*Sorry for the delay! Thanksgiving chaos and all of the following. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy! And any questions or criticisms, by all means, feel free to message me*
LOOSE CANNON
The night is dead silent, and the dull lights in the parking lot illuminate seemingly random parking spots. The lights nearest to the back, right corner of the lot begin to flicker, slowly at first, then rapidly. A man sprints across the pavement, breathing heavily. He looks panicked, and checks over his shoulder. His foot slides out from underneath him, and he skids along the ground, quickly getting up and running again. One by one, the lights start to burst, and the man stops in the center of the lot. The six lights surrounding him are the only ones remaining in the entire lot, and the man walks in a circle. He is clearly terrified, and sweating profusely.
"Show yourself!" he screams. His voice cracks.
The final lights turn off, something large moves quickly, a resonating thump hits the ground, and a loud scream is heard.
Meanwhile, Van is drinking at the "S" bar. The bar is vacant aside from Van, and the bartender seems to be making the effort to avoid him. His hands are shaking as he takes another sip of beer. His eyes are wide.
"What the HELL was that!?" Van thinks to himself. "I don't wanna be in some crazy war. I just wanna fly in badass armor."
A tall, young, lanky man, wearing thick-framed glasses enters the bar. He appears to be in his late 20's, however, his demeanor and posture suggest a more mature personality, along with his dated clothing style of a beige colored sweater, with a black vest atop it. The vest is strange looking, with six pockets on both the front and back. He looks around the bar, notices Van, and softly smiles. He quickly takes off his glasses, polishing them on his shirt hem, puts them back on, and walks over. When he nears Van, he places his large hand on Van's shoulder.
"Hello sir, my name is..." The man begins.
Van snaps around and swings his fist directly into the man's jaw, knocking him violently to the floor. The man starts coughing ferociously, clutching his chest. He coughs up some blood.
"Oh shit! I'm so sorry man!" Van says.
"It is entirely alright." The man says, the coughing subsiding. "You seemed quite tense, my apologies for the surprise."
Van helps the man to his feet.
"I am sorry for what you have been through, and I am glad I was able to help you relieve some of that which troubles you." He says, very tranquilly.
Van's eyes go wide, and he takes a few steps back.
"No no no, this isn't happening" he states. "You're one of them too, aren't you!? Damnit!"
"I do not want to lie to you" the man says, "but the answer is complicated. I am not going to attack you or anything of the sort. I am too frail to anyway. I have a disorder known as Marfan's Syndrome. My body is very weak, and cannot take much punishment, so I became a pacifist. I despise violence and pain."
"I already told that fire dude that I'm not gettin' caught up in your crazy ass war! Leave me outta this!"
"You saw Star!? Is he...alright?"
"So Star's his name, huh? Yeah, your boyfriend's alright…if you consider alright to be burning the living bejesus out that mirror guy!"
The man smiles with just his lips, and closes his eyes, as if he is thankful.
"So he is alive! Thank goodness. He is not my boyfriend, he is my best friend. As hard as this is to believe, he must have been in a situation where that was necessary. Star is the last person one would call cold-blooded, pun unintentional. I am no recruiter or anything of the sort, I actually somewhat got fired quite a while ago. I just know the experience is terrifying, and would like to help you come to terms with what may be occurring so you do not go around accidentally killing innocent people."
"I'm not gonna kill anyone. If they're in trouble, and in the area, sure, I'll swing by, save the falling damsel, and then get her number. Obviously. But I'm no hero or anything, I'm just not a dick."
"So you are not the least bit curious about your amulet? How it spoke to you? How to develop your armor?"
"...what do you mean develop?"
The man smiles again.
"You know," begins Van. "It's really creepy how often you smile."
The man laughs. It is a soft laugh.
"I enjoy smiling. It means that I am happy. The explanation is not a conversation for a bar. Here is my number. Call me if you wish, and if not, no hard feelings. My name is Adam. It has been a pleasure speaking with you."
"You do realize that it would be nuts to trust you right?" Van says.
Adam shrugs. "I suppose, but sometimes, I prefer to have a little faith in the good of man."
Van chugs his beer, throws some bills on the bar top, and then stands up.
"Alright, that was too gay to be a bad guy line." Van says. "I'm ready. Teach me, Marlin's fan."
"It is Marfan's" Adam corrects him. "…and right now? You do not want to sleep on...?"
"Waiting's a waste of time, let's roll. If you're gonna kill me, might as well get it over with now. Hey lady, tab's on the counter! By the way, sweet vest dude."
