Author's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Initiate

Grey storm clouds were dawning closer and closer upon the city of Bumblyburg. However, this alone would not discourage the majority of the city's citizens to not attend the election ceremony being held right this moment. With just about everyone attending the election ceremony to hear the results of the voting, the streets of Bumblyburg were traffic-free, much to the delight of a certain tow truck driver.

"You were lucky I just so happen to be passing by." Khalil remarked as he drove his tow truck, a broken down pickup truck being towed along behind. Sitting to the right of him was the owner of said pickup truck.

"You nearly ran me over..." Pa Grape griped, cleaning his glasses with a cloth. Khalil adjusted his hat as he carefully steered right.

"Well you try driving a tow truck when you are my size." Khalil complained as he continued to drive. Pa Grape shook his head as he looked up at the sky. He was at a loss of words before he found his voice again.

"Worm! Stop the truck!" Pa Grape said in alarm, still looking up.

"I told you I am half-" Khalil started to say before he too glanced up through his windshield. With widen eyes, Khalil went for the breaks; a second later, the tow truck came to a skidding stop. Climbing back up to the driver's seat, Khalil brought his gaze up at the sky above.

"Was this in the forecast?" Pa Grape wondered as he tried to get a better view.

"I don't think so." Khalil replied.

Above them flew seven L.A.S.I. helicopters armed with missiles. In a solitary line, the helicopters weaved through the maze of skyscrapers, all heading in the direction of Bumblyburg's Central Park.

ELSEWHERE…

S-Cape flew through the street, followed by a speeding hummer filled with mercenaries, all aiming their paintball guns out the window and at the superhero. If any citizen saw the chase taking place in the street, they would have immediately called the police; unfortunately, all citizens and police officers were at the election ceremony at Bumblyburg's Central Park. everyone The flying gourd was doing all that he could to dodge the incoming projectiles while making sure he wouldn't crash into anything while flying at high speeds.

"Why won't this thing work?!" S-Cape pleaded as he tried to clear the static on his headset in mid-flight. Again, he tried to radio out to the other superheroes, but his attempts ended up with frustration. Meanwhile, the mercenaries sticking out of the hummer tried to coordinate their shots precisely to shoot S-Cape out of the air.

"Keep this thing steady Hector!" the mercenary sticking out of the sunroof shouted as he fired.

"I'm doing the best I can!" Hector snapped as he cut right and skidded around a corner before putting the pedal to the metal once again. They were already far away from the Eastern Sewer Pump Station, but they had to make sure that S-Cape would not get the message out that something was up.

"Is that jammer still working?" Hector demanded over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the road. One of the mercenaries in the back seat was holding the clunky jammer.

"It's at 50% battery!" reported the mercenary. Hector scowled that the electronic device used up so much battery in a mere five minutes. Hector's eyes quickly darted at the dashboard clock. Only a minute remaining.

'I'm gonna miss all the fun.' Hector idly thought as he tried to aim at the swiveling S-Cape trying to fly over buildings to lose them.

AT BUMBLYBURG CENTRAL PARK…

Nearly all of the citizens were gathered at Bumblyburg Central Park, waiting in anticipation for the new mayor to be announced. Keeping everything running smoothly and under control were the police officers. Their numbers had dwindled significantly after the Prison break until the police officers fully recovered at the hospital; but for now, there was enough to watch over the ceremony. Amongst the masses of citizens, schools were also present in order to show and demonstrate to students about the election system. While the adults waited patiently, the kids started to get antsy.

"When are they gonna announce the new mayor already?" Percy Pea groaned as he sat in his seat. The schools were given reserved seating areas on the sides to accommodate the students.

"Be patient guys." Laura told them, leaning forward from her seat to see her friends down the row.

"Uh, hello-o? We've been waiting her for hours!" Libby complained from her seat.

"But it's only been 10 minutes." Annie piped up.

"What's the difference?" Libby replied in exasperation, "We're gonna be here for-ever!"

