Chapter 83: Vodka Apocalypses

This was supposed to go up yesterday, but, well, it obviously didn't.

So, long story short, around one month ago I got some volunteer work for the summer. Since I'm going to be gone for three weeks, I decided to put in as many hours as possible prior to that to make up for lost time, which means that I double shift a few days every week. It's not hard work, and I like it a lot, but I'm literally up and about for 6-8 hours with no lunch break. That really saps at your energy. Not to mention I'm learning computer programs to put on my resume, and I need to take my time with those because there's a LOT of information to remember.

So, this chapter got slowly written over the course of one month. I'm pretty satisfied with it overall, but I'm sure there's room for improvement. There always is.

Also, about that Newt factoid in the beginning: if you start making faces about it and decide to flame me over it, don't. I honestly can't be bothered to give a shit about your whining. If you're uncomfortable about but still have the decency to not flame me over it, then just ignore it. It's probably gonna pop up again in the future, but it'll be pertinent to the plot of that chapter(s). There's a reason why I mention this.

On with the chapter!

…Kevin didn't know how they even got on this topic.

They had been driving, nearly everyone tense. Evan was still sleepy and practically napping on Carter's shoulder, and Sam was squinting her eyes and rubbing at her forehead occasionally. It was fairly early in the morning, after all. But Ben and Gwen seemed taut and ready, like a spring about to go off: Gwen was glaring out the window, her eyes occasionally flickering pink in case Max had somehow switched locations between the minutes, and Ben… well, Kevin couldn't honestly say what Ben was feeling. He was certainly tense if his body language was anything to go by, but the happy, carefree look he had on this morning had wilted to an expression that was trying desperately to be serious, but fear kept invading despite his best efforts.

Kevin knew just how much Max meant to his grandkids; they both had to grow up and put on a serious face after he tried to sacrifice himself to stop the High Breed, but that didn't mean either of them hadn't been torn up about it inside. Hell, they were children, they should've been allowed to show it! But no, instead they felt like they were forced to be stronger than they really were and keep their emotions hidden behind perfectly neutral faces. But now both of them were cracking, finally showing that yes, they were children, and they were worried.

So, Kevin figured that maybe a conversation would help distract the two. They might be cross with him for trying to make light of the situation, but at least no one could say he didn't try. But he should've figured that Evan would do that for him; after all, the two boys had hung out a lot together prior to the invasion. Kevin liked to think he was privy to some things that not even Sam and Carter knew, at least not entirely.

(Like how Evan was a natural-born leader, and was one when faced with Pride and Slayer things. But when it came to normal alien things, he let Ben take the wheels. After all, it wasn't like a group of trained assassins would know how to handle ordinary, panicking civilians, at least not in practice. And Evan so rarely was allowed to be his usual goofy self around the Immortals, why not let someone else be the leader?)

(But something told Kevin that that attitude was slowly changing. It was a gradual change, like water carving its way through solid rock, but it was there. But that was a thought for another day.)

So, yawning and grouchy, Evan had asked the time honored annoyance of a question, "Are we there yet?" only to be answered with a unison, "No." Instead of being discouraged, he merely started up a conversation about how Max even developed his odd sense of taste, which quickly devolved into other topics. Kevin could see in the rearview mirror how some of the tension melted off the Tennyson cousins- it was still there, but their smiles were genuine. And so, Kevin was thankful.

…but he was still confused as to how they even got onto this particular topic.

"So, wait, Newt's actually a crossdresser?" Gwen asked, cocking her head in confusion as she stared at Carter, who just so happened to be right next to her.

"Or is he secretly transgender?" Ben asked curiously. And then his eyes widened in alarm. "Should you even be outing him like this?!"

"What pronouns does Newt even use?" Kevin asked, concerned.

"Okay, okay, calm down everyone," Sam said, waving her hands in a placating motion. "You're all making a bigger deal out of something that really isn't."

"If this was going to happen I wouldn't have brought it up," Evan muttered to Carter apologetically, nuzzling into her shoulder like a sad puppy. She patted his hair and sighed heavily.