Adam smirks.
"I think you mean, sweet amulet."
They walk outside together. A Latin man's voice cuts through the air. His voice sounds young, but dangerous.
"Going to trick another one into dying for your pointless cause, hombre gigante?" the man's voice hisses.
Out of the hidden corner of the building, a man is leaning against a wall. Barely any parts of him are visible, with only his left arm sticking out distinctively. It has a much defined tattoo of a serpent, with its fangs digging into his chest.
"What is with you people and lurking?" Van asks.
"Excuse me sir, have we met?" Adam questions, with honest curiosity.
"You seem to have excluded the fact that you are in league with the murderous flame wielder." The snake man says angrily.
"On the contrary" Adam counters, "I have been upfront and said that he is my best friend. However, we do not work together currently. Now I must ask again. Who are you?"
"Estos heavones muy loco, pendejo. You listen to him huevon, and you will end up in a nice grave."
Van interjects. "Okay pal, first off, failed high school Spanish here, so I can barely understand what you're saying, just somethin about eggs. All I know is up until about an hour ago, I was fine just flyin around with this thing, and then you crazy mothers in armor started showing up asking me to join your boy bands. I saw a dude's head impaled by some power ranger's foot spike. Y'all are crazy, leave me outta this! Wait a minute...currently?"
"I was honorably discharged quite some time ago due to..." Adam starts, but is cut off by the snake man.
"Due to his power being too destructive, not by choice. He is one of them, hombre. If he hasn't told you about his armor, then I guess he failed to mention how they left their own to die?"
Adam's eyes go wide, and his mouth agape.
"How...in the world do you know about her? The information related to that mission is heavily classified!"
"Whoa. I'm a dude first of all. Second, I'm getting some seriously bad vibes here guys." Van says. He takes a step back, and his hand starts fondling his necklace.
"Not you, pendejo" the snake man snaps. "Another, similar to you. That is what they do, pull you in, and use you until you are useful no more."
Adam turns to Van, and spreads his arms.
"There was a conflict a long time ago. We didn't know, and we made a horrible mistake...wait a minute…that tattoo…Basilisk!"
"We all have masks, this man, like the others, is adept at hiding behind his" Basilisk sneers. "He preaches peace, while his amigos stain their hands in blood and war. You saw it with the Red Star, no? This guy here is nothing but a Basurero. I will bet he even did the whole 'put his hand on your shoulder' act and told you to call him after you took a breather, am I correct?"
Van starts to back away from Adam, a look of mistrust on his face. The bullet necklace begins to glow with power. Van looks around for places to exit.
"I think I'm gonna go now." Van says.
"Wait!" Adam exclaims. "It's not what you think."
Adam turns to Basilisk, and narrows his eyes.
"Basilisk, stop this now! I know what you are trying to do, you are trying to manipulate this poor guy who is confused and frightened."
Basilisk turns to Van, stepping out of the shadows. He is young, roughly 19, and wearing a tank top and cargo pants. His head is covered with a bandanna, the tassels of which are tipped with rattlesnake rattles.
"Listen pendejo, I get it. The whole burden of responsibility thing. You got true power in your hands. Why not have a little fun?"
Van nods.
Basilisk continues. "You see, the truth is, these guys hate the carefree type. Hard to keep those under control. They aren't your friends, amigo. They are nothing but dogs of the military who want you on a leash so they can exploit your power when needed. You are a pawn and the second you walk out of line, they will kill you. A tool used by the military and then discarded cuando una se hicieron inútiles."
"You know creepy shadow guy? You're right" exclaims Van. "I don't need to be part of any club. Especially when they don't even offer free t-shirts. I'm outta here."
Basilisk's mouth curls into a devilish smirk. Adam growls, then turns to face Van. His eyebrows curve sympathetically.
"Hold on." Adam says, almost pleading. "It's not like that. Please. Let me explain."
Van quickly grasps his necklace, and his eyes begin to glow.
"Silver Bullet!" he roars.
Light streaks down his arms, erupting from his eyes and mouth. Within seconds, the armored Silver Bullet levitates, then begins to fly away.
"Wait! Please!" Adam pleads. "I do not want to have to find you again, let us just..."
"Excuse me?" Bullet says. "Find me again? Alright asshole, you almost got me, but this ends now. I'm not waiting for you to attack me like the other guy."
He rears back his arm, and the wrist flaps open, revealing the thrusters hidden within.