"Libby!" their teacher scolded from a few rows back, "if you don't keep your volume down, you're going back to the bus!" Libby left out a noisy exhale before she plopped back into her seat and sulked. All the while, Junior Asparagus was sitting quietly, brimming with excitement to see who the new mayor would be.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" Laura whispered to Junior sitting next to her.

"I hope Mayor Blueberry does." Junior whispered back.

"I wonder what it would be like to meet her in person…" Laura wondered. Junior caught himself before he revealed that he had in fact met Mayor Blueberry several times.

She often congratulated the superheroes personally for their work. Having a secret identity was a huge responsibility, and even though he wanted to tell his friends his secret identity, he couldn't. Something about putting them in danger, blowing his cover as a superhero, and bad guys always coming after him, according to Alfred.

"Guys, look!" Percy pointed out. All the students looked over at the main stage. The moderator was up on the podium, straightening out a sheet of paper and preparing to announce the next mayor of Bumblyburg. Both Councilman Peach and Mayor Blueberry sat on opposite sides behind the podium with an empty seat reserved for their sponsors.

'I wonder where Larry is.' Junior thought to himself as the moderator began to speak on the broadcasting microphone.

"Citizens of Bumblyburg," the moderator started, his voice echoing through the streets and off the walls, "we appreciate you giving up your time to attend this event and thank you."

The citizens erupted in cheers and applauds that drowned out everything but the sound of thoughts. When everyone settled down, peculiar noises could be heard somewhere in the city.

"And without further ado," the moderator continued as the noises grew closer and louder, "I am pleased to announce that the new mayor of Bumblyburg is–"

Gusts of wind blew over the crowd, carrying the result paper away from the moderator's grasp, as seven L.A.S.I. helicopters swooped down, their rotor blades loudly chopping through the air.
Six of the helicopters hovered around the edges of the park while one lingered above the stage.
The citizens of Bumblyburg were lost in shock and confusion. Was this part of the ceremony?
Commissioner Scooter was trying to figure out who authorized these helicopters and what was going on.

Fish Taco overlooked the mass of bewildered citizens from the helicopter. Below far below him stood their target; the plan was a go.

"Initiate the plan." Fish Taco ordered on the uplink.

Before any of the police officers could react, mercenaries disguised as normal citizens seized and incapacitated them. Several nearby citizens witnessing this panicked, and the crowd began to stir in alarm. The helicopters opened up and dangled long ropes, followed by mercenaries armed with paintball weapons rappelling downward. The citizens of Bumblyburg erupted in a frenzied hysteria.

The teachers doing their best to usher the students off the stands to a safe place, but their voices couldn't reach the level of loudness of citizens crying out in terror. Though the students had no idea what was going on, they all knew that something bad was happening; all except for Junior who knew exactly what was going on. Slipping away from his class, Junior managed to make his way behind the stands, and amidst the general outcries of panic, nobody could hear him. Junior quickly pulled his League communicator.

"Ricochet calling anyone, emergency!" Junior relayed through the communicator.

"We hear you loud and clear, Ricochet, what's going on?" Thingamabob answered on the other line.

"A bunch of armed guys are crashing the ceremony at Central Park," Junior reported, glancing around from behind the stands to see the stage, "I think these are the guys who broke into the prison!"

"Don't take them on by yourself, Ricochet," Vogue warned on communicator, "find someplace to hide until we get there."

"Copy that." Junior replied.

"Junior!"

Immediately, Junior shut off his communicated and put it away before his teacher could see it. Turning around, Junior saw his teacher rushing for him, followed by a concerned Laura.

"Junior Asparagus, I told you to stay with us!" his teacher scolded lightly as she started to pull him away. Junior, thanks to superhero training, easily managed to slip out of her grasp and ran back.

"I gotta see what's going on!" Junior called back as he went to go assess the events unfolding.

"Junior!" Laura cried and ran after him, the teacher running after both of them.

ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN…

"How soon can you get there?" Thingamabob asked as he zoomed down the empty street with his BobCycle.