"Nah, this was going to come up eventually," Carter told him. "I'm actually surprised it took this long."

"Well, it's not like Newt actually talks about it," Sam pointed out somewhat testily. "Hell, I'm surprised the author is even allowing this conversation to happen in the first place."

"What author?" Kevin asked, arching an eyebrow suspiciously.

"She's not important, Kev," she sighed.

"Well, considering she's writing this story in the first place-!" Evan began before he was cut off.

"Can we get back to the topic at hand, please?" Carter pleaded. "I just want to clear this up."

"Go for it," Gwen told her politely.

"Okay, first off, Newt identifies as male, so you can keep using his/him pronouns." She gave a nod to Kevin after that statement. She then tapped Ben's knee. "We're not outing him or anything, so you don't have to worry about that. And yes, he's likes to cross-dress occasionally," she said, swiveling in her seat to face Gwen. "Newt's family is full of politicians and he's really conscientious about that, so he tries not to do anything to rock the boat too much."

"Which is why he never talked about it," Gwen realized.

"Well, he did allude to it once," Ben reminded them, "when were in the alchemy labs a few months ago. Said that if he dyed his hair he could pass for Carter's twin."

She shrugged at that. "We've done it in the past."

Ben wrinkled his nose. "I have no problem with Newt being a crossdresser, but I really don't like the idea of him dressing up as you. I think I mentioned that back in the labs," he added as an afterthought.

"I think you did, yeah," Sam said.

"Have you two even done the twin thing recently?" Kevin asked, peering at her through the rearview mirror. "Cause, I mean, the two of you could already pass as twins."

"Yeah, but Newt always wanted to be thorough," Carter told him. "And I don't think we've done it recently…"

"I think the last time was around last Christmas," Evan revealed. "I remember he walked around Michigan wearing one of Sam's dresses, wearing a wig that was styled just like Carter's."

"He's worn your clothes too?" Kevin asked rhetorically.

Sam shrugged. "Boy looks good in red. And he really rocked that dress, not gonna lie."

"And I bet, since he doesn't want to rock the boat, he asks you two to give him your old clothes instead of buying them," Gwen said, expression contemplative. "And Newt and Carter share similar tastes in clothing, so he's probably going to wear your girlfriend's clothes anyway," she told Ben.

"As long as they don't pull the twin thing on me, I'll be fine," he said, waving a hand as if to end the conversation entirely. And so it was, because they were finally at their destination.

Finding the Rust Bucket parked amidst the trees, Kevin deactivated the off-road mode of his car (which made it look sort of like a monster truck. Which was actually pretty cool) and everyone hopped out, hesitantly walking to the yellow dome… thing. There really was no way to describe it: it was a gelatinous dome propped on the forest ground, purple tendrils spider webbing from the top to the bottom, leaving gaps to reveal the people inside.

Wait.

"Just how many people are in there?!" Sam yelped, bringing a hand to her mouth.

"Five, maybe six?" Gwen wondered, distressed. "All I know for sure is that Grandpa Max is inside."

"Not for long," Ben said, smacking the dial on the Omnitrix. A flash of pure green light, and suddenly he was Spidermonkey. Bounding over to the dome, he quickly eyed the substance and said, "I think I can cut this thing open."

"Come no closer to the seed pod, inferior filth," a familiar condescending voice rang out from the side. A pure white High Breed with a large, blocky laser gun ran towards them.

As the alien aimed its weapon at them, Gwen merely asked bewilderedly, "A High Breed?"

"Lighten up, will ya?" Kevin retorted. "The war's over."

"Perhaps," the High Breed conceded, "but our defeat will bring you nothing but sorrow, vermin."

"I'm getting my grandpa out of there," Spidermonkey declared resolutely. "I'd step aside if I were you." With that, he screeched and leaped towards the seed pod.

One laser blast later, and Spidermonkey was sent skidding to the side, falling into a nearby ditch. Sam strolled over to the edge and called, "You okay bro?" He gave her four thumbs up.

