Battle of the Sexes
"This is so BORING!" Jack said miserably. Both he and Hiccup were atop a building across the street from Berk's museum. They were staking it out in case someone made a move on the sword. And Jack was bored.
Hiccup didn't respond as he kept his eyes on the images within his helmet. He had tapped into the security footage and it was being fed into his helmet. He kept on the lookout for anything strange, taking extra special care to look at the frame over the Sword of Mor'du.
"It's a stakeout Jack. This is what you do on a stake out," he finally responded evenly. Jack huffed and twirled his staff in his hands as he watched the building for anything suspicious. He was really hoping for some action tonight.
"How long should I wait to call Rapunzel?" he asked to make conversation.
Hiccup thought about it for a moment and decided to humor him. "Depends on how much you like her," he said thoughtfully.
"Three days?" Jack offered.
"If you really like her just call her tomorrow," he said with a shrug.
"You don't call a girl the next day man. Then you seem too eager," Jack replied. "That's basic dating 101."
"Well excuse me if I'm a bit out of practice. Haven't had a girlfriend in five years," Hiccup responded dryly. "Seriously Jack. You're an adult. If you like her just call her."
Jack just rolled his eyes. Maybe he would…nah, two days and he'd call. Then his face formed into a mischievous smile. "So what was that last thing Merida said to you before she left," he asked slowly. He smirked as he saw Hiccup's shoulders tense.
"Nothing," he mumbled, embarrassment evident in his tone.
"Didn't seem like nothing. By the way you turned all red. And don't think I didn't see that wink," Jack pressed. He always had fun putting Hiccup on the spot. Watching him squirm was too much fun.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hiccup stammered out. He was glad he was wearing a helmet. Otherwise Jack would be able to see his embarrassment.
"Oh yes you do you sly dog you," he teased. "You said she's an experience horse rider. I bet there something else she wants to ride," Jack suggested. At this Hiccup had enough. A small missile launcher popped out from his shoulder armor and pointed itself at Jack.
"One more word Frost," Hiccup warned smoothly. Jack just chuckled. Having had enough of teasing his friend and knowing when to back off. Thus the next few minutes passed uneventfully as the duo watched the building in silence. Then within Hiccup's helmet one of the frames cut out for a second before going back to normal. Hiccup furrowed his brows at this and watched. And one by one the other frames began to do the same thing.
Hiccup stood up straight. Jack noticed this and came to stand beside him. "We got something?" Jack asked seriously.
Hiccup nodded. "I think so…lets go."
I had been relatively easy to break into the museum. Merida was no stranger to having to break into places. Plus she had many a useful gadget for such a thing. And expert lock picker and gadgets that could hack a security door made it as easy as if she were a thief.
When they'd gotten Merida made a point to look out for cameras. As they saw one she would fire an arrow into the wall where the camera was mounted, then arrow would beam a signal into the camera and make it loop and replay the image of its previous scan. If there was a particular hard target she would have Rapunzel fly and float before placing the arrow onto the wall.
Luckily she'd already hacked the motion sensors and deactivated the laser beams beforehand making walking easy as long as they didn't touch anything. Soon enough they were standing before the case containing the Sword of Mor'du. Inspecting it carefully, she saw the black bear symbol on the sheathe near the hilt, confirming its identity.
Beside her Rapunzel shivered a little. Merida glanced over at her. "You were right Mer. I can feel the dark magic coming off this thing. It's definitely not safe out in the open like this," she said as she stared at the sword.
Merida nodded in agreement. Then from her pocket she pulled out a diamond tipped glass cutting tool. Just as she was about to place it on the glass a chill ran up her spine. She originally thought that maybe she was feeling the effects of the sword as well. But Merida wasn't as in touch with magical forces as Rapunzel was. Then she noticed she could see her breath. She realized the temperature had actually dropped around them.
Suddenly a bright light behind them flashed on and both girls jumped in surprise before turning around. Squinting against the light she could make out two men, one dressed in black and red robotic armor and another in a blue hood and a cane staff in his hands. She instantly recognized them as Berk's superheroes, Frost and Night Fury. She cursed inwardly, she'd been hoping they wouldn't run into them.
"What do we have here?" Frost said curiously.
Merida and Rapunzel exchanged a nervous glance. This was not a part of the plan and this situation could be easily misinterpreted. Rapunzel raised her hands to her sides. "I know this looks bad, but this isn't what it looks like," she said hurriedly.