"I'm five minutes away." Vogue reported.

"Anything from S-Cape and LB?" Thingamabob asked with concern. They had lost contact with the two superheroes ever since they went to rescue Mr. Taco Fish. No matter how many tracking attempts, Thingamabob couldn't get a lock or signal on the two League members.

"Not a word." Vogue answered grimly.

"Alright…I'll see you at the Park." Thingamabob reported and put away his communicator.

The wind whipped at Thingamabob's face as he drove down the street en route to Central Park. A very bad gut feeling took hold of Thingamabob, and the fact thunder from the storm boomed in the distance didn't help. Something big was about to happen and Thingamabob wanted to be there and make sure it didn't. A lot of citizens would be put in trouble along with Mayor Blueberry.

Up ahead of the rocketing BobCycle was a hunched over, hooded figure with a cape crossing the street filled with parked cars. Of course, Thingamabob didn't see the figure until it was standing in the middle of the street, directly in the path of the darting BobCycle. The custom motorcycle with a side buggy was moving too fast to slow down, and there was nowhere to turn to on the narrow street.

"Get outta the way!" Thingamabob shouted as he zoomed closer to the figure. Paying no head to the shouting tomato superhero, the figure simply stood in the path of the oncoming BobCycle. Thingamabob cringed at the last two options he had left: either to run down the pedestrian in order to go save Bumblyburg Central Park, or crash the BobCycle and avoid a collision with the pedestrian. Without a second thought, Thingamabob chose the second choice.

"Aaahhh!" Thingamabob cried as he slammed down the breaks and tried to veer off to the side. Now spotting the BobCycle screeching forwards, the figure flinched. The BobCycle narrowly swooshed straight past the figure, its sidecar barely missing, and struck a parked car in its new trajectory. The impact pitched Thingamabob out of his seat and arching over into the sidewalk while the damaged BobCycle spun out of control and detached its side buggy, hitting a parked car on the opposite side of the street. Thingamabob groaned as he picked himself up off the sidewalk and dusted off his golden mask band.

"Use the crosswalk next time." Thingamabob mumbled as he turned to see the cloaked figure in the middle of the street. Now he knew something was wrong with this scene, the figure hadn't moved an inch from his spot.
The figure stared at Thingamabob for a few seconds before he reached up and pulled off the hood. Thingamabob's eyes broadened at the revelation.

"Oh thank you soo much for not hitting me!" the villainous onion thanked.

"Awful Alvin." Thingamabob stated as he activated his gadget belt and dispensed his mallet into his grasp. Meanwhile, Alvin was swishing his new cloak back and forth.

"Hmm, do I look menacing with this?" Alvin wondered as he dramatically swiped his cape forward and posed as a vampire.

Thingamabob quickly spotted his wrecked BobCycle sprawled out in the street and the sidecar a few meters close by. Both the BobCycle and the parked cars that it hit were dented, tarnished, and damaged; there was no way he could use his vehicle without proper repair.

Returning his attention back to Awful Alvin, Thingamabob readied to apprehend the villain. Suddenly, a red laser shot out and skimmed the side of Alvin's cloak. The heat from the laser ignited the fabric and the cloak caught on fire. Awful Alvin noticed that his cloak caught on fire and then realized that he was still wearing it.

"Aaaghh!" Alvin cried as he ran around in search for some water to douse the flames eating away at his new cloak.

"You look stupid in that cape hombre!" a new voice laughed.

Thingamabob whirled around and spotted L-Ray standing on top of a car, his drawn laser gun smoking. Thingamabob prepared to face him, but then another figure caught his attention. Running out of an alleyway poured out more mobsters and bandits, and it soon became apparent that Thingamabob and his gadgets were outmatched. Thingamabob slowly started to back away before they positioned to surround him; his BobCycle was out of commission and the only option of escape was on foot. Awful Alvin, who finally had enough sense to throw off his burning cloak, spotted the tomato starting to back away from them.

