VII
"According to the informant," Derek said, "the Eco-Activist is holing up inside Perez Park. The informant says the Eco-Activist is hiding out here, in Gaimon Woods. There's a mystical site formerly occupied by a Circle of Thorns coven that he's commandeered, perhaps in the belief that his powers will be stronger."
Ben, too antsy to sit, paced the floor as the warshade explained the tactical situation. He stopped to peer at the map of the park broadcast on the screen.
"It's tactically advantageous for him," Ben said. "With the forest that dominates most of the park, he has plenty of vegetation at his fingertips."
"What about the gangs in the forest?" Richard asked. "The Clockwork, the Circle of Thorns and others. Would they be working for him?"
"Probably not," Derek said. "If anything, he would have cleared the forest of those gangs first."
"We know from the tipster that the Eco-Activist plans to incite the various gang members into a riot," Ben said. "How he plans to do that, our informant doesn't know, but we're looking at a twofold threat here. The riots are intended to keep Paragons heroes and police department occupied while the Eco-Activist unleashes his vegetation. I've consulted with the leaders of the other supergroups, and they have stepped up their alert levels for increased gang activity. The Freedom Phalanx is already dealing with an incursion of Rikti remnants from the war, so their hands are tied in dealing with this new threat to Paragon."
"What it boils down to, Ben, is that the Eco-Activist is ours alone," Richard said.
Ben looked toward his brother, who sat at the conference table between Kari and Frost Axe. "Reinforced by Dave and his bots, yes."
"How do you want to go about this?"
Ben pointed to the section of the map labeled as Gaimon Woods, located in the southeastern portion of the park. "We'll hit him in a three-pronged attack. Richard, Lyta, and Frost Axe will hit first from the north. Once you have him engaged, Kari and Derek will attack from the east and Dave and I will hit from the west. Hopefully, the Eco-Activist will be unable to coordinate his plants on three fronts."
"Or the two flank attacks catch him by surprise," Lyta said.
"We'll need to slip into the forest and get into position quietly, without detection. If he has any sentries, they'll have to be dealt with quietly."
"We can expect his sentries, if any, to be recruited from the environmentalist groups he's contacted," Derek said. "Our biggest concern with them won't be their fighting prowess, but the possibility of their alerting the Eco-Activist."
"I can provide EM jamming transmitters that can be easily warn on our persons," Dave said. "They'll disrupt any communications, from a child's toy walkie-talkie to the most powerful cell phone signal. And I can tune it so it doesn't disrupt our own comms network."
Ben glanced at his brother. "Really."
"How do you think I planned on breaking into Crey facilities without having their guards converge on me?"
---
The jean- and t-shirt-clad sentry jumped as the three heroes approached him. He fumbled for the two-way radio clipped to his belt, and he finally got it free.
"One word," Frost Axe said, placing the edge of his axe blade against the closest tree, "and I start swinging."
The sentry moved the radio away from his lips. Richard stepped up and took the radio from him. The blue-clad hero crunched the radio in his grip and let the pieces fall to the forest floor.
"Dude, that's littering, man," the sentry said.
Richard pulled four fifty-dollar bills from a compartment on his belt. He took a locator beacon from another compartment and wrapped it with the notes. He placed the bill-wrapped beacon into the sentry's palm.
"When you see the cops," he said, "tell them that's my fine for littering."
"Dude, were you really going to hurt that defenseless tree?" the youth asked.
"You're working for a guy who wants to hurt hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings," Richard said.
"Along with extra-dimensional beings, Kheldians, other innumerable aliens, cyborgs, and anyone else living in Paragon City," Frost Axe added.
"So you see," Richard continued, "I ain't too worried about one tree."
He flicked the toggle on the beacon to activate its signal, and the young man was teleported directly to the Paragon City jail.
"You keep money on you while in costume?" Frost Axe asked.
"Super heroing can get a man mighty thirsty," Richard said. "I might want to stop somewhere for a soda after putting a bad guy away."
"But carrying a wad of fifties?"
"Well...that new PC game is supposed to be coming out today, and I was hoping to pick up a copy after this."
Frost Axe, peering through night vision goggles he held to his eyes, said, "Another lookout two hundred yards ahead and slightly—"
Lyta already had a blunt-tipped subduing arrow nocked. She fired, threading her shot through the boughs of three interposing trees.
"And he's down," Frosty said. "Do all Amazons have senses as sharp as yours?"
"It is how we survived," Lyta said.
Richard smiled at his wife. "Did you know that you're incredibly sexy when you shoot like that?"
Lyta smirked, an eyebrow arched. "Your society has this unnatural prudish need to completely cover yourselves. I suspect you would find a woman who does anything in what you call a bikini sexy."
"Well, yeah."
"Even doing something as mundane as bathing an automobile."
"Oh yeah," Richard said, images of Lyta washing the Wolf-jet while wearing her Amazon accouterments flashing through his mind. "And, baby, you wash a car, not bathe a car."