Kevin glared at the High Breed as he knelt down. "Nobody smacks him around but me!" he snarled, absorbing the ground and coating himself in armor. "Really hope this works," he muttered as his fist changed into a sphere with spikes protruding from him. "Hey, Sam, it worked!" he crowed before launching himself at the High Breed.

"Awesome!" Sam cheered happily, but then she winced when she saw Kevin get smacked into a tree from a backhand. "Ouch, that had to hurt."

As Evan and Carter ran towards the seed pod (but not without Evan trying to chuck a boulder at the alien; shame it dodged), Gwen used her mana to slap the weapon from the High Breed's hands. She then crossed her arms and sent two ropes at the alien, easily ensnaring and quickly dragging him towards her. The High Breed was having none of that however; grabbing hold of the ropes, he snapped them roughly, the vibrations hitting Gwen right in the face.

Sam caught her in her arms and quickly set Gwen down. "I didn't know your powers worked like that," Sam muttered before the other girl stirred. "You'll be fine," she quickly said before standing up and stalking towards the High Breed.

As Kevin made his way over to Gwen, Sam called out, "Hey Kevin, what do you know of obscure X-Men?"

Quirking an eyebrow at the odd question, he asked, "Why would I know anything about them? I don't read those comics!"

"Then I guess you've never heard of Negasonic Teenage Warhead."

"Negasonic Teenage…" Kevin blinked. "What the shit?! That's the coolest name ever!"

Sam turned her head to grin at him. "Yeah, well, they finally gave her a power worthy of her name, and I'm borrowing it!"

Gwen, who had got back up, and Spidermonkey, who had finally decided to show up, merely stood there perplexed as Kevin cheered, "Fuck yeah, I wanna see this!"

The High Breed sneered as Sam's body began to glow. "How could such filth possibly-"

And then Sam burst into flames. With a fearsome war cry she ran towards the shocked High Breed, her footprints smoking. In a matter of seconds she collided with the alien, and the resulting explosion was so blinding and furious that everyone had to look away.

Once the light finally died down, there was a burnt High Breed and a charred Sam. "I did it!" she cheered, fist pumping and jumping into the air. She wasn't the only one- Spidermonkey was hollering and Gwen was laughing, the peals a mixture of awe and hysteria. Kevin merely had his hands in his hair and his jaw dropped open.

"Holy shit I think I'm love," he muttered, which thankfully went unheard.

"And we got some people out!" Carter called out as she wiped some yellow slime from her hands. She then went back to checking the vitals of the man she had just rescued. Evan was back at the makeshift hole, grabbing another victim from the cage and getting slime on his person.

"This is never going to come out," he whined as he laid the girl on the ground.

Suddenly purple vines escaped from the dome, and Carter grabbed Evan away from them before either could get captured again. Instead the tentacles quickly wrapped themselves around the hostages and lifted them back into the dome through the makeshift hole, right before resealing itself.

"Oh come on!" Evan snapped, throwing his hands in the air.

And just because the universe liked screwing with them, the High Breed stood back up, mostly unharmed, just as the seed pod began descending into the Earth with a large rumble. But that wasn't the worst of it, oh no, for the seed pod had disappeared and was replaced by a colossal giant, dust raining down from its form as it burst from the Earth's crust, the tips of his black horns nearly brushing the clouds. Its body was made of dirt, and roots and shrubbery made up its shoulder blades, trees flowing down its back. It looked down at the crowd at its feet with baleful red eyes.

And then it screamed and lifted a foot out of its hole. Clumps of rock rained down from it, and Gwen had to whip up a quick shield to protect them all. The colossus slowly moved past them, each lifted foot brushing the treetops of the forest as it made its way towards civilization.

The Tennyson cousins plus Evan had quickly scrambled atop a small hill to watch, the ground trembling as the colossus walked. "What is that thing?" Spidermonkey had to ask.

"The end of the human infestation," the burnt High Breed told them all. He curled a fist in triumph. "The end of our war."

Kevin, who had ran to rescue his upturned car, snarled, "Don't you watch the news? The war is over!"

Sam, who was wiping off ash from her face, said, "He looks like an original High Breed, not like the new ones."

Gwen and Spidermonkey ran down the hill and skidded to a stop in front of the alien. "I don't think you know this, but the High Breed are friendly with other races now," Gwen explained calmly.

"Um, can we get back to the 'end of the human infestation' part?" Spidermonkey asked nervously.

"You… are doomed," the High Breed sneered.

"Kind of doubt that," Carter piped up from a tree branch, cellphone in hand. "Humans are pretty similar to cockroaches; we're too damn hard to kill."

"She's got a point," Evan conceded gaily.

Spidermonkey pointed a blue finger at the alien. "You're gonna tell me how to stop that thing, or I'm going to have to hurt you!" he snarled as he began to glow green. In a flash, Spidermonkey was replaced by Ben Tennyson. "…I can still hurt you like this!" he added weakly (it was true, but he really didn't look it, after all).

"I don't have time to toy with an inferior," the High Breed announced. Orange skin flaps suddenly lifted, easily becoming wings. "I go now to watch the destruction of your pitiful species!" With that, it jumped high into the air, reaching past the tree line, and soared away.

Suddenly the suited up Dodge Challenger roared to life, lifting itself from its upended state and jumping around upturned boulders and groove marks in the ground before finally parking right next to the heroes. Kevin rolled down the window and ordered, "Get in, we'll follow in my car."

"And what, attack it?" Evan shot back. "Max is in there, along with a bunch of other people. If we hurt that thing, we hurt them."

"I don't think we can hurt it," Sam replied, hand covering her eyes as makeshift binoculars as she surveyed the retreating monster. "From the look of things, this was some sort of 'final solution' the High Breed had planned in case they lost the war. It's gotta be impervious to most outside forces."

"So, in other words, we have to go inside it to actually hurt it," Gwen stated flatly. She sighed heavily. "Figures."

"You know, when I pictured the end of the world, I was thinking axing a bunch of zombies, maybe some partying, and somehow ending up in the bed of Emma Watson or Hayley Atwell. Or Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans, I was never picky," Evan added in the merriest tone possible for the situation.

"Yeah, same here," Sam agreed. Carter, who had finally descended from the treetops, merely nodded her head.

Gwen shrugged. "I would have preferred Emma Watson myself."

"Ooh, Hermoine fan," Ben teased.

"Oh, what, like you haven't drooled over Daniel Radcliffe?" his cousin teased back.

"What, no love for Rupert Grint?" Evan asked playfully.

"You can have him," Kevin replied. "I'll stick with Scarlett Johansson."

Ben was about to make a quip about Kevin loving spiders when numerous army tanks suddenly rolled past, sending up dirt as the tires made indents in the grass. And then they realized that, oh yeah, the colossus was still trying to destroy the freaking planet. (Damn you witty banter!)

"Cordelia called in the army?" Carter asked incredulously. "I called her hoping she could get someone to actually help us!"

"Considering my grandpa's involved in the army, I wish you'd show a little more support," Evan huffed, crossing his arms.

"Oh, right, I forgot," Carter said honestly. "Let me rephrase that: I can't believe Cordelia got the government involved. It's not like politicians to actually help people. And these poor soldiers are probably going to die thanks to that thing."

"Well, considering that they joined the army, I think they accepted they were going to die sooner rather than later," Gwen pointed out as a green jeep stopped next to them. A grizzled old army general was sitting up in the passenger seat, decked out in SWAT like armor. Holding a walkie-talkie in his hand, he barked, "Weapons ready!"

As soldiers behind them ran around with guns in hand, Ben suddenly yelled, "Don't! There are people inside that thing!"

"I'm sorry about that," the general said, still focused on the monster, "but that's Twin Mason nuclear plant. You understand what happens if we don't stop it?"

"But-!"

"FIRE!"

Rockets were launched at the colossus, rapidly hitting the shrubbery on its back and exploding furiously. But it did nothing to stop the beast from walking towards the plant. It didn't even shrug off the attacks; it just continued walking, hunched over, as if their attempts to stop it weren't even worth acknowledging.