"Get him!" he yelled. Thingamabob instantly spun around and bolted with the mob of crooks chasing after him.

ON THE NORTH SIDE OF TOWN...

The High-Heel Mobile zipped down the street on its all terrain wheels. Vogue was now only two minutes away from Central Park. Vogue mentally cleared her head of stray thoughts as she drove. Despite her own worries about the two missing League members, she had to focus on the matter at hand: stopping whatever was happening at Central Park.

So determined was she on reaching her destination that she had failed to noticed a glow encasing the High-Heel Mobile until it was too late. The vehicle lurched to a stop and threw Vogue forward, her seat belt clamping down on her to prevent her from being shot out of her vehicle.

"Huh?" Vogue wondered aloud.

The High-Heel Mobile was suddenly lifted up and flipped upside down in midair with Vogue still in the driver's seat. With a gasp from knowing what was about to happen, Vogue immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and dropped to the street below. No sooner than when she landed and tumbled out from under the hovering High-Heel Mobile dropped to the ground. The sounds of metallic impact and smashing rung in Vogue's ears as she stared at her overturned shoe-car beside her.
Frustration started to boil in her head; she had just had the High-Heel Mobile washed this morning.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry about that, Vogue." a female voice sarcastically cooed. Vogue whipped her head around to the source of the familiar voice.
Magenta was standing on the sidewalk with an evil smirk. Vogue narrowed her eyes at the sight of her arch-nemesis.

"Let me get that for you." the plum snarled and lashed out her telekinesis at the High-Heel Mobile. The unmanned vehicle glowed as he was lifted up and tossed at the superhero. Vogue cart wheeled backwards and avoided the launched vehicle, but the High-Heel Mobile continued to fly on its path: straight into a building.

A thunderous crash and shatter filled the air as the High-Heel Mobile collided with the front of a building. Bricks and rubble rained down on the High-Heel Mobile that laid on top of broken glass and debris in the center of the huge gap it had created. Thankfully, nobody was in the building.

Vogue glared at Magenta, who was evilly laughing. Before she could launch herself at her, she heard movement behind her. Vogue turned her head around and saw Combustion lumbering at her with his flamethrower at the ready. She braced herself to attack the pyromaniac corn, but spotted other villains stepping out into the open. Vogue turned to face them all but she knew she couldn't take all of these criminals at once, especially when she was surrounded on all angles.

Before she could act, Vogue was enveloped in an aura and lifted into the air. She turned head and saw Magenta using her telekinetic powers on her.

"Not today Magenta!" Vogue proclaimed and warped her high-tech suit into a puffy ball.

The sudden change in the object caused Magenta's telekinetic powers to recoil and knock the plum backwards, effectively releasing Vogue from her grasp. Still in the shape of a puffy ball, Vogue plummeted to the ground. As soon as she landed, she bounced back up, avoiding a jet of flame from Combustion. Warping her suit into her gliding outfit, Vogue took off into the air and flew away with the villains below her.

AT BUMBLYBURG CENTRAL PARK…

Fish Taco rappelled down from the helicopter to the stage below and landed in a crouch with a stomping boom. Rising, he gazed out at the mass of citizens surrounded by his mercenaries. Though a small number had managed to escape, the majority of them were being kept at bay by the possibility of being shot with paintballs with enough force to knock out. Slowly, Fish Taco turned his head and glanced at Mayor Blueberry struggling against her captives.
The fact that she still resisted even when armed rifle muzzles pointed at her impressed Fish Taco; completely unimportant, but still notable.

Councilman Peach was trying to pry the captor mercenaries away from Mayor Blueberry.

"Unhand her, you thugs!" Councilman Peach barked. Effortlessly, one of the mercenaries shoved the peach back, putting him closer to the edge of the stage. Regardless, Councilman Peach still stood up against the threatening force, either out of bravery or stubbornness. Knowing the Councilman, Fish Taco assumed it was the second one.

"Do you know who she is?" Councilman Peach demanded. "That's Mayor Blueberry!"

