Shinobi deflected a blast of energy with his blade and then quickly scooped up the penguin and threw him directly at the flashy super-villain.
Zen darted through the air, his bladed flippers ready to slice and dice. The moment he reached the battling villain, Arx grabbed him and then kicked Zanazola right in the face.
“let me go, you silver jerk!” Zen stabbed at the shiny arm gripping him.
“Smile for my InstaBlab,” Arx held Zen and took a pic with his selfie stick.
“LET ME GO!”
“My pleasure!” Arx twisted around and spiked Zen right into the arena floor.
Five more blasts of energy hit Arx and his reflective skin sent the power flying in all directions. Arx was showing signs of damage, but he fought all the harder. He swung to the left and nailed Lumpsum in the chin, swung to the right and punched Magnificent Punlork in the chest. With a quick dodge, he avoided a flying chair thrown by Sevon and then grabbed the hero by the neck and plowed him face first into the ground.
“When will you learn, I’m unbeatable!” Arx flew up and grabbed Yucca by the foot and spun them around, throwing them out of the arena like a shot put. He stopped to catch his breath, the pain in him obvious.
The masses of heroes settled slightly and Arx flew back down, “see. Just bow to my superiority and I won’t keep…” his little speech was cut short by a clothesline to the face.
Skelli skidded to a stop and looked back at Arx. “What were you saying?”
Arx pushed himself up a few inches, and then his feet were grabbed by a giant hand. Midgardsomr swung him over his head and slammed him to his right, then his left, and then his right again. Arx wheezed as he lay in the crater made by his own body. Midgard leaned over and said, “just like my favorite movie scene, and it wasn’t one of your crappy movies.”
“YAH!” Arx flew straight up and hit Midgard in the chin, sending the massive world serpent stumbling back. The sight of this behemoth of a creature being bested by a small villain set a few heroes back. Arx hovered in the air, seething in rage. “I will not be treated like this! I AM A SUPERSTAR! I AM…”
He was once again cut short when a flying hero crashed into him. Hotwings shoved him through the air, and right into the wall of the stadium. Before Arx could recover, Hotwings tied Arx’s own cape around his head.
“I think it’s time to bring the curtains down on this actor!” Hotwings quipped and then repeatedly punched Arx in the chest and stomach while the villain struggled to get out of his own cape.
Arx ripped the cape free and reached out to strangle Hotwings, but his arms were grabbed. Hotwings pulled the same move as Arx and swung him around. “SKELLI!”
Arx flew across the field, and Skelli flipped over, kicking Arx with a hard smash. The villain tumbled right into Midgard, who nailed him with a fist, sending him back to Hotwings, who caught the remains of his cape and spun him again. “BACK ATCHA!” He threw Arx back to Skelli, who sent him to Midgard, and then Hotwings. Finally, as Arx flew for his last time toward Hotwings, the hero didn’t catch him, but punched him right in the chin. Arx flew over the Arena and right through the barrier. He was now at the mercy of naked space as he tumbled toward the planet.
Hotwings landed in the middle of the arena, surrounded by hundreds of bruised heroes. A few were being carried off using the League Wars medical equipment.
“Is he coming back?” Hotwings asked.
Midgard peered out from his extreme height. “He’s out of control.”
“I guess someone should go get him.” Hotwings looked around. “Are there any space worthy heroes here?”
The Wizard hobbled over, nursing a broken arm. “None that are awake. I could try, but I’m in bad shape.”
Midgard snarled, “let him pop in space. He deserves no better.”
Hotwings pulled out his comm, “no, we’re heroes, not executioners. Nova, this is Hotwings, we have a situation.”
Gar came through. “We need help. Nova won’t wake up.”
The heroes returned to the BADGE station and helped gather the poisoned people. The only person on the station left standing was Gar. A few of the heroes who were capable with medicine worked in the infirmary helping the sick. Quark had zapped to the planet to get some medical help from the surface.