"It means the same thing, does it not?"
"Well, sorta."
"Perhaps we should save the nuances of English until later," Frosty said.
The trio approached the fallen man, who lay near a tree trunk, struggling to catch his breath. Richard stooped to attach a locator beacon on the man. He hit the activation switch, and the youth dematerialized.
Richard led Lyta and Frost Axe deeper into the thick foliage of Gaimon Woods.
---
Kari crouched low, scanning ahead with night vision goggles. She spotted a long-haired young man in a tie-dyed shirt and ratty jeans leaning against a tree. Puffs of smoke wafted as he took a drag off a filtered commercial cigarette. She moved quietly toward the sentry, concealed by a magical spell that rendered her invisible.
Derek, in his squid form and also concealed by Kari's magic, hovered over her shoulder.
The youth was caught completely unaware as Derek fired off one of his dark energy bolts. The sentry slumped unconscious to the ground, and Kari ground the cigarette out under a stiletto heel before it could ignite the foliage. She stooped to attach a locator beacon and flicked a switch. The young man dematerialized.
A nearby young woman, wearing clothing similar to the young man the heroes had just subdued, looked in their direction. Although Kari and Derek were still invisible, the disappearance of her counterpart was enough to raise the young woman's suspicions. She raised a radio to her lips.
Derek fired a bolt into her, dropping her. Kari placed a beacon on the sentry and sent her off to the Paragon City lock-up with her partner.
They were almost in their designated position.
The pair found no further sentries on their approach to the grove where the Eco-Activist was reported to be holing up. They arrived at the edge of the clearing and hunkered down behind a clump of bushes. The area was lit by bioluminescent plants, and Kari removed her night goggles.
The Eco-Activist was where the informant had said. He sat in an elaborate chair formed from vegetation, one leg crossed over the other. Three college-age young people—a man and two women—kept him company. The man seemed to stand watch as the women clung to the green-clad villain's arms, fawning over him. An older man, perhaps in his sixties, also occupied the clearing. He stood facing the Eco-Activist, reporting progress on the preparations.
Kari relaxed her invisibility, and as soon as she could see herself she pushed forward the cuff of her glove to check her watch. The time to strike was drawing close.
Derek, in his human form, hunkered next to her. He scanned continuously with his goggles. He nodded ahead, toward the opposite side of the clearing. Kari lifted her night goggles to briefly peer through them, saw the forms of Ben and Dave already in position. She scanned to her right and saw Richard, Lyta, and Frosty.
The predesignated time arrived, and Lyta signaled the attack by lofting a flash bang arrow into the midst of the Eco-Activist and his minions.
---
The flash bang worked as intended, and the villains in the clearing were disoriented. Ben and Dave waited as Richard and Frost Axe burst from the woods into the clearing. The two male minions attempted to interdict the heroes, but Richard and Frosty quickly defeated them. The women charged next, but Lyta netted both with her arrows.
The Eco-Activist stood, shaking off the effects of the flash bang. He called upon the powers of nature, and vines rose out of the ground to wrap around Richard and Frosty.
Richard's personal force field prevented the vegetation from obtaining a good hold; likewise, the vines seemed to slide off the sheath of ice that encased Frost Axe.
The Eco-Activist hurled a volley of thorns at the unconscious middle-aged man, killing him. Hideous carrion-devouring plants suddenly writhed from the corpse, snaking toward the heroes.
The Eco-Activist hurled another salvo of thorns, this time at the younger unconscious man. As the youth died, more carrion-eating vines emerged from the corpse.
The female minions screamed as the Eco-Activist turned toward them. Richard moved quickly, placing himself between the green-clad villain and the netted girls, spreading his cape wide between his raised arms. The thorns deflected away.
Richard placed locator beacons on the women and sent them to the safety of the Paragon City jail.
The Eco-Activist called up more plants, entangling both Lyta and Frosty. He threw salvos of thorns at the advancing Richard.
"Now," Ben said into his comms.
He and Dave emerged from their concealment as Kari and Derek simultaneously emerged from theirs. Dave's drones dropped down from the sky.
Energy beams, pulse blasts, electrical arcs, dark energy bolts, and streams of laser fire converged on the Eco-Activist. A sheath of vines grew from the ground and surrounded him, taking the bulk of the attack. As the protective vines burned to a crisp under the onslaught, the Eco-Activist called up the power of the plant kingdom.
A large Venus flytrap, about twice the height of an average man, grew from the underbrush and turned its maw toward the heroes. It flicked one of its stalks, peppering the drone Joshua with a hail of thorns. Most of the thorns were deflected away by the drone's protective bubble, but enough penetrated to hit vital systems. The drone toppled onto its side.
The carrion creeper vines writhed and flailed, reaching for Derek. The warshade unleashed his energy bolts at the vegetation, forcing the vines back. They relentlessly kept up their attack, reaching for the Kheldian.
The Eco-Activist extended his spike from his glove and lunged at the drone Hal, piercing its vitals and knocking it out of action.
