked in that direction; had his prayers been answered? Was someone standing up to the terrorists? All he could see was a blonde kid with his fists up, as more of the goons approached him, weapons up.
"Ten million dollars," Roared Wrecking Crew to his men below, "to the man who brings me his head!" John couldn't take his eyes, or the camera, off the upcoming fight.
…
Danny balled his fists as more men came. Three charged at him at once.
"Come on!" Cried one of them, "he can't take us all out at once!" Danny threw a punch, the blow powerful enough to smoothly knock all three men down, one by one, in one swing.
"I guess I can after all!" Taunted Danny, then looked up. The men all fired. Danny braced himself, afraid he'd been too cocky. Nick's fat head was one thing, but bullets, and several of them, were a totally different animal. But to his amazement, when the guns went off, it didn't all go black for him. Danny looked up, to see the bullets were simply bouncing off his skin. These bullets felt more like bug bites than lethal projectiles, and were actually kind of annoying.
"What the-" The man closest to Danny asked, alarmed, but didn't get to finish because of a punch to the jaw that launched him into the air.
"Who are you?!" Demanded another soldier.
"Who am I?" Danny asked, "Let's just say I'm the end of the line." More henchmen charged, but Danny was never hurt by any of their attacks, he continued his assault of the gang turned terrorist group.
…
Jeez, this lady has a grip of steel. Mona mentally whined as she was harshly dragged by the neck down a dimly lit hallway. A million thoughts were racing through her head, but the chief thoughts were of Danny. Mona wasn't sure what had happened to him in the last twenty four hours, but he'd gone from getting beat up by bullies to standing up to terrorists in no time flat. Of course she didn't buy his story of just "working out", unless he was working out with a routine that would make most Olympic athletes tap out halfway through. Suddenly, there was the scratch of static, as a radio came to life.
"Ivory!" cried the voice of Wrecking Crew, "we've got trouble. Get that bimbo to the harem room and then get back here. Just be ready to split, just in case." Ivory took the radio from her belt and pressed a button,
"Affirmative." She said into it, before putting it away and picking up the pace, to the point Mona had to trot to keep up with her. Finally, the two reached a door. Mona's neck was sore to high heaven and she was panting a bit, even for someone as in shape as her. Ivory, however, didn't even have a drop of sweat on her forehead. The ebony haired woman opened the door and shoved Mona inside.
"Wait here." She commanded, "Whatever threat is happening will be over soon enough." Then she slammed the door, narrowly missing Mona's nose, and the sound of a powerful deadbolt locking played out. Mona turned, to see about five other women sitting in the room. The room was dirty, furnished by two couches that had seen better days, a coffee table with some woefully outdated magazines, and an obvious lack of windows. The girls were all around Mona's age, beautiful women with tear stained faces.
"Hi," one of them offered weakly, "don't worry too much...you get used to it after a few months."
"What's your name?" Another asked.
"My name is Mona." Said Mona, "and we can't just sit here, we have to get out of here and get back to our lives." The women looked at each other uneasily.
"We...we can't." Said another one, "If we try to escape, Ivory will…" She didn't finish her sentence, but rather turned around and lifted her ratty shirt, showing deep scars on her back. Mona fell silent, her mouth hanging ajar before eventually shutting. She remembered something about a threat that Wrecking Crew mentioned; could it be Danny? Now more than ever, Mona needed a hero.
…
Danny walked closer to the compound, a number of knocked out bad guys in his wake. He looked up at Wrecking Crew.
"Is that all the men you brought?" asked Danny, "I'm barely warmed up here." Wrecking Crew's face twitched in anger, before he jumped down, the ground shaking as he landed, causing Danny to stumble a bit.
"You may have taken down my men!" he snarled, "but I won't go down so easily. I'm gonna enjoy breaking those bones in your body, you little snot." Wrecking Crew charged at Danny, but the young hero stepped to the side and put his foot up, causing Wrecking Crew to trip before landing indignantly on the ground. Wrecking Crew growled as he got up.
