Chapter 2 [Talon]
Zorpox strutted out into the center of the café while considering the adversaries circling around him like sharks. His hands glowed with blue and red fire. He grinned snidely at the others. "I've already dealt with Demon Boy here! Who wants next dibs? AHBOOYEAHHHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Flank him!" Lana ordered. She still felt the toxins building from the static around herself. The alpha tendencies drove her on.
"Lana, we can't just…." Clark protested.
"Can't what? Nobody here now, CLARK! What's your wussie sitch now? FIGHT ME!" the possessed teen challenged.
"You'd like that, Demon," Jasmine retorted evenly while keeping her scimitar raised. "Miranda, as Lana said!"
"Miranda? That wench again? SHE'S DEAD!" he insisted. Then he felt several sharp stings in his shoulder and back. He staggered but kept his footing.
"We have help too, Zorpox!" Miranda revealed while striding out into the open. As with Jasmine, her star blade was raised and ready. "You didn't think I would leave my uncle like this would you?"
"Dark Unkie's fried, Toots! Dahak gave me that power too!" Zorpox floated in the air making the entire café glow a shade of cobalt blue. Then he emitted a powerful burst bowling everyone out of the way.
Both agents hit the wall hard before they could fire a shot and slumped unconscious.
Clark and Lana both fixed their feet and withstood the impact.
Shego, Miranda and Jasmine ducked the burst.
Shego smirked wickedly; her hands glowed dark emerald fire. "Some hook ya got, Stoppable! Try some a' mine!" She rushed him.
"Ooh touchy ! Touchy!" Zorpox vaulted the blind bull attack letting her crash into the counter. "That's got to hurt! Can't you think for once?"
"You wish!" The glowing green girl swung and swung with her energized fists pummeling floorboards, walls and equipment…but always a split second behind his avoiding her.
That is before his glowing blue fist found her face; slamming her through the window and into the street serenaded by a rain of glass.
"She always had a big mouth and…." He heard a throat being cleared.
Two Kryptonian fists hit him high and low simultaneously.
"THAT HURT!" Zorpox rubbed his jaw to find Clark and Lana flanking him simultaneously and gearing up for another attack. "Dahak told me about you two!" His eyes glowed. "TRY THIS GARBAGE!"
Dark fire echoed forth from him and hit the couple.
"CLARK!" Lana cringed; every nerve ending screamed as if being tortured by both Lousain and Isobel once more.
Clark crumpled and collapsed toward the floor. His arms and legs burning under the assault. He smacked the floorboards to shake up Zorpox before lapsing into unconsciousness.
Miranda hit the attacker next. Her anger was already spewing over the top of her control. "ZORPOX! STOP THIS!" A vicious Gila kick drove him through the floorboards and into the cellar below. "Jasmine!"
"Are they all right?" the Javalastani Princess wondered.
Miranda shook her head. "They're badly burned."
"We…can do it," Lana gasped while pulling herself to her feet. "Clark! CLARK!"
An explosion echoed through the hole and Zorpox jumped back into the room. "This is far better than I ever would've dreamed!" He considered his ninja classmate. "DIE!" He threw another burst at the latter.
"Try us," Miranda insisted while blocking the shot with her blade. "This ends!" She stood over her uncle.
He sniggered. "Make me, Wannabe!" Then he felt something grating on his senses. "What?"
Heloise stepped out of the portal. "The hour of your defeat has come, Servant of Darkness. Surrender now or face him!" She motioned to Dave.
"HIM?" Zorpox cackled. "The Master took him out! And…"
Miranda turned to the portal. "You found him!"
A dark growling came from the mists. The Child stepped into view clad in a buckskin tunic and leggings. His thick dark hair cascaded to his shoulders. A matching beard covered his lower face. He frowned menacingly. "Ya whupped Baby Bro! GONNA WHUP YA!"
"Ooh GOODIE!" Zorpox motioned to the plaque.
As before, the red flame burst from it.
"PROFESSOR!" Lana warned.
"SHADDAP!" The Child took the blow full force. He shook from the spell's tearing and ripping at himself. But unlike his counterpart, he didn't fight it…He rode it…
Like a surfer on a monster wave, he balanced on the dark crest. His right eye snapped open.
The plaque intensified its glow.
The dark fire enveloped his form signaling the descent into the Destroyer once more.
"I WIN! MASTER!" Zorpox called.
The pyre shot up from the floor. You're mine, SERVANT!
The demonic creature uncorked a burst on its creator, making the fire construct waver. It uncorked another flame burst wide.
Zorpox easily avoided it. "STUPID CREATURE! BOW TO THE MASTER!"
"NA'…MASTER, WUSS!" It fired again and again with psychic bursts and fire in blind fury. It released anger built upon months of frustration, anger, loss and dealing with the fire creep's maneuverings.
Dahak tagged it with a fire burst of its own in retaliation. FALL, FOOL CREATURE! It threw another burst.
Miranda deflected it with her star blade but screamed from the pain of doing so.
"STAY BACK!" the Destroyer spat. "THA…NKS!" It looked around for Zorpox in confusion from the glowing blue again.
The glowing monkey fist swung and struck it in the side. The pronounced screeching noise harkened all around to the monkey power in use.
Problem is—it only staggered the Destroyer. As angry as the demonic enforcer was, it wasn't about to taken down by a magically-enhanced weapon. "PISSIN' OFF!" It flailed for Zorpox.
