By Jeetaur ShadowClawID: 25229
The call came out from Director Nova, something about Arx again and soldiers. The MacGregors all loaded up in the small craft that Shade Blade had created using his Tech-o powers. Isfet and Jeetaur sat side-by-side as usual, Angelus lounged in a hammock, his cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. Aisy was already on her comms with her man Lykos. He said he would meet them there. Shade Blade was calling Nacho to meet him there too.
As they approached the landing site B.A.D.G.E. had set up, they could tell right way things were going to get messy. Huge waves of men in all black were running around, flowing through the streets like water, attacking anyone that was in their way. It was pretty clear that these men had been altered in some way, a little stronger, a little faster.
Shade Blade led the group off the craft and made for the command tent while the others made ready for battle. They had just finished up their first run in the League Wars and were still feeling their bruises. But hey, they had won bronze! Not bad for a first-time entry.
When Shade Blade returned, he gave the group their marching orders and they headed to the area B.A.D.G.E. wanted them to hold onto with a few other heroes. The gang didn’t know any of them, but they were all nice enough, especially to the younger league who were still learning the ropes.
Introductions would have to wait though as a wave of “Mercenaries” turned and headed their way.
“Alright, let’s form up”, Shade Blade ordered as MacGregors took their positions in a V, Isfet at the point to take the brunt. She was always the strongest and most resilient. The wave hit them and hit hard, but the MacGregors hit back. These guys weren’t invulnerable, but it was definitely taking some extra Morphon-fueled punches to put them down. No matter how many they knocked out, there always seemed to be another guy in black right behind him ready to attack. It was just non-stop.
After an hour of hard fighting, a new group stepped in and gave the MacGregors a chance to rest and regroup. They sat behind the line of battle and drank water, ate some candy bars, and discussed how best to deal with this. By now, Lykos had joined them, and his extra hits had certainly made a difference for the small team. He seemed to be able to take on three to every one that they could.
They had learned from B.A.D.G.E. that the mercs were weakest against Supernatural powers and Elementals. Aisy and Isfet embodied those cores so it was clear why they were hitting so much harder than the others. Lykso pulled Aisy aside and after a brief discussion, she nodded and pulled an inner yellow light from her chest and placed it into Lykos’. He briefly glowed yellow and then it faded. He immediately started switching out some of his gear.
Suddenly, Jeetaur straightened up and ran back to the flight vehicle. They all watched him but were too tired to chase after him. He returned a short moment later carrying a bag grinning.
“I forgot all about these!”, he said excitedly. He pulled out the egg carton container that held all of the eggs that EB had placed around the city that the MacGregors had collected. There were a few other goodies in the bag as well, from a leprechaun, and from their fight with Arx the last time.
The group gathered around and sorted through whose eggs were whose. Lykos had 4 or 5 he has gathered over his past year that all improved his attacks. Some of the MacGregors had helpful or useful eggs, but Jeetaur held 4 eggs that made him grin from ear to ear.
As everyone chowed down on the eggs – chocolate, by the way – they each started feeling the effects right away, Lykos suddenly got HUGE, his girl Aisy giving him an appraising look. But the biggest change was in Jeetaur. He practically vibrated with energy. The air shimmered around him.
“Babe, are you ok?”, Isfet asked as she tried to lay her hand on his arm. Her hand just shook so violently it made her teeth rattle and had to let go. Jeetaur just grinned.
“Are you kidding? I feel Great!”, he exclaimed. He bounced happily on his toes and looked like he was going to burst. The group seemed dubious but moved back to the fight to relieve the team fighting on the front line.
It was obvious almost immediately that something was very different about Jeetaur. He was moving crazy fast, hitting three mercenaries for every one that the rest of the group could manage. Only Lykos was able to keep up with him, but only because his one hit would knock three guys back at once. Jeetaur moved, dodged, slammed into a guy, spun and elbowed another to the back of the head.
The other McGregors were fighting hard to keep Jeetaur as much with them as hitting bad guys themselves. He kept trying to wade into the mix, getting himself surrounded without realizing it. Lykos pulled him back to the group several times. When the others would step back to grab a candy bar for more energy, Jeetaur never left the front line, an infinite amount of energy coursing through him. It was only when two large Capes came up and physically dragged him away from the fight did he stop swinging.
The rest of the league collapsed on the ground or benches exhausted. Jeetaur bounced around the relief tent like a rabbit. He ran to the tent flap, watching the fight, then would pace back and forth like a crazed man. The group watched him warily and glanced at each other, then finally their gaze fell on Isfet. This was her area of expertise – Her Husband.
