It is Round 3 of League War V and 5th Precinct: Kung Fu Hustle is ahead in points over RG: Creatures of the Night. It has been a long day, with each team bidding their time and launching devastating attacks against what they perceive are vulnerable opponents.
Sometime they attack en masse and other times they send in one hero to pound another hero into the dirt. Usually the latter, due differing power levels and experience of the heroes concerned.
Crossroads has been in and out of the arena all day long, taking out a member of RG:COTN, then retreating back into safe territory. Sometimes she would leave to take a much needed break from the nerve-wracking “waiting for the shoe drop” periods of time between clashes. The Wicked Pitch was leading their squad for this war and had them rotating out so they wouldn’t get punchy from the waiting.
Throughout the day, Crossroads has been able to take on and defeat most of the heroes in RG:COTN.
The younger or newer members were easy, although some of them did sneak in a trick or two and it reminded her of Neach-dìon na h-Alba’s words to her after Round Two and she wondered if they were holding anything back. She seemed to overpower them easily, but was it all a ploy to fool her teammates in later matches? That kind of thinking made her head hurt. There were only three she hasn’t faced yet, and they were the ones that worried her the most.
Orion Star was currently the highest ranked hero in RG: COTN and Crossroads had actually trained and spared with him many times. But her record was not good at all against him. He led their series with a whopping 285 wins over her measly 48 wins. Not a very confidence building record.
The Shit Show was a down and dirty fighter that Crossroads had been squaring off against in every Fight Club, Brawl, Chrono Event, and King of The Mountain competition ever since she became a hero. Crossroads had the edge and usually beat The Shit Show soundly in their early days. Lately, since about the last League War actually, The Shit Show has been taking it up a notch and Allyson has been hard pressed just to stay in the same book, let alone on the same page as Shit Show. Her training regimen must be brutal to get that good that fast and that consistently.
Last was Cadaverdog. The reason Crossroads was worried about fighting him was that CD was a friend and former league mate when she was in Red Guard. He had left Red Guard before the last League War to found and lead RG: COTN. They hadn’t seen each other in a while, but Crossroads still remember their time and training together fondly. It was going to be weird fighting him. They trained closely together since their main powers were similar, being travel powers. His power of teleportation and hers of portals fit well together in logistics and battle strategy. Being able to put resources, whether material or fighters, where they were needed was an important ability for any team competition and CD and Crossroads worked seamlessly to provide that advantage. It enabled Red Guard to earn two silver medals and a bronze in three League Wars.
However, regardless of her worries or feelings, it was time to get back in the arena do some fighting. A bronze medal in their division was at stake. It has been a tough League War for 5th Precinct; it was time to do some winning!
As Crossroads stepped into the arena to join he team mates, she saw that fully a quarter of the arena floor had been turned into an urban environment. About the size of a standard city block, the terrain was made up of city streets and buildings of all shapes and sizes and in various states of repair. Some were in excellent condition, all concrete, shiny glass, and gleaming steel. Other buildings were obvious fire hazards, only one sunny day from bursting into flames.
“Nice. That’s gonna be a bear to investigate. It just screams “ambush!” doesn’t it?” Crossroads said conversationally.
“I didn’t even know they could alter the arena terrain!” exclaimed her team mate, Kairo the Great. “I wonder if it is a random event, or of you can request different terrains for your battles...hmmm...”
Suddenly, out of the blue, a rusted Chrysler Pacifica minivan dropped right on top of Kairo.
“Aww, damn! That’s gonna leave a mark! Somebody get the friggin’ thing off of me!” came Kairo’s complaint from underneath the pile of metal.
Todd and Carl, the youngest members of the team, each grabbed a section of the minivan and tore the entire thing in half, tossing the pieces to the side. Kairo stood up, looking a contused and pissed.
“Alright, so that’s how they want to start it. Let’s see how they like this...,” Kairo held his hands about a foot apart and dark energy began to gather in swirls between them. As the energy ball grew in power and intensity, Kairo took a few steps forward and launched it towards the cityscape.
“What are you even aiming at, Kairo?” asked Crossroads as she watched the glowing purple orb streak across the sky.
