"Fly away little story, be free..."
Chapter 1 - August 6th, 2010
When
he noticed that a hero was chasing them, Sergei Slade knew that he would have
to execute Plan B as his massive tank leapt from the 405 freeway and into the
parking lot of the Costa Mesa Mall; a dead end. Random shoppers either ran or
flew out of Slades way as he left a trail of crushed vehicles in his wake. He
made a hard one-eighty to face the freeway, cars piling up as if the tank were
a hand running through sand. Slade paused to regain his bearings and held his
bag filled with his stolen loot. He smiled and thought of the potential that
could work in his favor stemmed from a pair of world-renowned gauntlets.
Slade looked out of the viewport of his tank
and saw a yellow, meta-generated force field cover the mall’s parking lot.
Colorful meta humans, homo validus, born
with fantastic powers hovered near the organic blockade. Although unqualified
to be heroes, the metas were raised to embrace their inner good, and Slade was
their target.
Slade
laughed at them. The tank sat dormant.
“In
a world of super men, only the privileged can fight.” He said.
“Captain Redbird has penetrated the barriers,
sir.” Slade’s wife, Liz said.
Slade
nodded and looked up.
“I
see him. A red spandex dot with a leather jacket isn’t that easy to miss…”
Slade
laughed at the hero floating fifty feet away from them. He bit down on his
cigar, lowered his shades, and pressed down on the bullhorn button.
“Captain
Redbird; the hero with all density and intensity, but no ingenuity. I’m
surprised that your power over your own mass doesn’t refer to your stupidity as
well.” Slade’s voice echoed off the buildings like sandpaper.
Redbird
curled his lip, his greasy hair caught on his unshaven whiskers.
“Said
the military brat holed up in his tank…” He growled.
Redbird
thought of the piece of the stolen knife in his utility belt. He had half of
the hilt and Slade had the rest. Redbird pointed at the tank; his heroism
bleeding through by his exaggerated pose.
“Your
loot belongs in a museum, Slade! The Blade of the Amber Talon is worth nothing
to you!”
Slade
looked at Liz with a knowing smile.
“He
thinks that that’s all we’ve got.”
Liz
nodded.
“I
say that we let him. What harm is there if we each fight for the whole of the
blade? Just think too, if we win and escape, than the EnWol gauntlets should
soon make a profitable hmm…. splat on
society.” She said.
Slade
laughed and aimed his canon at the obnoxious hero. Redbird narrowed his eyes
and swore. He swooped up into the air and Slade’s grin broadened. He snapped
and held both the control wheel and his sack of stolen treasures in hand.
“This
is where the fun begins. Dive you galoot!”
Redbird
looked down at the tank. The front was coughing up bursts of black smoke, presumably
damaged when it exploded into the parking lot. Redbird gave a half smile. He flexed
his hands from his perch in the air; calling any available resources to help
him increase his density. He aimed for the damaged portion of the tank, and dove
with a scream. Slade stood up in his seat.
“Yes,
come on!”
Liz
made adjustments on her console.
“The
tank is ready, the weak point is set. Keep aiming at him.”
Slade
ground his teeth.
“Brace
for impact, Liz.”
Redbird
slammed his shoulder, full force, into the tank. The rear lifted high into the
air with Redbird acting as a pivot. Slade laughed like a madman as the tank
flipped into the air.
“We
have a hit! Redbird is right on target!” Liz yelled. She could feel gravity
tugging her to her side, and then upward and back.
“May
Gaia bless America, honey!” Slade whooped and flipped a switch under glass. Previously
unlit buttons and switches lit up on Liz’s console.
The
tank tumbled across the parking lot toward the metas and the main road. The
people behind the force field skittered back a few steps as the tumbling beast
rushed at them. Redbird chased after it, looking for a place to grab and pull
it back. He closed in and grabbed hold of an inch thick bar. It instantly tore
off and wrapped around his fist like the triangle of a binder clip. The tank came
at rest on top of several cars. The heroes arms burned from the weight of the
tank. He threw the triangular rod and swore again.
Liz
pressed a button as the top of the tank hit the ground.
“Initializing
alternate combat mode bravo-uniform-lima now! Sergei go!”
Slade
nodded and pulled his portion of the ceremonial orange blade from the sack and
jammed it into a slot.
The
roof of the tank parted down the middle. Redbird sneered as a sphere emerged
from the remains of the tank. It did not seem to have a visible method of
propulsion, and the top hemisphere was completely transparent. Slade and Liz
peered out from the top.
“It’s
a funny story, Captain Redbird,” Slade said from his megaphone. “The mechanism
to release this puppy was caught after a ferocious battle from before I was
able to get my hands on it. Yes, you destroyed the main motor, but that can be
kludged back together. This baby though, she has the real guns on her. How, you
ask? Well, weapons that can cut diamonds.”
The
sphere hummed as it produced sets of lasers with a brilliant orange glow. Slade
took aim at Captain Redbird, itching to use his new toys.
“Now
son, if you don’t want to be turned into a super dense oil stain on the lot, I
would surrender your piece of the blade to me. Got that? If you don’t do it,
well, I may have to hurt you.” Slade said.
Redbird
sneered and posed to defend himself. “This keeps getting better and better…”
“I wonder what that is…” Lora
Summers stepped over to the railing of the covered bridge between malls and squinted.