Krystal Fae stood next to Nova’s bed, her hand held over his face. A purple light shone between them. When it stopped, she smiled and said, “I think you’re okay.”
Nova, awake now, said, “that was some nasty stuff he gave us. Have the chemist figured out what it was?”
SuperRakly, standing on the other side of the bed, answered. “We sent the information down to the lab at the Henry Ford center, but they can’t confirm anything yet.”
“Henry Ford Center?” Nova frowned.
Rakly shrugged, “We’re kinda working blind here. All the staff are still pretty out of it. You’re the first to wake. Gar isn’t a doctor or chemist. So, we went with the ideas we had.”
“Thank you for helping. Has anyone gone to pick up Arx’s body?”
Krystal said, “I had a shuttle sent out to search for him, but there was no sign. I wager he entered the atmosphere and is nothing more than a cloud of ash by now.”
“I suppose that’ll have to do. I’d prefer a different punishment.”
Rakly said, “he gave us little choice. He was really powerful.”
Nova started pushing himself up, but Krystal held him at bay. He said, “I need to get to Operations and start the search for Dr. Osteen again. I have work to do. Let me up.”
Krystal pushed him back down. “No. You may be better, but you aren’t well. Gar has command of Operations and we have Leagues all over the planet back on the search. Trust in us.”
“I don’t want to lie here while a madman creates super villains.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find him before he makes another Arx.”
Just then the patient next to him came around. Chase groaned and slowly put her hand to her head. “Wow... I have the worst hangover. What... what happened?”
Krystal stood next to Chase’s bed. “You were poisoned.”
“Poisoned!? Oh...it was Arx, wasn’t it?”
Nova asked from his bed, “how do you know that?”
“He gave me a drink back in Canada and then I lost control. It was like I was in a dream or something. I was enchanted by him, in a daze of some sort.”
Krystal asked, “what do you think of him now?”
Chase groaned and put her hand over her eyes. “I’d love to see him.”
“Oh, dear.” Krystal shook her head.
Chase finished her thought, “so I could smack that arrogant smile off that chrome face of his.”
Nova laughed, “that sounds like the real Chase.”
***
Arx gasped and sat up on a metal bed. The world was blurry for a moment, only bright lights and a few human-shaped shadows around him.
“Good, you’re awake.” A voice said.
Arx squinted and shielded his eyes from the brighter lights. “Who’s there? I’m warning you, I have the best lawyers…”
“Oh, you won’t need lawyers. At this point, you’re dead.”
Arx blinked and rubbed his eyes, working them back into focus. “Who are you? Where am I?”
Dr. Osteen pressed something against his neck and then looked at a small device in his hand. “Good, it is operational.”
“Osteen, where...how…”
The man speaking to him said, “You fell to Earth. It was a spectacular fight you had. However, your real mission was a failure. We sent you to destroy BADGE, and all you did was get in a big fight.”
Osteen added, “it’s a good thing I super charged all your powers and strengths. You survived that fall and that battle.”
Arx looked at this dark dressed man. “Tell me who you are?”
“I’m Delta, Dr. Osteen works for me. That’s the only information you’ll receive. As of this point, you’re now a subject.”
“Subject. Hey, wait a minute. I didn’t sign up for anything.”
Delta leaned over, getting in Arx’s face. “Yes, you did. The moment you accepted all this new power Osteen gave you, you agreed to obey us. You became a part of a much bigger plan.”
“I WON’T…. AHHHHH!” Arx tried to use his laser eyes, but something around his neck sent waves of pain through him instead. He felt a metal collar on him. “What’s this?”
“Insurance. You’ll obey Dr. Osteen and he will use you as a subject for our grand plan.”
Arx snarled at him, “and just what part of this plan am I?”
“You’ll find out.” The lights went out and then came back on, Delta was gone.
Arx looked around, “where’d he go?”
Osteen laughed as he prepped an injection. “I have no idea, but it’s the coolest thing ever. Now, hold still, this might sting…”
0 Comments