Vixen was already on the move the moment she heard the news, just before her TV stopped working. The airship was over the east end according to reports and she made her way there with animalistic speed and agility. Vixen jumped on top of a car and leapt up. She grabbed the horizontal bar of a streetlight and swung around it like a gymnast before perching on top. She took a moment to survey the airship above the city. From what she could gather, bizarre as it was, it was piloted by hyper intelligent gorillas that had enough firepower to easily incapacitate the Tinasha police department. They needed help. The kind that she could provide.
Unaware that Vixen didn't even have her phone on her, David tried calling several times. In each attempt he was unable to contact Mari or even get a signal at all. He looked up at the ship. Scanners activated in his goggles. They showed a faint energy field coming off the ship.
"Damn. That thing is blocking my signal and probably doing the same to others. We're on our own," David said as he clicked the scanners off.
"What? We!? There's no 'we' here! I don't even know you! Or what's going on here!" Myranda responded with panic. The air around her seemed to quiver as she did. "That thing is dropping gorillas with guns!"
"No. You don't know me. And you don't have any reason to trust me, but that's not important," David said, trying to reach her. "What is important is that whatever is happening here, someone has to stop it. I'm going in there, but I could use your help. Innocent people might be killed. Unless you and I save them,"
Myranda stared at David then slowly nodded. "Okay...okay. I can't hide forever...What do you want me to do?"
"I need a lift down. And I'm hoping you can use your powers in a fight,"
"I've never tried before,"
"Now's a good time to start," David said as he pulled out his eskrima sticks. He looked down at the gorillas closing in on the building as he felt the wind lift him and Myranda over the balcony. David saw some of the troops taking people somewhere behind enemy lines. He wondered where, and decided to make it a point to find out.
Officer Kia Okura knew exactly where the captured civilians were and if she could, she would tell David, but at the moment she was pinned down. She and other members of the Tinasha PD were being overrun by the gorillas close to the La Bomba nightclub. The gorillas had been gathering their hostages in there and the police's attempt to rescues them was currently not going her way. Captain Sita called out to her, telling her to watch her side. Kia turned to see a gorilla coming towards her. She raised her gun, a Walther PPK, and fired several shots. Each bullet was deflected off the gorilla's armour. Kia stood her ground as the hyper intelligent animal raised a rifle shaped laser weapon. A near miss shot caused her to stumble and fall back. Kia was expecting to hear a final shot, but instead there was a humming sound and a flash of blue light behind the gorilla. The gorilla slumped over as though it had been stunned and a woman stood behind it.
The woman wore a black shirt and pants, covered by a dark olive green M65 field jacket. She had brown boots and a brown belt over the jacket. On her head she wore a maroon scarf that wrapped around and flowed off her neck. In her hands were two swords that were made of blue energy. Sparks like electricity flowed up the swords to the tip and they made a low humming sound like a constant vibration. The energy swords dissipated and the woman offered her hand to help Kia up.
"You…I know you…" Kia said as she took the woman's hand and stood. "You're that vigilante. Dawn…You and Batwing rescued my niece,"
"No time to catch up," Dawn said. "Get your people to cover me. The apes' shielding is weaker at the joints. Target them there,"
Kia nodded and moved closer to her fellow officers as Dawn jumped into the fray. Energy sparked in her hands, making a loud 'KEEEESH!' sound as the swords reappeared. She slashed downwards with both, cutting through the armour of the closest gorilla. The energy zapped the ape, stunning it out of commission. Dawn brought both swords back up in front of her and spun them rapidly, deflecting the blasts from the other gorillas firing at her. Meanwhile, the Tinasha PD fired on the gorillas' weak points, pushing them back. Dawn leapt into the air and spun, striking several enemies near her. She landed just as the group of apes fall. The rest are forced to retreat. Dawn's energy swords fade again. It was getting harder for her to keep the swords solid, but it had been a while since she acted as a vigilante, rather than a hired killer. Back in Dawn's more heroic days, the swords had been her weapons of choice. The police move past her to the club and Kia gives Dawn a quick thanks. Dawn nodded and dashed off, already looking for more of the gorillas. If nothing else, they would be good practice.