"Exactly." Fish Taco said as he walked up to the peach and solidly kicked him off the stage's edge.

The audience started to panic again at the sight of the peach being literally kicked off stage, but several loud shots of gunfire controlled with tense crowd. Fish Taco knew that his mercenaries had only shot the ground; they wouldn't dare to shoot the civilians unless he ordered them to. Councilman Peach had landed on the patch of grass below and started to painfully rise, but two mercenaries immediately ran up to him and pointed their guns at his face, silently daring him to get back up.
The haired peach reluctantly took the hint.

Fish Taco approached the announcer podium, his cold eyes scanning the unnerved crowd. His eyes slowly lingered on the famous Vicki Cucumber and her trusty cameraman. Looking past the reporter, his eyes fell upon the camera, which was blinking its recording light; they were on live television as of now.

'Perfect.'

"Citizens of Bumblyburg!" Fish Taco announced into microphone. Every voice fell silent and all attention was focused on him. The thunder in the not so far distance signaled Fish Taco to carry on.

"I would like to thank you all for keeping calm," Fish Taco thanked, "because this will be the last time you ever do so."

Murmurs and whispers spread throughout the crowd as Fish Taco carried on.

"Your police force is defeated…"

Commissioner Scooter glanced up from the asphalt with a grimace. He was currently being pinned to the ground by two mercenaries and aimed at by two others.

"…Every criminal and super villain is free…"

The ominous storm clouds swirled overhead while lightened and thunder filled the sky.

"…And we have your beloved Mayor…"

Mayor Blueberry gave one last futile effort to free herself from the mercenaries' grasp. The attempt was vain, and all she could do was glare daggers towards Fish Taco's back.

"We are not here to rule this city." Fish Taco declared, "We have come to grant you your freedom! Freedom from control, freedom from social contract, and freedom from law; total, absolute, free will! With this new freedom we now give to you, please, do as you wish!" Fish Taco raised his fins for emphasis. "However, do know this: any resistance to any of my mercenaries, or any sort of attempts of overthrowing us…"

Fish Taco pulled out his paintball pistol and pointed it directly at Mayor Blueberry. Collective gasps sprang from the crowd as they watched in horror. Mayor Blueberry's eyes widened as the pistol was aimed between her eyes.

"…and the Mayor gets it." Fish Taco warned. "So tell me Bumblyburg, are you willing to stand up against us in exchange for a life?"

The crowd fell into dead silence. Fish Taco's rebreather hid his knowing smile; he had them right where he wanted. Tiny rain drops started to drizzle down from the grey clouds now, signaling that it was time to finish up.

"Now go! Enjoy your freedom!" Fish Taco ordered to all the citizens. In response, his mercenaries started to fire off shots into the air, the noise alone once again startling the crowd. Everyone darted in terror throughout the park as they tried to get away, and police officers were forced over to the front of the stage.
Chaos was starting to dictate everything. Fish Taco turned to the mercenaries holding Mayor Blueberry hostage.

"Take her away." Fish Taco instructed. The mercenaries complied as they hauled Mayor Blueberry off the stage.

Once the mayor was forced aboard one of the helicopters, the seven helicopters flew away to secure the poor blueberry. Fish Taco turned his attention to the cops that were now bunched up below him on the ground. Though outnumbered and disarmed, the police officers still held resilient expressions on their faces. Commission Scooter glared up at Fish Taco standing on the stage.

"You'll never get away with this!" Commissioner Scooter warned. Fish Taco merely raised his eyebrows.

"Funny," Fish Taco remarked loud enough for all of them to hear, "I heard the same thing earlier from LarryBoy."
Now all the cops turned and faced Fish Taco with shock; they couldn't believe what they had just heard. If Fish Taco had managed to beat LarryBoy…

"Enjoy your nap, officers." Fish Taco said and nodded. The mercenaries, led by Franco, raised their paintball guns and fired. Fully automatic gunfire echoed in the streets before every last police officer was covered in paint and laid unconscious on the ground. The light drizzle started to pick up, and within a few seconds, the rain started to pour down. Fish Taco glanced around the vacant park that was now being showered by heavy rain and listened to the panic screams and shouts as villains ran amuck in the city. Along with the sounds of chaos and helicopters, the rainwater felt extremely pleasant on his scales. The mercenaries, though they were getting soaked, all had fulfilling looks on their faces; the plan that they all hoped for was in effect.