"You're starting to make me very angry!" He roared. His helmet began to glow again, and Danny put up a hand to try and block it. But something amazing happened. A green burst of energy flew out of Danny's hand, right as Wrecking Crew's laser began to fire. There then came a struggle between the two beams. It was not a matter of who would run out of ammo, but who would tire first. Danny wasn't sure how he was doing it, but he kept pushing the energy. Wrecking Crew was caught off guard by this, and his reward for this was losing the beam struggle. There was a powerful explosion, and Wrecking Crew's helmet flew from his head, as he yelped in pain.
"Who...who are you?!"" Demanded the villain,
"I'm just a guy who hates bullying and loves this city!" Danny charged forward, sending a punch towards the enemy. Wrecking Crew flinched harder than he expected at the blow, but recovered quickly. He grabbed Danny by the arm and slammed him on the ground. Then he raised up a powerful boot and slammed it back down. The resulting shockwave sent Danny airborne, and then Wrecking Crew slammed his gauntlets together, sending Danny flying towards what Wrecking Crew was trying to establish as City Hall.
He crashed into a wall, hearing shocked gasps as he stood. He looked. There were six young women in the room, one of which was Mona.
"Danny!" She cried, "I knew you'd come to save us." Danny could hear Wrecking Crew charging.
"'Scuse me," said Danny, running back to the fight, grabbing a large piece of rubble on the way. Wrecking Crew raised his hands again, but this time Danny was ready. He threw the rubble, and it smashed into the left gauntlet. There was a cracking sound, before the powerful armor exploded in Wrecking Crew's face. The right gauntlet powered down anticlimactically like a deflating balloon.
"That does it!" Roared the big man, "do you have any idea how expensive this armor was?!"
"Not enough to cover your bail, I'd imagine." Danny taunted back. Wrecking Crew clicked his heels together and the boots spewed fire from the soles. He launched upward, and Danny raised his hands to block the inevitable strike. Once again, the green energy flew from his palm and struck Wrecking Crew's boot. He spiraled to the ground, landing a few feet in front of Danny, sending dust into the air on impact. He stood, enraged, so angry that any madder and steam would spew from his nostrils.
The man made one last charge at Danny, ready to wring his neck, but the hero wound up a punch and launched it. BLAM! Direct hit! Wrecking Crew was sent screaming into the sky. Mona and the other women watched in amazement as Wrecking Crew flew higher and higher, becoming a speck on the sky. But, as the saying goes, what goes up must come down. And so he did, landing so hard he cracked the concrete on the landing. He tried to push himself up, his arms shaking. Eventually, his energy gave out, and he fell in an indignant heap on the ground.
"Now's our chance!" Cried Mona, "go go go!" The women began to run, finally tasting their freedom. Mona began to run towards Danny, but felt something wrap around her stomach and yank back, causing her to fall onto her butt.
Oh yeah, she remembered, Ivory.
"Do not think you've won!" hissed the enraged voice of Ivory, before two fingers with vice like grip pinched Mona's ear, "Wrecking Crew may be down, but now I assume command!" Ivory hauled Mona to her feet and began to drag her away by the ear.
"DANNY!" screamed Mona. Danny looked up and began to give chase. Mona managed to look, to see she was being dragged towards a helicopter.
"We'll just restart in another city!" Yelled Ivory over the helicopter blades, "And you shall be the first of my slaves." Mona did everything she could to get away from Ivory, but nothing seemed to make her flinch. To Mona's surprise, there were men waiting in the helicopter. Ivory let go of Mona's ear, only to pick her up by the stomach and practically throw her into the helicopter. It was a massive one, big enough for three pickup trucks to drive in end to end. Mona's worry grew with each passing second.
Soon, Ivory barked to the pilot to start flying. With a jerk, the helicopter lifted into the air, gaining height faster than the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. At first, Mona thought all hope was gone. But then one of the guards let out a startled shriek. She looked up, just in time to see him be thrown out of the helicopter. Then Danny's head popped up as he scrambled into the helicopter. The men all charged, only for each of them to be knocked down, or out of the helicopter in one blow per head. With no more henchmen left, Danny pointed a deathly finger at Ivory.