A group of gorillas made their way south along the eastern end on Tinasha. Their leader was an ape known as Lieutenant Pryemaul, who wore red tinted armour, distinguishing it from the gray wore by the others. He grinned maliciously, showing two long sharp teeth that were stained with what looked like blood. The others with him followed in tight formation. Pryemaul paused upon receiving a message from the radio built into his helmet. His unit stopped and waited for orders as he turned around.
"I just got word that the soldiers west of our position are encountering resistance. Superhuman resistance," Pryemaul paced before his unit. "We are to join them and take care of this little issue while Grodd prepares his secret weapon,"
Pryemaul grinned again as he licked his teeth. "Let us hope the humans at least make it interesting,"
The apes were about to move out when a blur burst through them. Two of the apes made a grunting sound as the blur knocked them out when it passed. The others raised their weapons and searched for where it came from. The blur appeared again, taking out three more gorillas as it darted between their ranks. Pryemaul growled deeply, baring his fangs. One by one, his unit was struck by the blur and disarmed, soon leaving him on his own.
"You may as well show yourself…unless you are a coward, human," Pryemaul taunted.
Andile stopped running and stood his ground a short distance from Lieutenant Pryemaul.
"Your army isn't as strong as you think," Andile retorted.
"Irritating insect," Pryemaul growls. "Do you really think you can beat me? Do you really think you're fast en-"
The rest of Pryemaul's sentence was cut off by Andile speeding towards him. Andile unleashed a flurry of super speed punches, one hundred in only five seconds. Pryemaul was stunned and fell to one knee. Andile used both fists to strike Pryemaul in the jaw, sending his opponent down.
"Fast enough?" Andile said with a grin. "I'm positive I am,"
Feeling confident, Andile turned his back on Pryemaul, intending to run to his next fight. There was a loud animal roar from behind him and in the split second it took him to turn around, Pryemaul was already on top of him. The young speedster fell onto his back as the gorilla lieutenant attempt to tear his throat out with blood stained teeth. Andile pushed up on Pryemaul's chest but it was barely enough. He tried to focus on using his super speed to escape, but panic had thrown off his concentration. Just as Andile thought he was about to die before he could even finish his first real mission as a hero, a man in a wide brimmed hat and a cloak jumped on Pryemaul's back. The man stuck a wooden staff in between the gorilla's teeth.
"I think you need less meat in your diet," Anansi quipped as he held on to the staff. Pryemaul moved backwards off of Andile as he tried to throw the cloaked hero off his back. Andile took that opportunity to stand and recover. Anansi moved his staff from Pryemaul's mouth to the ape's throat, trying to cut off his air. Pryemaul thrashed and twisted causing Anansi to lose his grip. He rolls through the air and landed in a crouch beside Andile with his staff in still in hand. Both prepared for battle against their enraged opponent.
West of them, the last of the gorilla unit that had called for backup finds himself flying through a window. Vixen stands in the street, dusting her hands off. She had been taking on all the gorillas she could find on her way here, with the intention of getting to the ship, but she still had no idea how to take it down. She glared up at it and just as she did, a loud sound came from the ship and a deep, growling voice came from speakers the floating airship, speaking with malice and menace.