"It looks like you were about to steal a precious piece of museum property," Fury said.
"We aren't thieves," Merida said firmly.
Fury turned his gaze on her. She stared him down as he appeared to be analyzing her. Then he turned his gaze to Rapunzel who flinched and bit her lip nervously.
Inside his helmet his scanners were pulling up information on the mystery women. And a match was found from newspaper clips and live videos. Mainly from Corona City. "Archer and Limelight," he said breaking the silence.
"The heroes from Corona City?" Frost asked in surprise. "What are you guys doing here? And why are you trying to steal the sword?"
"The sword is isnae safe here. It will be safer in uir hans," Archer responded. (She tended to speak in her thicker accent when confronting people as Archer)
"This is our turf ladies. And we can't just have you going around taking things from under our noses," Frost bit back.
A heavy silence fell upon the group as they stared each other down. Unsure of how to proceed. Both groups were heroes who knew of each other by reputation. No one wanted a fight.
"My friend is right. We can't simply turned a blind eye to this," Fury said breaking the silence. "But how about you leave the sword and come with us and let's compare notes. We can watch the sword together," Fury offered calmly.
Rapunzel glanced to Merida for her opinion. Though they were partners she tended to follow Merida's lead. Merida turned to look at Rapunzel. From under her hood Rapunzel could see her friend's eyes flick to the sword and back to her. She gave the tiniest nod in understanding.
Then in a flash Archer pulled and arrow from her quiver and fired it at Frost and Fury. The two of them flinched in surprise but then the arrow arched down to the floor instead. They were confused before the arrow suddenly started to release a thick smokescreen. The two women were obscured from their view and both men heard the sound of breaking glass.
"Frost," Hiccup said sharply.
"Right," he said. With a wave of his cane he commanded the wind to blow and clear the smokescreen. When it had cleared they found the women gone. They ran up to the sword case to find the glass shattered and the sword gone.
"Where'd they go?" Jack growled out in irritation. Hiccup looked around before looking up.
"Give you a clue," he said as he pointed up. Jack looked up to see an air vent popped open. The vent was relatively large. Could probably fit two people. And if you could fly you could probably shoot straight up to the roof.
Frost and Fury exchanged a glance before turning and running to the exit to make a pursuit.
"Are you sure that was a good idea Archer?" Rapunzel asked. She was carrying Merida as they flew away from the museum. After the smokescreen she shattered the glass of the case before grabbing the sword. Then she looped an arm around her before flying up and through an air vent and to the roof before flying away.
"The sword is too dangerous to be left there Limelight," Merida said. She hadn't wanted to do that either. But those two had no idea how dangerous this sword was. Or how deadly the person who was after was either. It was better with them.
As they skimmed rooftops in a mad attempt to get as far away from the pursuers as possible their path was suddenly blocked by a bunch of ice shards shooting from the sky and in front of them. Setting down both girls turned to see Frost and Fury descending onto their rooftop.
"That wasn't very nice of you guys," Frost said in mock offense. The girls stared them down. Knowing that a fight was probably unavoidable now.
"Last chance ladies," Fury said in warning.
Merida glared. Then slowly she looped the sword through her belt under her cloak. Then she drew an arrow from her quiver and held it at the ready. Fury raised as hand, his palm glowing as he prepared to fire a plasma blast. Beside her Rapunzel's hair started to glow bright as she prepared to fight. She dropped a little and took a battle stance. Frost twirled his staff before holding it with both hands and at the ready.
Then the two groups stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. It came in the form of archer firing an arrow at Fury. Fury's scanners locked on to it and with a slight adjustment of his hand fired a plasma blast at it. The blast and the arrow collided in between the groups and exploded, scattering dust and particles and separating the two groups with a veil of smoke.
Charging forward Frost blew the smoke away with a wave of his cane. Deciding to engage Limelight he fired shards of ice at her. She responded by floating off the ground and to a different rooftop. Frost took to the air and after her, leaving Archer and Fury to fight amongst themselves.
Archer and Fury stared each other down, Archer holding a bow at the ready while Fury held his hands up, his palms facing out towards her and his helmet locked on to her. He really didn't want to have to hurt her. But she asked for a fight, so she'd get it.