A yellow dome encapsulated the southeast region of the mall. She looked down to
the street below and saw several police cars and flying meta humans speeding
toward the scene. Some of the fliers looked like they were made of fire.
Random
patches of the dome glowed brighter as it started to shrink. Lora shielded her
eyes and put her bags down. She made a nervous laugh.
“Oh
boy, that doesn’t look very good at all.”
The civilians and eager mall
patrons looked on as Slade chased Redbird through the parking lot. Those that
could practice their meta powers floated outside the force field, itching to
help. The others that were able to produce force fields worked to keep the
battle in and the innocents out.
Redbird
kept an eye on the orb, looking for an opening. He ducked behind a large
wreckage of cars, increased his density for a moment and ran at the floating
orb from the other end. He felt his footsteps imprint the asphalt and destroy
the cars in his way. Slade giggled as he aimed for Redbird, the assisted system
promising an accurate shot every time.
Redbird
leapt up and he concentrated on his fists, giving them enough mass to make
holes in solid iron. Slade moved his cigar from one side of his mouth to the
other. He saw the whites of Redbirds eyes.
“Die
you scarlet snake!”
Slade
got a direct hit on Redbird’s chest. The top of his costume disintegrated and
he fell. He rolled on impact and sprang to his feet. He glanced up at the globe
and decided to run around in zigzags to make himself a harder target. He could
not get hit again.
Slade
was hysterical. He was guffawing, slapping his knees and he appeared to have
trouble breathing because of it. Liz stared at him. She cocked her eyebrow and
lowered her half moon glasses. Slade turned to her and pointed at the parking
lot.
“How
did you like that? That sucker actually works!” He clapped and laughed again.
Liz
took a moment to glare at him.
“Are
you alright?” She asked finally.
Slade
caught sight of Redbird dashing away and gave chase.
“Never
better, why?” Slade growled.
“You
are not quite as… animated. Remember that we don’t want to kill him, we just
need the remaining part of the hilt.”
Slade
snorted.
“I’m
going to maim him. If he dies than that’s his problem.”
Redbird
ran the parameter of the dome as Slade tried to destroy him. Liz caught a flash
in the corner of her eye and glanced up at the force field. She was sure that
something was happening. She focused her eyes, unsure of whether she was seeing
things or not. She gasped.
“Sergei,
the shield is shrinking.”
Slade
looked up without a word and nodded after a moments study.
“This
means two different things,” Liz continued. “The metas that are projecting the
field are losing their power, or they are compressing it to trap us. My guess
is on the latter.”
Slade
giggled again. He felt his ego grow and it fueled an idea. He took his sights
off Redbird and pointed up at the force field.
“Sergei,
what are you doing? The force field is a mental projection. The attack may put the
metas into permanent shock.”
Slade
laughed again and set the laser to its full power.
“Brain
freeze!”
The
lasers combined into concentrated beam and the shield quivered.
The
force field metas were in agony. Blood gushed from their noses and ears as they
screamed and fell. The mental wall faded away. Slade clapped and hollered. Liz
felt a pang of guilt and fear in her stomach.
“Sergei,
we are not terrorists.” She said. “What would possess you to…?” Liz trailed
off. The mass of meta civilians started to swarm the floating orb, including
Captain Redbird.
“Hey!
What is this?” Slade yelled.
Several
angry faces and all colors of the rainbow blocked out the light. Slade both
fired his lasers in random directions and rolled to each side to dislodge the
metas.
“Unlicensed
punks! Get off!”
Liz
stood up.
“Sergei,
go to plan—”
Liz
gasped. The orb trembled and sent her to the floor. Slade growled and removed
the Blade of The Amber Talon from its slot and hid it on a holster on his leg.
The floor glowed a bright orange.
“Elizabeth!
Defensive maneuver Tango-Alpha—”
The
floating orb exploded.
Lora watched with a terrified
fascination as an orange beam of light sliced through the west end of the mall
as if it were a sponge cake. The beam vanished and the building moaned as the
new top half slid toward the main road. A split second after the beam vanished,
Lora started to run towards the ruined building.
An
explosion rocked the south end of the mall. Lora could not help but turn to it
and scream. She saw that something was rushing at her, but she did not have
time to react. The debris bounced off Lora’s chest and she fell on her butt.
Lora grabbed the debris on instinct. The bridge dipped a little to the west and
Lora stood up, unaware that she was cradling the two cylinders that had hit
her.
“Gaia’s
Gadflies!”
Lora
looked around to see if she could lend any assistance, and saw a police officer
flying toward her.
“Ma’am,
let’s go!”
The
meta officer scooped Lora into his arms and flew up the incline back to the
mall’s east side.
Lora
held her hand out.
“Wait!
Cindy! My friend is in there! I’m her only ride back.”
“Is
your friend a meta?”
Lora
nodded.
“Yes,
but—”
“Then
it’s a good thing that she can fly. The west side is no longer safe; we can’t
go in and get her on our own.”
The
top half of the mall slid far enough off its base, crumpling the bridge. Lora
shrieked and the officer flew out from under the covered ceiling.
As
they ascended, Lora watched as the sea dragon inspired bridge crumpled onto the
parking garage and palm tree laden Bear Street below. Hundreds of unharmed meta
heroes vacated the new opening of the base like a cartoonish swarm of bees in a
hive. Lora hoped that her elastic meta human friend, Cindy Richards, had been
one of them.
If you would like the whole book, check it out at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87111
If you would like the whole book, check it out at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87111
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