Heroes Off Campus
Mar 11, 2017 23:30:03 GMT
Post by dbzbabe on Mar 11, 2017 23:30:03 GMT
Episode 12- Sacrifices
The London skyline was now homing into view for Olem as he approached the city. He had no idea where the others were if they were even in any danger, he'd just followed Herbert's instructions without giving it too much thought in all honesty. If they were in trouble though, Olem suspected that it would be because of Olympus even if Rhodes had claimed that this super hunting down and murdering other supers was not related to Olympus. The Plague Doctor had no clue as to what fate had befallen his old friends. He flew on, beginning to circle around the city searching for any sign of trouble. If only he hadn't severed all ties to the others when he'd left, a simple text would've done the trick to help him locate them.
Alex's green eyes were shaking in their sockets as he seemed paralyzed with shock by what he beheld. Time appeared to have slowed to a stop as they all looked on at the unmasked villain. Signe just held her cold stare, her eyes not even blinking. She thought of typical it was that they were so surprised to see her. Having had enough of the staring competition, Signe released a burst of telekinetic energy, throwing Alex off of her. As he flew backwards, Alex pulled on the gravity around Signe and yanked her towards him. Not wanting to be beaten this way again, Signe swung a fist forward at Alex just as he did likewise. Both hit each other square on the jaw as Alex's grasp on the gravity around them was released and the pair tumbled to the ground.
"Chris help Freya!" Alex cried as he got to his feet and charged at Signe.
The Dane seemed ready for his attack and so as she flew back down to help Freya, Chris fired an energy ball at Signe with pinpoint precision. Signe noticed the blast coming for her at the last second and instinctively erected a force field to counter it. Alex came flying in and slammed against the field from which he immediately bounced back off of.
As she swooped down low, Chris gathered Freya in her arms and spirited her away to Aurora and Lucio. Freya's life was fading fast. Chris placed her down and looked up at Lucio expectantly before she darted off to rejoin the fight. The hole in Lucio's chest was still not yet fully healed and Aurora was close to breaking point with all of her injuries but the two of them knew they had to do something or else Freya would die. The Tellasite placed his hands on Freya and a green glow began to shine out from his hands. He struggled and panted and he concentrated, trying to knit Freya's broken body back together.
Signe had rocketed off after Alex, ripping through the air at supersonic speeds. She grabbed hold of his leg and threw him down to the ground with tremendous force. Chris came flying in as she connected a right hook to Signe's face. Before he had hit the ground, Alex had managed to soften his fall by gently lowering himself to the ground through the use of his powers. He then reworked the gravity around him to catapult himself back up to where Signe and Chris were fighting. The Dane was trying to stand toe to toe with Chris, throwing punches in a wild fashion, but Chris was far too quick for her, ducking and dodging around Signe's blows, slamming her own attacks into the Dane's torso and across her face. Just as Alex was about to re-enter the fray, Signe unleashed a huge blast of telekinetic energy, throwing the pair of heroes in opposite directions away from her.
"Aurora…?" Lucio panted, "I-I…..I-I can't….c-can't heal her….f-f-fully," he looked horrified at the prospect of failing.
"Here, let me," Aurora groaned as she stretched out a hand and placed it on Freya, ready to take on any of her remaining injuries.
"No amica! I cannot allow you," Lucio said as he grabbed Aurora's arm.
"If you can't heal her then we have no choice, she'll die otherwise!" Lucio retracted his hand and let Aurora proceed.
Letting out a sharp cry of pain, Aurora began to absorb the rest of Freya's injuries. Her body was becoming more and more broken but she had to push through the pain. As she continued however, Aurora began to lose consciousness. Her body and her ability were at their limits and she could take on no more. She exhaled a defeated gasp as Freya was still lying there, not fully healed.
"Amica!" Lucio cried as he held Aurora up as she collapsed forward.
Grunting and straining, Lucio dug deep to use up the last of his energies to try and channel the remainder of his healing ability into Aurora. Freya herself let out a small groan as she came back round. She slowly sat up and looked around at the faces of her two friends and gave a wry smile. Freya then jolted her head around, fright spread across her face as she checked to make sure Alex was okay.
The Master of Gravity was doing just fine as he pushed and pulled on the walls and the ceiling, making his way back to Signe. Chris had already reengaged her as she fired off small balls of energy to deflect the projectiles that Signe was now hurling at her. As she got in closer, Chris stretched out her arm and let rip a huge wave of energy. Signe's forearm became engulfed in fire as she countered the blast with her own flamethrower. She was wary of Alex coming behind her and so as he did so, Signe waved her other arm and slammed Alex into the wall with telekinesis and held him there. Chris now seized the opportunity to further advance against the Dane as her attention had switched focus if only for a split second but that was all Chris needed. Powering up she flew round and behind Signe and kicked her legs out from underneath her, causing Signe to temporarily float horizontally. Once Signe was in position, Chris clenched her fists together and brought them crashing down onto the Dane's ribcage. Signe was sent plummeting to the ground, releasing her telekinetic grip on Alex. Chris powered up some more and gave chase to her falling opponent.
"STOP!!!"
Chris halted in midair just as Signe broke her fall by taping into her ability to fly. Alex began to hover back down to be level with Chris. The sudden cry had come from Aurora as she struggled to get to her feet. Lucio and Freya wrapped Aurora's arms over their shoulders as they too began to stand up, each one giving the other two support.
"Why?" