Alright my loyal friends this is the second to last chapter before the end of book one. Rest assuredf we plan to get book two out in possibly two weeks. Also it turns out I have been spelling Chill's name wrong since I forgot how Duroth write it orginally (he came up witht the nane) so hopefully that explains why it's different.
Also you will find out who Andrew gets with in chapter one of book 2. Please tell me who you hope he gets with and why.
[INTRUDER ALERT AT MAIN ENTRANCE! INTRUDER ALERT AT MAIN ENTRANCE!], the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy's alarm blared which caused all the young heroes to cease their current activities and rush towards the front entrance.
"We really need a better security system that tells us of the threat before it arrives," Predator snarled as he sprinted towards the main doors alongside several other heroes.
"I really hope it's not Icicle Man, or the bald lady again," Doreen grumbled as she appeared behind Predator.
Soon the ensemble group of heroes arrived at the Academy door: Predator, SG, Dagger, Cloak, White Tiger, Power Man, Spider-Man, and Nova. All the heroes took up fighting stances upon seeing what had just burst through the doors. "Thought I told you not to come back, Chillblain." Predator snarled as he activated both his gauntlets claws, and his plasma cannon activated and took aim at his enemy.
The other SHIELD Academy heroes activated their powers as well. Nova power, tendrils of shadow, blades made of light and web-shooters all pointed themselves at the armored cryokinetic. "I'm not here to fight, Andrew," Chillnlain said in a calm and collected tone as he raised both his hands in a sign of surrender.
"Forgive me if I don't believe you," Predator snarled as his cannon began charging up a shot. Noticing this Spider-Man quickly webbed the opening of his armored ally's plasma cannon, sealing it shut. "What was that for?" Predator hissed without turning to face his leader.
"If he's here to surrender, we shouldn't attack him. He's surrendering himself to our authority, and we shouldn't abuse it," Spider-Man explained.
This only got an angered huff in response. "Forgive me if I disagree..." Predator snarled as he factored a webbed plasma cannon into his calculations.
"Would you believe me if I did this?" Chilblain asked, pressing a button under his helmets chin. Starting with the helmet, the suit of power armor opened like a flower, allowing Chillblain to step out. As soon as he had left the armor, the suit's helmet reformed and the armor closed up, leaving the empty suit standing still. With a hiss, every light on the suit turned off, and every vent shut, putting the armor in full lock down.
"Maybe I believe you a little now," Predator said as he retracted his claws into his gauntlets, Chilblain exhaled a sigh of relief. "I'm still not taking any chances. Spidey, it's your call." Predator said as he turned to face his leader.
The web-slinging hero pondered for a few seconds before coming up with an answer. "Let's take him to a prison cell and get some answers out of him," Spidey said as he walked behind their surrendered enemy and proceeded to web his hands behind his back, effectively rendering his hands useless, or at least so he thought.
"Chill has ice powers as you know. He could freeze off those webs," Predator warned his leader.
Before the web-slinging hero could reply, Chillblain spoke up. "I don't want to fight you anymore, Andrew," the defeated ice-man said as he hung his head low in defeat. "I just want the truth about what happened to Cynthia. I judged you before I asked for your side of the story. Please tell me what happened to her."
"You really want the truth, don't you?" Predator asked quietly.
"Please, mate..." Chillblain asked with such a pained expression that it was obvious that he truly meant it.
"Alright, then. I'll tell you what happened," Predator said, his mind reeling back in time to that day in Russia...
He was standing beneath a massive pine tree, somewhere in eastern Russia... "Aegis, something's up with comms, and we are not in the dark zone yet," Predator said to his teammate.
"He did warn us that this could happen," Aegis said as she stopped moving and activated a holographic map from her wrist.
"But we are not in the dark zone... Something's not right. I'm going to try contact someone-"
Before Andrew could continue, his suits' HUD lit up with warnings. {{Warning! Error detected in Neural Linkup!}}
Andrew turned to look at Aegis to see her removing her owl-like helmet. "Andrew, something's wrong. We need to get out of these suits-" Andrew convulsed as what felt like white-hot knives shot into his spine. "Ahhhh!" Andrew dropped to his knees and began rolling and screaming in pain. "Eject!" He yelled through his pain. It felt like his spine was getting burnt and clawed out at the same time.
{{Emergency eject offline...}}
Andrew's stomach dropped. "Override, code 15!" Andrew yelled, and his suit immediately folded back and spat him out. Andrew lay writhing on the ground next to his suit for a moment, trying to think through the pain. He brought his hand to touch his back, and he was met with a warm crimson colored liquid that he knew all too well. "Cynthia..." he croaked to her as he spat out blood and tried crawling to her. Instead of words, he was meet by a blood curdling scream, one he recognized, as well.
Andrew attempted to stand, but his knees buckled and he fell back in to the cold, foreign soil. Looking up, he could see her standing there screaming, trying to get her suit to eject her. "I can't eject!" She said before continuing to scream.
Andrew felt adrenaline pumping in his system as he, using the last of his strength, was able to make it to his feet. Very shakily, he tried to move towards her. All the while, he could feel blood pooling out of his back, and he could feel his strength leaving his body with every drop. He fell back unto the cold foreign soil and was met with a deafening silence. "Cynthia..." he tried calling to her, but was met by nothing. Looking up from where he lay, he could see her laying in the cold dirt. Mustering up what little strength he had left, he crawled through the grass and the dirt towards her as fast as his crippled body would allow as he soon reached his silent friend.
"Cynthia," he said desperately as he looked her over, hoping for a response. The answer was an heart-rending silence. Andrew reached down and pressed the hidden button that retracted her helmet and was met with a grim site. His friend's face had blood flowing from both her nostrils. Her mouth was closed, but her brown eyes were open and were staring at him, almost as if she was just watching the clouds. Andrew refused to give up, even though his heart knew it was too late. He tried performing CPR with his bare hands in an attempt to start her heart again. He screamed at her suit, hoping that the programming would accept his commands and activate the Emergency Medical Systems, but nothing happened.
"Cynthia..." he said in a barely audible pain filled whisper as he let his right hand slid his palm over his face and close her eyes for the last time…
"I … can't believe it…" Chill murmured as he fell to his knees in disbelief. "But … that means…"
"Yes," Predator replied. "He lied. To you, to Omeran, to everyone."
"Then what's the point?" Chill muttered to himself. After a few moments, he looked up to look Spider-Man in the eye. "I can give you lots of information to help you people take down my former employer, but I want something in return."
"What is it?" Spider-Man asked.
"I want in," Chill replied bluntly. "I want to fight. Make sure Cynthia didn't die in vain."
Predator frowned. "I don't know…" He said.
"I don't know, either," Spider-Man added. "We'll have to think about this one."
Chill Blaine shrugged his shoulders. "I'll take it," he said. "I'll take it." Suddenly, he realized what he was doing. Not only was he fighting Omeran, a tough opponent to face, he was also fighting some former friends of his. (It'll be worth it,) he told himself. (It's gotta be…)
Edited by Darkest Nightmare's Dread