"Full power!" the general barked. "Bring that bogey down!"

Suddenly the original High Breed swooped down in front of them, getting up from its crouch. As it stood facing the leader, the soldiers surrounding the general ran up to it and aimed their weapons at it. "Idiotic cattle," the High Breed sneered. "You cannot hope to succeed."

Ben stormed up to the alien and snapped, "Suppose we make you tell us how to stop it!"

"A lower lifeform cannot force me to do anything," the High Breed scoffed.

It was at that point Ship, in his oversized Obliterator form swooped down, settling quietly on the ground. The hatch had been opened, revealing a bored Cordelia in her black corset dress with the long sleeves, bare shoulders, and the skirt that fell down to her ankles and slit dangerously up both thighs, and a High Breed with a mostly green arm, vines like tattoos circling up the bicep.

"No, but I can," the High Breed Supreme said, walking down the hatch and stepping onto the grass.

The other High Breed turned to face him. "Who are you?" it demanded to know.

"He's Reinrassic the Third, seventh son of the noble High Breed House of De-Razza, direct descendant of the pure-blooded High Order of Rassect," Ben said proudly, walking over to stand next to him. "And, personal friend of mine." His smile was far too smug for the occasion.

"I am the High Breed Supreme," Reiny declared.

"Impossible," the other High Breed scoffed. "You are impure. Look at your hand."

Reiny held up his green arm. "Yes. Look at it." He angled his hand to reveal a four red-eyed seal outlined in black, just like the face of the colossus.

"You wear the Imperial Seal," the High Breed said in awe. It then knelt on the ground, bowing its head, right in front of Reiny. "My apologies, High Breed Supreme." It then looked up at him. "Then… our people have not been exterminated?"

"Clearly," Reiny said flatly.

"Ooh, snappy," Cordelia remarked as she finally walked down the hatch, her loose silver hair swinging behind her.

"But… but I was only to be awakened if we lost the war," the High Breed told him, completely at a loss.

"The war has ended," Reiny explained. "And it was settled, peacefully, thanks to Ben-Ben Tennyson." He gestured to the boy, who merely smiled back.

"Peace?" the other High Breed repeated. "With the humans? Then what awakened me from hibernation?"

"It must have been some sort of accident," Reiny mused.

"The earthquake," Gwen quickly piped up, forcing the two aliens to look at her. "Don't you see?"

Reiny turned back to the other High Breed. "Whatever the cause, your order are clear: shut down that weapon!" He pointed to the colossus for emphasis.

Putting his hand over his heart, the High Breed said sorrowfully, "Supreme One, I would deactivate it if I could, but once a failsafe sprouts, nothing can stop it."

Kevin stepped up this time. "You mean that thing's got an on switch but no off?" he asked incredulously.

"That's kind of the point of a failsafe," Sam pointed out flatly.

"We implanted post-hypnotic seeds inside several dozen humans, who had been our prisoners," Reiny explained. "Those seeds were to be activated, and the failsafe process started only upon our demise."

"So it's essentially once last 'fuck you' to the planet in case your war failed," Cordelia said in an apathetic tone. "Why am I not surprised?"

"What exactly is it going to do?" Evan asked hesitantly.

"So far, all it's doing is trying to stomp us to death," Kevin pointed out.

"The failsafe needs a large power source to prime its destructive energies," Reiny continued.

"And when it's primed?" Carter asked, arching an eyebrow.

"It will explode, and the resulting fallout will destroy your planet within minutes," Reiny said gravely.

"Well I picked a wonderful day to get out of bed," Cordelia muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. And then she straightened her shoulders and walked up Ship's hatched, barking out, "Everyone with superpowers get on the Obliterator! We're taking that thing down!"

Up in the air

As the army tanks drove after the walking doomsday device, Ship flew past it so that when the hatch opened, the occupants inside could easily see the 'face' of the monster. Reiny and his High Breed brother were on either side of the cargo hold, flanking Ben and Gwen and Sam as they stared at the colossus. Cordelia was in the driver's seat with Evan sitting right beside her, Kevin crouching on the ground, ready for possible impact, and Carter leaning against the wall, arms and legs crossed.

""We're not just gonna stand here and let the Brussel sprout that walks like a man nuke us, are we?" Kevin asked, alarmed.

"No, but there isn't any point in fighting it head-on," Ben pointed out.

"You saw what happened to the rockets," Carter added.

"So, in other words, we have to find an opening so we can hit it from the inside," Sam stated, chin in her hand. "Probably not the face though, I'd rather not get eaten."

"All plants release gases in some way, right?" Gwen mused. "So this thing must have some sort of exhaust port."

"And if we can find it, we can get inside and try to stop it from there," Evan finished proudly. "Woo-hoo, we got a plan!"

"Better than our normal 'on the fly' approach," Carter agreed.

"Oh, you know you love plans like that," Kevin teased. "Admit it."

"Never," Carter teased back.

"You all do know where the exhaust port is, right?" Cordelia asked out loud. Everyone turned to her and, once they realized, gave matching looks of utter disgust. "Yeah, that's why I'm not going with you."

"You do know that if that thing blows up, you'll be caught in the blast too?" Gwen countered hotly. "Not even you can survive a nuclear explosion."

"I've survived dozens of apocalypses," Cordelia shot back. "I highly doubt the walking plant bomb will much different."

"That's some suicidal overconfidence you got there," Sam said pointedly.

"When you've lived as long as I have, you can afford it," she said. "Besides, Isaac and Phineas are clearing out the nuclear plant and are trying to send the isotopes somewhere where they'll be safe. If you don't stop the explosion in time, at least the eventual fallout won't be as catastrophic."

Carter slowly shook her head. "Always one step ahead, aren't you?"

"I'm surprised you're not," Cordelia told her. "Especially considering you have the key to actually getting inside that thing without needing to climb up the exhaust port."

"Actually, I don't," Carter said. "That's why I didn't mention it." She glared pointedly at Evan. He shot her a confused look before it dawned on him. He then reached behind for his back pocket and got out the green subspace card he borrowed from her and never gave back.

"You fucking idiot," Kevin seethed.

In the stomach of the beast

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say those are the antibodies of this thing," Sam said flatly as she pointed ahead of the group. They were inside the red and purple guts of the colossus, climbing up and up towards the heart or brain. Or they would be if they weren't being attacked. The antibodies looked like High Breeds, but they were born headless, the skin between their shoulder blades where the neck should be completely smooth.

"Huh. Never thought I'd be compared to a germ," Evan said as Sam sent a blast of fire at one of the antibodies. It quickly burst into flames, but it only staggered a bit and continued walking while on fire.

Ben was about to hit the dial on his Omnitrix, but then Carter grabbed his hand away. Taking a moment to throw an icicle at an antibody and watching as it impaled an arm, she quickly said, "You need to find Max. We'll take care of things here."

"But-!"

"There are other people inside this thing!" Sam snapped suddenly, sending a wave of red hot flames at the incoming army in the hopes of stopping them. She then turned to glare at him. "We have to split up to reach them all."

Pausing in his shooting, Evan piped up, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Max is the brain in all this. Just a gut feeling."

"'Just a gut feeling' my ass," Kevin muttered before saying loudly, "Sam's got a point. We split up and save as many people as we can."

"You sure about this?" Gwen asked them, eyes glowing pink.

Sam gave a shy smile. "Isn't that what heroes are supposed to do?"

Grinning proudly, Gwen quickly whipped up a mana shield and pulled Kevin and Ben close to her. "Give us a path!" she ordered.

"On it!" The flames died down, revealing the group of antibodies- which were still coming and seemed nearly invincible. The one Carter had impaled had merely plucked out the icicle and tossed it aside. Evan's gunshots were barely putting a dent in them. And then there were their fingers, which elongated into purplish vines.

Before they started running, Ben quickly said, "They got cords in their backs! Try unplugging them!" And then the three ran screaming through the mass, the mana shield enveloping them in a pink sphere as they barreled through the antibodies.

Watching them leave, Evan whistled. "Damn, they know how to make an exit."

"Always with a flair for the dramatic," Carter said with an eye roll.

"Uh, guys?" Sam piped up as she got out her chainsaw. "Less casual danger dialogue, more destroying bad guys."

"More like, more unplugging bad guys," Evan pointed out, willing away his gun and summoning his sword. "Never thought I needed to use this," he muttered as he sliced through finger vines. Tripping the antibody, he pivoted on his heel and, in one swinging motion, sliced through the cord attached to its back. The body fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Sam quickly sawed through another's power cord, the motor loud and obnoxious. Killing it, she instead summoned one of her dao swords and sliced through another cord. "Please work," she whispered as the bodies fell to the floor.

The sounds of slicing could he heard through the air, as the Pride quickly ducked, rolled, and flipped over the antibodies, severing their connection to the colossus. Bodies hit the floor with inglorious thuds, one by one until they were simply all dead.

Twirling her scythe around before resting it over her shoulder, Carter said, "Well, at least we won't have to look for those missing people." She pointed at the fallen antibodies, which quickly turned a glowing red before shrinking and turning into humans.

Evan did a quick headcount. "Max isn't here."

"You seemed pretty confident that he was the brain," Sam pointed out.

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, why not? The guy's been in the army, in NASA, and was a part of the Plumbers. For the High Breed, he was probably their best asset. Why wouldn't he be in charge of controlling this thing?"

"A valid assumption, considering." Carter quickly willed away her scythe and held out her subspace card and knelt down. Picking up a fully grown man and throwing him over her shoulder, she said, "Come on, we need to get these people out of here."

Outside the colossus

The army was surrounding the nuclear plant, which did little assuage the Pride's fears. Especially since the walking bomb was literally at their doorsteps, stomping on a building and completely crushing it before planting its hand on the biggest nuclear reactor.

Evan, Sam, and Carter had quickly pulled the victims through the green door and left them to the army. They could try to get these people out of the plant, but chances were they were still going to be collateral damage. Carter quickly spied Phineas and Isaac among the soldiers, the two of them sharing a bottle of vodka.

"You got everyone who was working here out?" she asked when she was near them.

"For the most part," Phineas said after taking a swig. "A couple of them stayed behind. They thought they could do something to stop this thing. Foolish, but brave."

"We also got most of the radioactive elements out of the plant," Isaac said, nodding at the glowing reactor. "Granted, it wasn't enough, but it was the best we could do under such short notice."

Sam and Evan, who had joined them, merely stared at the two. "You're both taking the end of the world surprisingly easily," Sam stated, raising an eyebrow.

Both men shrugged. "This isn't our first apocalypse," Isaac admitted.

"And Cordelia's taking it better," Phineas said, nodding to the left. They all turned to see Cordelia leaning against the general's tank, bringing her hand up to cover a bored yawn as she watched the colossus. Ship was at her feet, bleating out the occasional worried, "Ship?"

The colossus was still draining power from the plant. Nearly everyone was tense, but then one of the High Breed suddenly unfurled its wing flaps and flew into the air, soaring behind the monster's head and disappearing from view.

"What is he doing?" Cordelia asked Reiny.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, glancing up at the monster. And then, like a machine powering down, the baleful red eyes of the colossus dimmed until they were completely black. The giant clawed hand lifted from the reactor, and it stood there, completely lifeless.

A moment's hesitation, no one daring to breath, and then the soldiers erupted into cheers. Cordelia joined them, clapping her hands in the most non-sarcastic manner possible. Isaac and Phineas whooped and hollered, hugging each other and spilling vodka on the ground.

The Pride, meanwhile, were still worried. "What are the chances of you being able to move that thing?" Sam asked Evan worriedly.

He shrugged helplessly. "I'm pretty limited when it comes to plants, and something that big is definitely not something I want to test. I could switch to Erda, but he might go overboard in dismantling that thing."

"Don't we want that?" Carter asked, eyebrow raised.

He nodded at the colossus. "It's also absorbed a lot of nuclear power. Just because it's shut off doesn't mean it's not there. I'd rather not risk it."