LATER

Outer sewer bayous of Bumblyburg

4:18 PM

Heavy scattered showers covered the sky over Bumblyburg with enormous blackened rain clouds. The heavy downpour throughout the entirety of the city had caused the sewers to gush with water. With all of this gushing, the flow of the water into the output bayous had doubled. In one of the large pipes that spewed water into the bayou shot out a masked vigilante cucumber.

LarryBoy vocally gasped for air as he landed in the water stream that ran at the bottom of the bayou. Bruised and soaked to his core, LarryBoy maneuver in the water current to get to one of the concrete sides of the channel before he was whisked off to the ocean. Heaving, he finally managed to jump out of the stream and plop onto solid ground, albeit wet from the pouring rain. For a moment, LarryBoy just laid on his side, forcefully coughing up water that managed to get into his mouth. Not only had he almost drowned, but his entire body was bruised and aching from the beatings that Fish Taco had dealt to him, and his entire suit was drench with cold sewage water. He was lucky; he wouldn't be alive if it weren't for those sporadic patches of air within the sewer system that he managed to breathe in before being sucked under. LarryBoy finally opened his eyes once he started to take raspy breaths. Rain pattered his entire side and drenched over his cucumber skin as he lay there, thinking to himself on what to do next. Then something in his weary mind clicked. LarryBoy breathlessly turned on his still-working communicator.

"…Main Street is overrun, I repeat, Main Street is overrun!"

"I'm being pursued by Gretta and a bunch of other criminals! Where did they all come from?!"

"Electromelon and I are surrounded! We need backup!"

"The Alchemist is releasing stun gas at the Bumblyburg Bank, and not the stinky kind!"

"…take out those mercenaries before they harm those citizens!"

"…Dark Crow! I'm close to your position..."

"…they're coming from below!"

LarryBoy winced as the jumble of voices filled his earpiece. It took him a moment to sort through all of the voices and pinpoint which one belonged to whom. Judging from the sound of things, Bumblyburg was under attack everywhere. LarryBoy felt agonizing dread yank on his heart as he listened into the channel.

"Thingamabob, I lost sight of the helicopters!" Ricochet's voice reported over the relay.

"Can you reestablish view?" Thingamabob grunted. LarryBoy could tell that his tomato friend was out of breath and struggling by the sound of his voice.

"I tried, but I don't have my suit on me; I couldn't keep up." Ricochet responded. Before anymore clamor could overtake the relay, Thingamabob took charge of the situation.

"All superheroes fall back, I repeat, fall back." Thingamabob ordered, "We need to regroup."

"Has anyone seen LarryBoy or S-cape?" Vogue's voice spoke up hurriedly.

"No sign of either of them."

Coughing out the last drops of water from his mouth, LarryBoy activated his comlink.

"This is LarryBoy," he rasped, still trying to get use to having air back in his lungs, "I'm still here."

"Oh thank God." Vogue sighed. The worry and concern in Vogue's voice gripped LarryBoy's heart. Amidst all of the chaos, he was thankful that she was alright.

"What about S-cape?"

"He has the power to get out of any situation," LarryBoy assured, "I'm sure he's fine."

Painfully, LarryBoy slowly pushed himself up and stood looking upon the grim storm clouds that engulfed the skies of the chaos-stricken Bumblyburg.

"All superheroes, do what Thingamabob said." LarryBoy ordered, "We got a city to rescue."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's note: I would go into explanation on why this chapter was late, but I will simply say this: "Life is both easy and difficult." Despite these difficult times, I promise I won't abandon this story.

Again, Happy New Year to you all!