TIME FOR THE BATTLLLLLLE!
Chapter Sixteen - Voltage
I woke up a few minutes later to see Jessica missing from Victor's office and said villain still holding the missile launcher. My random nap had me miss the attack on Johnny, but had given me the inspiration to escape. Looking down, I saw the control panel for the bonds had wires running right past my hands. Arching my back, I managed to press my finger against the wire and surged, shorting out the clamps. I dropped to the ground, like in my dream, to see the door open and Leonard standing in the hall, Jessica behind him with a gun in her hand.
"Are you okay?" she asked, running to my side. I stood and watched Leonard scurry away.
"Peachy," I replied, detaching the wires. "Where'd you get the gun?"
"Found it," was her reply.
I shrugged. "Whatever." Turning back to the screen, I saw the room had gone dark. "I'm going back up there. Why don't you catch the sewer rat," I said, referring to Leonard.
Jess grinned. "My pleasure." As she took off down the hall to the stairs, I raced to the office.
Reed was nearly defrosted when I arrived, and Sue was helping him stand. "Hey! Love-birds! Where'd Victor go?" I called, startling them.
"Eve! Where have you been?" asked Sue, staring at me.
"Doesn't matter. I just need to find that son of a bitch and teach him not to mess with me." I strode across the room and to the gaping hole in the windows. "I'm going to assume Ben was here, judging by the hole. He tends to do that." Then I spotted the chaos below. "Oh, found him."
Reed's vocal chords returned to him. "What are you doing?" he asked.
I had grabbed my bag, which was splayed on the ground, and was pulling out the canvas Tess had given to me. Unwrapping it, I was presented with a portrait of me and metal-Victor, squaring off on the street. I was wearing a torn, black suit and was surrounded by lighting strikes coming from my ex-boss' hands. Two blue forms, a bright red one, and a large orange one stood behind me, blurred out of view.
My eyes were glowing blue.
I dropped the painting back in my bag and turned to face my friends. They were my friends now, that much I knew. "I'm going to go kick some metal ass. You in?" Sue and Reed looked at each other, stunned speechless by the fact I was taking control.
"Yes," said Sue, quickly echoed by the doctor.
I grinned, and I felt my hands spark with anticipation. "Good. Then lets go."
The street was wrecked when we got there. Ben and Victor stared each other down, then the rock-man ran towards his enemy. Reed lurched forwards to help his friend, but I grabbed his collar and pulled him back. "Not yet," I growled, stepping closer to the action.
Victor hit Ben with a metal pole like a baseball, sending him flying into the asphalt, forming a crater. He flipped the pole in his hands as he approached the Thing, chuckling. "Good-bye, Ben," he said, rearing back for the final blow.
Reed broke free of me and stepped into sight. "I can't let you do that," he said, strength in his voice. Victor paused at the sound of his rival.
"Reed?" He turned and laughed. "I'll be right with you." He thrust down with the pole as Sue joined Reed, protecting Ben with a force field. Frustrated, Victor passed the lance to his other hand and span around to see the blonde. "Hello, Susan." She stood in a protective stance, glaring at him. I stuck to the shadows and watched, waiting. I could see the star moving closer. "You three, are pathetic," he said, stepping forwards. His advance was stopped by a fireball, hurled from the sky. As the villain fought to regain his balance, Johnny landed next to his sister and turned off the flames.
Victor inspected his burnt cloak and looked up at the younger Storm, ignoring the bystanders' screams. "You missed me," said the playboy, smirking. Ben stood, grumbling, and joined the rest of his team, while Reed looked proud. "Had a little relapse, huh?" asked Johnny, to which Ben glared. "Welcome back."
"This is going to be fun," said Victor, standing up straight.
"Oh, I don't think so!" I called. Victor and the Four span to look at me, standing by myself to the side. "You see, there is something about me none of you realize. I don't like being threatened. At all." I strode towards Victor, electricity leaping between us. "I've had enough people trying to kill me in my lifetime already, thank you." I stood in front of the metal man, looking into his eyes.
"So why don't you fuck off," I growled, pressing my hand to Victor's chest.
The energy surge that passed through me knocked me back a few feet and partly behind a mangled car. Victor threw out his hands, groaning, as bolts of electricity burst from surrounding technology and to Doctor Doom. I also opened my hands, hissing in pain as I absorbed as much as I could. Through hazy vision, I saw some bolts hit the team, and Sue trying to contain the debris flying around. Reaching out with both hands, I closed my eyes and envisioned myself reeling in the bolts, sucking them into my fingers and through my body. I shook with the amount of power I was trying to contain in one session, and felt my body spasm.
The surging stopped, and I opened my eyes to see Victor being assaulted by Reed, stretched out. He and Johnny exchanged words, but my ears were ringing. I struggled to stay awake, and staggered to my hands and knees, coughing out sparks. The Human Torch lit up and began to fly around Victor, and Reed's plan became clear. Sue began to contain the fire with her force fields, at least until the strain began to get to much for the siblings. They both fell.
Victor appeared, white with heat. Ben tore the top off a fire hydrant and aimed the water at Reed, who stretched to direct it at his rival. The steam filled the air.
I seized again, crying out from the pain and collapsing. Static flew from my fingers. As the crowd cheered, I knew Victor had been defeated, but I was quickly loosing consciousness. Then a face burst through the haze. Tessa grinned down at me, then pulled me up into a sitting position. Behind her were two men - the bald one in a wheelchair and the scruffy one smoking a cigar. She opened her bag and dumped out a pile of food. Rooting though it, she found a bag of bread and handed it to me.
"Eat, stupid!" she commanded. With numb fingers, I devoured the bread and moved on to the rest of the food, ignoring the scruffy man's snort. Tessa rubbed my back and collected the empty packages.
When I had finished, I looked at my best friend. "You are an awful artist," I said, hitting her on the shoulder.
"And you are a terrible superhero," she said, returning the favor.
"I'm afraid we must leave, dear. Logan, would you please?" The bald man smiled at me, then wheeled towards the black car as the other man slid inside and started it up.
Tess grinned at me again. "So, you just helped the Fantastic Four save the world. Send me a postcard from the base, won't you?" Then she stood and joined the two in the car and drove off, but not before yelling, "Sweet dreams!".
Although I thought I knew what she meant, she still didn't make any sense.
Okay, did anyone spot the cameo? Who was it? o.O the world may never know.
OH GAWD, ALL THE SECRETS ARE COMING TO LIGHT! ALL THE SECRETS AND HINTS I'VE BEEN WEAVING THROUGH THE STORY ARE GOING TO BE UNRAVELED SOON, IF NOT IN THIS STORY THEN IN THE NEXT!
:( This makes me sad. Tessa's not coming back until much, much later. :(
READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! THE STORY IS ALMOST AT THE CLOSE!