"Fair point, I guess," Sam said, shrugging. "I mean, we may like this hero thing, but we're really not that. Why should we care if that thing stays?"

"We're more antiheroes if anything," Carter agreed.

"Or anti-villains," Evan mused. "You could argue we're that."

Any further conversation was cut off by the loud creaking coming from the colossus. Its massive hand drooped to its side, and its torso slammed into the reactor. Enormous cracks appeared on the building, cement spilling out of the roof and littering the ground. Steam spilled out of the cracks, the sound like pistons, sharp and ringing through the air.

"Should-should I do something now?" Evan stammered, taking a step back.

"I…should you?" Carter asked, her voice quavering. "I mean, if you use your powers you might make it worse."

"I don't see how he could," Sam moaned. "That reactor's gonna collapse and kill everything nearby anyway!"

"Fuck!" Evan tangled his fingers in his air, a wild look in his eyes. "Fuck!"

And then, glowing red eyes returned with a vengeance. The colossus slowly lifted itself up, the cracks in the reactor stopping their continued destruction. The monster stood… and then fell to the side, away from the power plant, hitting the ground with a massive CRASH.

Dust filled the air, the sound of the monster dying deafening. Glowing red eyes died as dust rapidly filled the air. Reiny cried out, "Ben-Ben Tennyson!" in a display of actual caring.

"…is just fine, and so are we, thanks for asking!" Kevin said sarcastically as the dust cleared. He was inside a pink sphere along with Gwen and Ben and a newly revived Max. They hovered above the wreckage, floating towards the group of humans. Once the shield disappeared and everyone had their feet on the ground, Reiny walked up to them, the Pride running to keep up with him.

Ben took a quick look at Max and asked, "You okay, Grandpa?"

His arms around his grandkids, Max said, "I am. Good work, kids."

"Yes, Ben-Ben Tennyson," Reiny agreed. "You have once again done well."

"It wasn't just me," Ben told him honestly. "And it didn't go that well. The other High Breed was in there. He was the one who saved us," he tapered off, voice small.

"He was a soldier, doing his duty," Reiny gently told him. "There is no higher honor for a High Breed."

"I should hope so," Sam whispered as she looked at the remains of the colossus.

Later

The sun was setting, the orange orb slipping past the tree line and casting the sky in a purple hue. Reiny was walking away from the power plant, escorting Ben-Ben Tennyson and his cohorts back to the RV.

As they walked, Gwen gave the High Breed leader a look. "Just tell us; are there any more High Breed doomsday plans left on Earth we should know about?"

"Absolutely not!" Reiny protested. But then he thought a moment. "Um…I will… check the records."

"That's probably the best we can hope for," Evan said blithely.

"Come on Reiny, I'll have Ship give you a ride home," Ben said.

"After Cordelia uses him to put those people back," Carter reminded him. "Knowing her, it shouldn't take long."

Looking over to him, Gwen anxiously asked, "Grandpa, are you really okay?"

"Yep, I really am," he answered, ignoring Ben's suspicious look. "I'll admit it, though; this little adventure has definitely put me off my vegetables."

"Didn't need to know that!" Sam cried as they all voiced their disgust.

You know, we rarely see Evan use his plant powers in this story. I mean, there really isn't any point when he can just chuck a boulder at someone and be done with it. And I don't remember if he's ever actually used plants to attack someone- tie them up and pluck them out of the air, yes, but I don't think he's ever used it as an offensive skill. I mean, he probably could, but that's more for assassination attempts than anything else. It's most likely Evan's plant powers are very limited, so to unleash their full potential he has to use Erda, but he doesn't want to, so he just uses less subtle earthen attacks.

(Also, keep in mind that the Pride are assassins. They've never really used their powers for anything other than that prior to the High Breed invasion, which is why they get tired so easily when using them for so long. That's slowly changed over the course of the story and is still changing, but they're very set in their ways- why use their powers when they can shoot? Not to mention that Evan's powers are pretty story-breaking; I mean, there's earth just about everywhere, I have to limit them somehow.)

So, thoughts anyone?