Ben and Dave turned their weapons on the green-clad villain, driving him back.
The giant flytrap grabbed Richard in its maw and chewed on him as it attempted to pierce his force field and damage resistant suit. Lyta cried out in horror as she struggled to free her arms from the vines that entangled her and Frost Axe.
Frosty worked himself free and charged the flytrap. His axe clove through the plant's primary stalk, severing its maw and releasing Richard. The blue-clad hero tried to lever himself up, but some of the flytrap's digestive fluids had penetrated his protections.
Even as the flytrap crumpled to the ground, the Eco-Activist summoned another. The plant lunged at the helpless Lyta, but Ben and Dave concentrated their weapons blasts at the flytrap, knocking it away from the Amazon.
Kari, meanwhile, used her magic to heal Richard's wounds. The new flytrap swung its main stalk, batting Kari with its mouthed pod. She landed on her back, and the flytrap reared up in preparation for unleashing a volley of thorns at her.
Ben fired an energy burst at the plant, but it wasn't deterred.
Dave tapped the keypad on his forearm, and Hal's backup systems whirred to operation. The drone revived and moved between the flytrap and Kari. The volley of thorns struck Hal, and the drone toppled over.
Ben, meanwhile, swooped in and placed himself between the giant flytrap and his wife. He unloaded a torrent of energy at the carnivorous plant.
The Eco-Activist cackled as he summoned an army of entangling vines. Richard, Frost Axe, and Lyta were effectively immobilized by the snaking and constricting plants. They struggled, but the vegetation slowly squeezed the life out of them. Even as they broke free of one set of vines, another set grew from the ground at the Eco-Activist's command.
Derek had eliminated the carrion vines and joined Ben in pouring energy bolts into the flytrap.
"Sarah," Dave said, "recall Hal and Joshua to the lab. Let me know when you've put their memory chips into new bodies."
Ben didn't hear Sarah's reply, but Dave's drones dematerialized as they were teleported from the scene. Dave turned his rifle on the flytrap. Kari, meanwhile, had her full attention on the entangled heroes, using her magic to heal them as quickly as the constricting vines inflicted bodily damage.
Ben, Dave, and Derek finally succeeded in slaying the giant flytrap. Not to be defeated so easily, the Eco-Activist summoned another.
"Damn it," Dave growled. "Two can play that game."
He must have received word from Sarah that Hal and Joshua were ready. He cased his rifle and began tapping on the forearm keypad.
"Betrayer!" the Eco-Activist cried.
The newly summoned flytrap lashed at Dave. Its maw closed on Dave's left arm, crunching through his armor. Dave cried out as his left arm was ripped off at the shoulder. Crimson splashed onto the ground as he stumbled backward. He'd inadvertently put his back toward the Eco-Activist.
The green-clad villain extended his spike and plunged it into Dave's back. The point burst from his armored chest.
"No!" Ben cried as Dave slid off the Eco-Activist's spike.
Ben summoned all the energy his power cells could generate and unleashed it at the flytrap. The carnivorous plant was vaporized in a nova of explosive energy.
He turned his attention to the Eco-Activist, but his armor was drained of power. He still had his own muscles, however, and he launched himself at the green-clad villain with adrenaline-fueled rage. He tackled the Eco-Activist and bore him to the ground.
Ben pummeled the Eco-Activist with his gauntleted fist, slamming repeated blows into the villain's smug face. Even as his wire-rimmed glasses shattered away under the onslaught, the Eco-Activist laughed.
"Ben!" Kari cried. "Ben, you're going to kill him!"
Ben barely heard her as rage roared in his ears, and he continued to pummel the offensive villain. Until Kari grabbed his arm.
He turned his face toward his wife, peering into her eyes through his helmet goggles and her blue mask.
He took a locator beacon from his belt and attached it to the Eco-Activist's costume. He flicked the toggle, sending a signal directly to the Zig instead of the Paragon City jail. The Zig had the facilities to detain a super-powered inmate. The Eco-Activist dematerialized.
It was over.
Ben pulled his helmet off his head and whirled toward his fallen brother.
Dave was gone. Vanished.
"What—" he stammered.
"He was ported away," Derek said.
"The Mediport system?"
"Perhaps."
Ben looked at Kari. "Did you sense any life force in him?"
Kari pulled her mask down from her face and put a hand to her husband's cheek. "I...I didn't have the chance to check. I'm afraid his wounds were too severe even for my magic."
"But if he got medical attention at one of the hospitals..."
Kari said nothing. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. She nuzzled her face against his.
He knew she couldn't lie to him, which was why she didn't answer him. She wasn't confident that even Paragon's vaunted hospitals couldn't save his brother.
Meanwhile, no longer under the Eco-Activist's influence, the animated vegetation fell away, releasing the ensnared heroes. They all looked mournfully at Ben.
"That armored car incident is meaningless now," Richard said. "What Dave did for Paragon today, the price he paid, more than makes up for that."