“There’s a guy on that building to the left of the one with the pyramid on top. He looks like he’s scouting us with some high power binoculars,” replied Kairos.
“Wow! That’s some seriously good vision, I can’t see anything at that distance! And that looks like it’s going to be a direct hit!” said a figure next to Kairos.
“Yeah, that’s one of my powers, Keen Eyesight. It lets me target anything at almost any distance within line of sight. There’s gonna be big boom when it hits! Ha Ha!” chortled Kairos with glee watching the orb draw nearer to its destination.
The hero next to Kairos put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Well, let me know how big it is, would ya?”
“What?” Kairos, confused, looked at the hero next to him. “Who the hell are y---“*POP*
Kairos disappeared without even a flash of light, just that small *POP* sound. Moments later Kairos’ purple orb impacted the building and took out the top two floors. Cadaverdog looked at Crossroads and smiled brightly.
“Hi, Crossroads! It’s been a few months. How have you been?”
”Hi, CD, I was wondering where you were. Where did you send Kairos?”
“To the top of that building he targeted,” said Cadaverdog evilly.
“Ouch! He’s gonna be pissed about that,” Crossroads winced.
“Yep, but he should never gloat until he’s taken out his opponent. He lost sight of the fact that your opponent is probably one tricky son of a bitch and to always watch your back.”
“He’s pretty new, but he’s learning.”
“We all do, or we don’t get very far ion the hero business,” said Cadaverdog, sagely. “I see you have been busy. Been watching you tear up your opponents in the LW’s and the FC’s. You’re making a name for yourself.”
“I just want to be a better hero, not make a name for myself!” complained Allyson.
“I know you do, that’s why I respect and like you. You’re exactly what you seem to be. Someone just trying to go good the best they can with the gifts they’re given. Very commendable and worthy,” Cadaverdog said admiringly. “Of course, I’m still going to have to pound you into the ground, but know that I do it with the utmost respect!”
Crossroads giggled at Cadaverdog’s words. She hated when she giggled. She sounded like some junior high school Heather. So revolting!
“Thanks for your opinion, CD, I really do appreciate it! But I think you’re going to have a harder time beating me than you think.”
“We’ll see about that. But no matter what happens, no hard feelings?” asked Cadaverdog, holding out his hand.
Crossroads smile brightly at him and said, “No hard feelings!” She reached out to shake Cadaverdog’s hand. As soon as their hands met, Crossroads heard a rushing sound and was suddenly standing inside a building burning with purple flames.
While the heat was uncomfortable, her suit prevented any damage from the purple flames. “Could have been worse. He could have dropped a minivan on me.” Crossroads tilted her head at that thought and a moment later disappeared as a Cadillac Escalade slammed into the spot she just vacated.
Cadaverdog’s power of teleportation was a powerful one. He didn’t actually need to have been somewhere to teleport there. He could just be there if he wanted to. It also has a lesser known aspect –
Cadaverdog can teleport but he can remain slightly out of phase with the dimension, rendering him invisible and intangible, so he can scout the situation before he fully appears. Crossroads could sense him by his presence between dimensions. Better yet, she was pretty sure that she could attack him in that phased state.
Cadaverdog had teleported to the cityscape and hovered 100 feet above the spot where he dropped the Escalade, still out of phase with the dimension.. He saw Crossroads disappear the instant before the SUV hit and was wondering where she could have gone.
“Ok, my little friend, where are you?” he muttered aloud. Secure in his out of phase state, he slowly scanned the area for movement.
“Right behind you, CD.”
No one has ever sensed Cadaverdog while he was out of phase, let alone seen him or been able to attack him. Despite that, Cadaverdog immediately dodged to his left, causing half of the wreckage of the Chrysler Pacifica to completely miss him.
“Hah! Nice try, Crossro-OOOF!” Cadaverdog’s celebration was cut off abruptly by the other half of the minivan slamming into him from behind and knocking him down. Suddenly a portal opened up underneath him and Cadaverdog fell into a pool of lava before he could even get his bearings. Cadaverdog teleporting to solid ground was a reflex action.
Stunned by the rapid attacks, Cadaverdog didn’t see the iceberg falling from the sky above him.
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