"You even leave a bruise on her," he threatened, "And I'll rip your hair out!" Ivory shoved Mona to the side and cracked her whip at Danny. Mona would forever remember the priceless look of horror on her face when Danny caught the whip. "One strand at a time!" Danny yelled before yanking the whip towards him, causing the panicking Ivory to lift off the ground and fly towards him. Danny raised a hand and slapped Ivory's cheek, causing her to fly to the side and slam into the pilot, knocking him out. But this caused the helicopter to jerk to the side. To Mona's horror, she was thrown from the vehicle and soon found herself falling to the ground below. She looked up at the helicopter, just in time to see Danny jump out of it and fall towards her. He put his arms and legs out like Superman, quickly closing the gap between them.
"It's okay, Mona." Said Danny, "I've got you."
"But who's got you?" asked Mona, squeezing her eyes shut and waiting for the impact. But it never came. Mona opened her eyes, to see Danny floating above Diamond City. "Danny!" She cried, "You...you can fly!" Danny looked at the ground, then back up at the helicopter, just as a voice cried out over a loudspeaker,
"You win this round, Superhero!" called Ivory's livid voice. "You've ruined everything, but we will be back stronger than-" Suddenly, Danny's eyes began to glow. Before anyone had time to question it, two powerful beams shot from them with blinding speed, striking the tail rotor. The helicopter began to spiral out of control, before landing in the abandoned warehouse section of Diamond City. Surprisingly, there was no explosion. Mona looked at Danny again,
"Working out my ass." She said.
"Well I didn't think you'd believe me if I told you the truth." Replied Danny. His face began to turn a bit green.
"You okay?" she asked,
"Yeah," said Danny. "I just don't like heights."
…
It took some doing, but Danny successfully flew back to Diamond City high with Mona in his arms. Who should be waiting out front but the Monettes. They were a squad of nine blond cheerleaders, who all looked more or less identical, save for some minor visual differences. Danny knew could figure out how Mona could tell them all apart.
"He did it!" cried one of them, "Who do we love?!" The Monettes formed a cheerleading tower.
"Danny!" They all cried in unison. On the landing, however, Danny felt himself losing his balance. While still holding Mona, he tried to correct it, only for her to land on top of him. They were so close they could feel each other's breath on their faces.
"You okay?" Asked Danny.
"I'll live." Replied Mona. Both stood, just in time to hear a police siren. They looked, seeing a tall man in a police uniform walking towards them. He had black hair and a black stubble, his eyes hidden behind the standard eighties cop sunglasses.
"There you are!" He barked towards Mona, "I've been looking all over for you!"
"Dad!" Cried Mona, annoyed, "Do you have any idea what happened to me today?! If it wasn't for Danny, I'd-"
"Save it!" Cried her father, "Get your ass in that car this instant, or you're on probation!" Mona sighed an irritated sigh, took one more look at Danny, and then walked to the car.
"I'll take it from here." Said the cop, looking at Danny in a not so friendly way, "Superhero." His tone dropped to even more unfriendly levels at the word Superhero.
"Sure thing, Sheriff Foster." Said Danny. Sheriff Foster said nothing in return, returning to his car and getting in the driver's seat. He drove off, Mona not taking her eyes off the hero until they were out of sight. Suddenly, Danny's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of more footsteps. He turned, just in time to see a young lady with brown hair, a purple dress shirt and black skirt take position in front of him, as a cameraman began filming.
"Hello Diamond City," said the woman, "You can take a deep breath now. I'm standing with the man who single-handedly saved Diamond City from a terrorist group." She turned to face Danny,
"What is your name, sir? Is it Captain Diamond?" Danny was confused for a bit, before saying,
"Don't call me Captain Diamond. Just call me Danny." Our hero was tired from today's events, and not in the mood for an impromptu interview, so he took to the sky and flew home. His thoughts were fixed on Mona for the whole flight.