"Humans. My name is Gorilla Grodd. I have travelled from my home in Gorilla City to your squalor in order to claim your settlement as part of my new empire. You should know by now that my forces cannot be stopped. They cannot be evaded. They cannot be opposed. You cannot escape, or call for help. There are some among you who believe yourselves to be heroes and withstand the coming change. The coming evolution of this world. To them, I say this. Those who surrender, may live as slaves and cattle of the Grodd empire. Those who resist...I and my hordes will feast on your bones. This is your chance to decide whether you will live to see the next age of man and ape, or if you will be another body among the foundations,"
After the speech, Myranda was scared, but not for the first time. She had already lost count of how many times her heart skipped. She was a student, not a superhero,. She shouldn't even be here. Still, some part of her pressed on and she let that guide her actions. Moving her hand in a sweeping motion, she caused a wind current to lift several gorilla soldiers and toss them away. Her attacks varied between strong gusts and small puffs of air. Myranda had avoided using her powers for so long. She hoped she'd be able to live to figure them out.
Close to Myranda, David fought with his own style. He had to keep moving to avoid getting grabbed or hit with a laser blast. His mask had already been torn by a lucky hit, though the goggles were still functional. David's eskrima sticks hadn't proven to be very effective against the gorilla's armour, but blows to the head could stun them enough for Myranda to blow them away. Having not expected a fight, he currently had a limited number of small grenades and smoke bombs. He would wait for the right time to use them. He knew well that whenever things looked bad, they could easily get worse.
Anansi and Andile were currently learning that the hard way. Pryemaul had proven to be a tough adversary and managed to take them both on his own. Anansi was up close to Pryemaul, using his staff to strike the gorilla lieutenant. Pryemaul blocked most of the attacks and responded with a punch that knocked Anansi backwards. Andile sped in quickly to replace him. He ran in rapid circles around Pryemaul, pummelling the ape with random punches from multiple angles. It worked to keep Pryemaul off balance for a few moments until he reached out with a back handed smack into the rapid blur. Andile ran right into the large hand, causing himself to fall and skid right into Anansi. The veteran hero quickly helped the young rookie to his feet.
"We need a plan of attack, my fast friend," Anansi said as he kept his eyes on Pryemaul, who was recovering from Andile's last move.
"The plan is to beat this monkey until he falls!" Andile responded. Before he could start running, Anansi reached out with his staff to block the boy's path.
"Patience..."Anansi said calmly.
Pryemaul looked at them both with his same blood stained grin. "Have you given up? Good. Human blood is so much sweeter when they're afraid,"
"What are we waiting for!?" Andile demanded as Pryemaul stood to his full height.
Anansi merely smirked as the sound of loud stomps and a thunderous female roar erupted across the street. Before any of the three could react, Vixen ploughed into Pryemaul with the strength of a white rhinoceros. She continued to charge, then thrust Pryemaul into the air. Pryemaul soared for a moment before crashing into the side of a bus. The vehicle creaked loudly as the force caused it to tip over. After it landed on its' side, only the unconscious groans of the ape inside could be heard. Vixen stopped channelling the strength of a rhino and briefly touched the totem on her belt before she turned to Anansi and Andile.
"I guess this makes us even," Anansi said, still smirking.
"Only if you forget all the other times I've saved you from trouble," Vixen replied as she walked over. Anansi shrugged innocently and smiled in response. Vixen turned her attention to Andile. "Who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Andile," the boy quickly responds. "I am Kid Impala," He hesitated before adding his chosen name with a confident edge in his voice. He was certain his father was alive and still owned the right to the title of Impala, but Andile was still part of that legacy.
"You wouldn't happen to be the successor to Impala, would you?" Anansi asked. "I've only met him once, but he seemed to be a great man. Though he's missing, from what I hear,"
Andile looked down briefly "He's...somewhere. He's told me about other African heroes and I know you two. Anansi and Vixen, right?"
"Right," Vixen said. "And we need to move. We can't take down that ship from here,"
"It stopped dropping troops," Anansi said while thinking. "Maybe it will be less guarded?"
"Or they have more in reserve," Vixen responded.
"Either way, we have to stop them," Andile said, while clenching his fists.