“Jeetaur… babe? I need you to stop and talk to me sweety. I need you to stop and look at me – LOOK AT ME!” Her voice finally penetrated his frantic pacing and he turned, almost calm finally. There was still a hint of vibration in his shoulders though. “Babe, I need you to tell me what you ate. You are freaking us all out”
Jeetaur smiled slightly and managed to look guilty. “The label said ‘Sugar High’. I deduced that they were energy enhancers and they definitely are. I’m not feeling any of the fatigue of fighting like the rest of you. I am literally filled with energy right now and I need to work it off fast. I need to get back to the fight… But first…”
He walked to Aisy and tried to kneel in front of her, but his shaking knees made it nearly impossible. They could hear his kneecaps rattle on the concreate floor. “Aisy, I need to know how you made Lykos supernatural”.
Aisy seemed dubious at first, but quickly explained that one of her Fae powers was to pass her Core strength on to others. At least temporarily. Lykos would go back to normal in a day or so. He also switched out some of his Magic-Based gear for Supernatural ones, giving him more power against the mercs.
“Well, that is what I need, Aisy. Can you do it again? It only makes sense for me to be hitting harder if I am hitting more often.”
Aisy nodded, “Yes, but I can only do it once more. I can’t share the Core again after this until a long night’s rest.” Aisy quickly looked to Isfet for permission to continue. Isftet looked about to argue but gave up with a sigh and gave Aisy the quick nod.
Aisy knelt beside the overcharged Jeetaur and again pulled a glowing yellow ball from her own chest and placed it against Jeetaur’s chest. He glowed briefly and then it subsided. A hand on his shoulder help lift him up; Lykos steadying him. “Come with me, we will get you some Supernatural gear from B.A.D.G.E. to replace your Mental stuff.
As the two headed out the flap, Isfet hugged Aisy for comfort. Shade Blade finally spoke up on the events. “Well, it may have been stupid and foolhardy, but I can not deny the effects. He is certainly moving fast and never seems to tire”.
Isfet looked over at him from Aisys shoulder, “Yes, but what always happens after a sugar high? What will this do to him after?”
The next several hours went by like, well, a blur. Jeetaur and Lykos now had the front point, Aisy and Isfet next to their men with Angelus and Shade Blade mopping up the ones that got past them. Nacho works so darn well on his own that he worked both side of the V, jumping in where he was needed, but more often fighting groups of the mercenaries on his own.
As they pulled back one more time, it was clear even Jeetaur was starting to slow. Isfet held him close, asking, “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I am alright,” Jeetaur nodded. “Just a bit of a slow down. Each of the eggs has different expiration times, the strongest was only good for four hours. The second strongest had a 6 hou limit. It is slower, but still over twice the rate of energy regeneration. It has about another hour and a half on it. I need to keep fighting.”
“I understand, but you can’t keep up this pace without something to eat. Your metabolism has to be burning through your system”.
A voice called out behind them, “I think I got that covered”. That turned to find Angelus, in full cowboy get-up, pushing a hot dog stand, umbrella and all. “I found this on the next street over, and I thought Ole Jeet there might be hankering for some grub.”
Jeetaur grinned and grabbed a bun and started making himself a hot dog, eating one after the other. He didn’t even realize just how starved he was. After clearing at least a whole contest worth of hot dogs he looked better and more focused.
“OK”, he said. “Let’s get out there and see what we can do.”
The gang returned to the field of battle and kept the fight going. After an hour, the group needed another break, all except Jeetaur. The group was not only winded, they were spent. Shade Blade could tell they just didn’t have it in them to keep going.
“I am calling it. We need to go for a nice long rest before trying to tackle this again in a few hours.” He said. “Let the other heroes take over for us and let’s get some shut eye”
The league of new heroes clearly agreed, grabbing their gear, and slowly heading back to the ship… all except Jeetaur. Isfet turned, “Babe, come on”
“I can’t!” he said exasperated. “I still have 30 minutes of high intensity energy. I can’t just shut this off.” He paced again, the rest of the group already turning the corner to the launch pad.
Isfet reached for his arm and squeezed it. “I know babe. I know. That’s why we aren’t going with the others.”
“What?” he asked, clearly confused. Are we going to fight by ourselves?”
She squeezed his vibrating arm again and smirked. “For being the genius of the group, you sure are dumb sometimes.” She led him away from the fighting, the B.A.D.G.E. agents, and everything they had been dealing with.
“So… about half an hour, right?”
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