Archer let her arrow fly. Fury blasted it with his left hand before firing at her with his other. These blasts were low in power. With enough concussive force to knock someone out. Archer nimbly dodged. Dashing to the right before leaping over an air conditioner for cover. He kept his eyes on the position she'd hidden behind. Waiting for her next attack. Then she popped up with another arrow at the ready. Then she fired.
As Fury was about to fire at it the tip suddenly burst open and sent a net flying at him. He flinched in surprise and was too late to dodge it as it wrapped around him. He saw Archer smile in triumph. But with a growl he activated his wings, the extremely sharp edges sliced through the netting and he took to the air. Hovering above the rooftop for an aerial advantage.
He didn't want to do damage the rooftops so he stuck to his plasma blasts as he fired at Archer again and again. But the woman was agile and fast. Somersaulting, leaping, and vaulting over something and avoiding taking a hit. At one point she leapt to another building. But this one had less cover so Fury assumed she's made the move not knowing she was putting herself into the open. As he flew after her she fired an arrow at him. Instead of blasting it he swerved to the side and let it fly passed him.
Then he straightened out to hover before taking aim again. He was about to return fire when suddenly his suit warned him about an incoming projectile. Confused he was suddenly hit by an explosion on the back of his armor. The force of which was enough to send him to the gorund.
What the hell?! He though in shock. How had he been hit? His armor hadn't sustained much damage though as it showed him a diagnostics report. Pushing himself off the ground he got into a kneeling position before looking up. But then suddenly an arrow flew and hit him in the right shoulder. He glanced over and saw the head wasn't a point. It was likely magnetic as it stuck to his armor. Before he could pull it out it released a massive electrical surge, shorting out his armor and disabling it.
"Armor, initiate reboot," he commanded. The armor responded, but it was going to take a minute or two to get back online. From the holes of his helmet he saw archer walk into sight.
"Aam sorry, but thes is fur th' best." She said softly. Fury was actually surprised he could her a hint of regret in her tone. Then she turned to walk away, as she did he thought about the way she talked. Her accent was interesting. It wasn't an English accent, but it was something he knew.
Meanwhile on the other rooftop Frost and Limelight were fighting in close quarters. Limelight was on the defensive and Frost kept coming at her, twirling and lashing out with his cane. He'd become amazingly good at using it over the years. He was so deft with it his skills were on par with martial arts masters.
Limelight was having some difficulty defending against Frost's attacks. Though she was no stranger to close combat she hadn't really been trained to properly fight. Usually her powers were all she needed. Luckily they increased her speed and reflexes to a point where she could mildly keep up.
As she blocked a swing from his staff she threw a jab with her free hand. Frost saw it coming and side stepped her attack. With a twirl of his staff he spun around her and smacked her on the rear before giving her shove forward. She yelped and stumbled forward before turning around with a glare.
Frost only smirked. Not at all remorseful. Her face twisted into a snarl and suddenly her hair began to glow a bright gold before it came to life and started lashing out at him. Frost was surprised but reacted, spinning and backing away he leapt over things and jumped over her hair as it attempted to grab t him.
Then he thrust his palm forward, blowing it back for a moment with the wind and allowing him to hook his cane behind Limelight's right ankle. With a sharp tug he pulled her off her feet and onto her back. He yelped in surprise before hitting the ground, shaking off her impact she craned her head up to see Frost advancing on her.
Thinking quickly she raised a hand up and fired a sun blast at him. Frost was blinded by the light and struck in the chest. Sending him flying off the roof and onto one 50 feet away.
Limelight heard him land with and oomph before flying up to the sky and observing him. She saw and heard him groan and squirm a little. That meant he was ok. A whistle caught her attention and she turned her head to see Archer waving at her from another rooftop. Flying over, Archer leapt off the roof and extended an arm out. Limelight reached a hand out and grasped it before carrying her off and both of them to safety.
"That went well," Limelight said sarcastically. Archer sighed and nodded in agreement. Now they were on the bad side of this city's superheroes.
But they got the sword. Which meant it was safe.
"Limelight, let's find a place to hole up…we're gonna destroy this thing," she said resolutely. That would be for the best. Then no one could get at it even if they were found.
Limelight nodded before gaining altitude and looking for a suitable place to hide where she could use a sun blast to destroy the sword if she had to. Seeing a decent place in the distance she sped towards it.
She really hadn't wanted to fight Frost and Fury. They were supposed to be on the same side. But if what she felt from the sword was as bad as she thought. Then it couldn't be helped.
Girls win. Rematch next chap. Place your bets. Hope you like.