"...oh no." says Adam.
He quickly gets a tight grip on his vest. It glows softly with power.
"Bronze Goliath!"
Light smoothly glides down his arms and up his neck. His eyes and mouth glow softly, and bronze armor plates glide into place along his body. Hundreds of feet of cables wrap tightly around his arms and legs, and the fin of his helmet stands tall, resembling a Roman gladiator's helmet. The Bronze Goliath stands where Adam once was, and crosses his arms just in time to block the attack from the Bullet. Bullet slams into Goliath, rocketing him blocks down the road. Goliath ricochets off of the pavement, and embeds into a car door. He drops to the floor, groans, then gets up. He grabs his chest, coughs violently, and leans against a building.
"I will not fight you." Goliath states. "I only mean that I feel we should resolve this now instead of risking something happening to you."
"Hah!" Van barks. "You should worry about yourself, vest guy."
With a loud pop, Bullet launches at Goliath again, but Goliath rolls out of the way.
"You must stop!" Goliath screams. "There are civilians here! These armors are not toys!"
"Yeah I'd say that too if I were losing."
Bullet lands another punch against Goliath, sending him through another car, into a building.
"I will not fight you!" Goliath demands. "I am not your enemy. Basilisk is a wicked man. He was manipulating..."
In a blur faster than he could see, Bullet zooms past Goliath, as Goliath narrow dodges another attack.
"I told you I was a pacifist." Goliath states. "I do not enjoy fighting, and I will not kill another human being. That was no lie."
"Alright. Then my story is, I'm a magical unicorn princess that breathes fire."
"Please, if this continues, something terrible is going to hap..."
"Shut up and fight!"
Bullet screams, then launches at Goliath and misses, this time connecting with a tall building, hard. A massive chunk of the building jettisons off the back, and a crack shoots up the side of the building. Bullet and Goliath simultaneously say the same thing.
"...oh no..."
Debris from the tumbling building starts to fall, crushing a few cars, and simultaneously landing on civilians. Pedestrians are running around screaming in a panic. An Asian man is screaming, desperately pulling at a stone with blood underneath. Bullet is frozen.
"No! No! STOP FALLING!" he screams. "OH GOD, NO, PLEASE STOP!"
He hears two children's voices, and looks downwards. Two kids are beneath a large shadow, as a gigantic chunk of brick wall hurdles towards them. In a blur of motion, Bullet grabs them both around the waist, then disappears as the section of wall destroys where they were standing. People are falling out of the tilting building. Bullet appears near one of them, grabs him, and places him safely on a rooftop.
"What have I done...?" he says mortified.
Goliath is sprinting towards the building.
"Watch out! I need room!" he commands.
The cables coiled around his arms and legs erupt from his body, extending into the ground. The earth and stone around the cables are immediately mashed up, then absorbed into the cables. The cables begin to form a humongous framework of what looks like a 10-story tall creature. The material travels up the cable shaft, and is immediately projected through tiny vents in the cables. Earthen rock forms around the cables, creating a gigantic, stone golem's limbs and torso. The creature looks like a misshapen gorilla, with Goliath's armor hidden within the chest of the stone golem. Bullet looks on in horror at the creature.
"Oh my god…" he remarks.
The ground quakes as Goliath's titan grabs the falling building, and using his shoulder, leans against it to stand it back up properly. His fingers then dig into the side of the building. Cables emerge from within the stone, lacing in and out of the building's foundation like stitching. More stone, ground, and metal is liquidized into Goliath's cables, then redistributed onto the building itself, rapidly solidifying to provide support. With a loud groan, the building ceases its descent, but Goliath's titan retains its hold on the structure.
"I will stay here as long as it takes for everyone to evacuate to ensure nothing goes amiss," Goliath says, his voice booming from the throat of the titan. "Please hurry!"
The several dozen residents of the building are pouring out of the main entrance, screaming and fleeing in a panic. They look up at Goliath's titan as if it is a monster. Several are snapping photographs as they are running from the scene.
"What have I done...?" Bullet questions. "I didn't mean..."
The titan turns its head to face Bullet on the rooftop.
"I know," Goliath says, "we have all done things that are horrible in their own regards. I am sorry, I tried to prevent this. You were given a gift, and forced into a war you did not understand."
"I...gotta go..."
"No, wait!"
Bullet zooms off. Goliath looks over at the alleyway where Basilisk was, but he is long gone.
"...Basilisk..." Goliath thinks. "What have you done?"