Again and again, Zorpox jack rabbited around the room, throwing bursts of energy to wear down the Destroyer. He just managed to avoid the return fire bursts although not easily as he should have. He felt tendrils of numbness across his scalp and through his arms.
Lana shook her head. The fight was tearing apart the Talon yet again. She knew if it kept going, the building could collapse taking her dream with it. She looked down at her semi-conscious husband. "This has to end!" She super sped behind Zorpox and seized him in a tight bear hug.
"WHAT? STUPID GIRL! I'M MARRIED YOU KNOW!" Zorpox challenged while struggling against her super strong hold pinning his arms. He sent a strong burst of fire through her.
"BOSS! DON'T!" Miranda argued.
"Get…stuffed, M…Miri!" Lana denied while biting her lip so as not to scream under the assault. She held on for dear life. "And…it's Ron who's married to Yori not you!"
The Destroyer saw what she was doing. It grabbed Zorpox by the throat and retaliated with more fire through the possessed enemy. "WUSS!"
Zorpox screamed. He felt his whole mind and the dreamscape supporting his dominance being shaken. "NO! I WON'T! HE'S WEAK!"
Lana fingered him in the forehead knocking Dahak's agent out. "That's enough…of you." She dumped him on the floor. "Tha…nk you." She slumped to the floor while shaking and spasming from the assault's aftereffects. She saw the schunken stars in the possessed teen's back. "What did you do?"
"Drugged him. Took a page out of Arighatto's book on that one," Miranda admitted even if the thought of doing such made her sick. She turned to the demon. "Where's Dahak?"
The Destroyer nodded before turning its attention back to Dahak. It didn't understand why the demon didn't attack again.
"BEGONE, DEMON!" Heloise challenged.
One day, Demon! Retake the boy if you can! Dahak disappeared from view.
The Destroyer shook its head at the enemy's craven retreat. It wanted blood and more than what it got. However with its purpose served, it retreated back into his other's body allowing the change first to the Child and then to DC-Dave.
The visitor from the past looked around at the devastated café. "Electric lights…carpeting…cars. I'm…back."
"As I promised, Dubois," Heloise pointed out. "The influence of my sisters, Jor-El and myself kept Dahak somewhat constrained so that your others could deal with Zorpox. We should get him back to Althanor and away from the demon's influence."
"Good idea," DC-Dave agreed. He saw his counterpart's fallen form. "What's going on with him? I can't feel him!"
"He's in a coma or something," Miranda noted. "Dahak hit him with something. By the time we got here, he was already down."
"More than likely the same thing the Coven hit me with a couple of years ago," DC-Dave presumed. "We have to get him back together. Where are April and the kids?"
"They're safe, Dubois. For now though, we should get them to the House of Healing. Zorpox will be contained. You will need to get the girls returned safely as well as his alter ego," Heloise explained.
"If we can find them," Miranda lamented.
"I will have the Hamijj search to the ends of the world if need be!" Jasmine vowed. "In the meantime, we should get the agents and the green woman to treatment."
"I'm cool unlike the two fearless agents there." Shego staggered into the area while rubbing her head. Her costume had several tears with tiny rivers of blood flowing from it. "I'll heal quick." She stared at the rustic man before herself. "Wait! You're there and…." She saw SL-Dave still on the floor. Then she turned her attention back to DC-Dave.
"Relax, Shego. I'm from another universe," DC-Dave gruffly explained while picking up his counterpart telekinetically. "We just took out Zorpox. Now we need to keep him contained and stage a rescue mission. We do that and we can get Ron back."
"Get Stoppable back? Woo hoo….just what I always wanted!" Shego sassed.
"Either that or you get me," Miranda threatened moodily. "I'm in no mood for you, Sister!"
Shego's hands glowed weakly. "If I wasn't still low on juice, I'd…."
"Cut it out!" DC-Dave snapped. "Miranda, let's go!" He turned toward Shego. "I know about you, Lady. You've got a real problem with authority. Deal with it. I could use your help on this mission. That's for you to decide."
"Kimmie'll love me rescuing her. Joy, joy! Someone gonna call the bomb squad for this place?" Shego cracked.
"No and it'll stay that way," Lana disagreed while staggering to her feet. She dialed a number on her cell phone.
"Lana, what happened? Samantha, Sasha and Alicia say that you all ran into Zorpox? Rick wanted to know what's going on," Lex answered.
"It's…fine, Lex. Zorpox and Dahak knocked us around pretty good. Heloise found a friend of ours. He helped…us," Lana explained.
"Friend? Dave's counterpart? Where?" Lex wondered. "Sasha said our Dave's down."
"He is but we're working on that. As for the rest, I don't know. We'll get back to you as soon as we can. Meantime the agents are down. Clark is too. I'm burned pretty badly but I'll make it," Lana reported. "We need to get Agents Petersen and Singleton to the med center."
"Leave that to me. I'll get an ambulance over there. You deal with Ron. Ryan's okay too by the way," Lex assured her. "How's our Dave?"
"Still out. Whatever Dahak did really knocked him out. We're working on it….See you soon," Lana concluded before signing out. She focused. ["Mommy loves you, Little Man. Remember that. Daddy's going to be okay."]
She heard her son's telepathic whimpering. In response she hummed a brief tune over the link to him. Then once Ryan had settled down, she turned to find her ancestor watching her. "Where are the others?"
"Already back in Althanor as you should be. Those burns need tending. You took a lot of punishment," Heloise pointed out while enveloping them both in mist and spiriting them away from the scene while leaving Garth and Steve for the ambulance to find.