"Agreed. We'll make our way there and deal with any civilians or gorilla soldiers we come across," Vixen ordered. The trio then sent off for the ship. Andile ran faster than even Vixen's cheetah speed, so he was the first to come across the strange sight before them only minutes later. He saw a tornado sweeping up several gorillas and spinning them rapidly. In the middle of the tornado was a woman, and she was the most beautiful woman the young hero had ever set his eyes on. He was in a daze for just enough time to allow Vixen and Anansi to catch up. Vixen, on the other hand, was more interested in the man she saw there, in particular the part of his face that she could see. She called on the eyesight of an eagle to get a clearer look and it confirmed her suspicions.
"David?" Vixen said with a gasp.
Myranda's hair was being brushed about by the winds surrounding her as sweat formed on her brow. She made the tornado fade instantly, tossing the gorillas caught in it to fly off in various directions before being knocked out by their landing. With all of them downed, she leaned forward with her hands on her knees. The strain was getting to her and she really needed a rest. David walked over to her as he lifted his goggles to his forehead.
"How are you doing?" David asked. He offered her a hand to help her stand, which Myranda gladly took.
"Been better. I feel like I just ran two marathons..." Myranda answered as she leaned on David. She looked up and saw a group of people getting closer to them. David noticed them too, but didn't at all seem fazed.
"Who are they?" Myranda asked.
"Allies...and back up," David replied.
This time, Vixen was the first to reach David and Myranda. She had a questioning look and didn't take her eyes off David's face.
"David, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with the police?" Vixen asked.
"Mar-Vixen, it's been some time since we last met," David catches himself and avoids using Vixen's real name. "I left the force some time ago,"
"What? Why? How could Matu just let you do that?"
"He...he's dead," responded with a sad look in his eyes. "He died right before I left. I've been busy since then,"
"Matu died? David, I'm so sorry. If I had known..."
"We can't focus on that now. There's work to do," David interjected as he looked behind Vixen "I recognize Anansi, but who's the other?"
"That's Kid Impala. He has the same super speed and agility that Impala does, from what I've gathered," Vixen replied in a more level tone, getting her thoughts back on track. "What about your friend here?"
"Myranda," the girl blurted out, looking uneasy and feeling awkward among others who seemed to have a better handle on fighting bad people than she ever could. "Just...Myranda,"
"I saw that tornado. You aren't 'just' anything," Andile spoke up, talking rapidly. Myranda smiled at his comment and he couldn't help but do the same.
"Okay, we all know each other and what we can do," David said, taking charge. "It's possible we're all that's left to stop this invasion. We need to-"
David gets cut off by a loud sound from the airship's engines. The heroes present turned their gaze upwards as the ship began to move towards them.
"There you are," Grodd's voice rang out again from the ship as it approached. "You humans. Too arrogant to realize we were tracking each one of you. However, I should be grateful. You've saved me the trouble of hunting you individually."
The airship was right over them now and a pod was dropped from the underside. The impact of it landing knocked the group off their feet. The pod was much larger than all the others and a terrible snarling could be heard inside.
"Rather than stoop down and dirty my own hands, I'll let my secret weapon deal with your insubordination. I will simply enjoy the show. Though I don't expect it to last long," Grodd mocked from above.
A massive metal hand, shaped like an ape's, punched a whole out from inside the pod. Another followed it as the beast within tore the metal apart from the inside. Out of the wreckage stepped a colossal and imposing gorilla that appeared to be at least eight feet tall. Its fur was jet black. Its hands appeared to be cybernetic and the mechanical parts went all the way down to the shoulder. Along its arms and chest were many fiery orange lines that looked like circuitry, which all ran up to its skull. The enormous gorilla's eyes burned with the same colour. It roared, revealing a mouth full of burning hot plasma. With its' mouth open, the beast spat pure fire towards the humans before it. They were forced to scramble away before regrouping. Each of them readied themselves for battle as the creature approached, full of fire, rage, and death.
((It's been criminally long since I last posted a chapter, and I apologize. I grateful for every view that I get and though my schedule may get busy soon, I'm hoping I can get back to posting with less wait for all of you. Thanks again.))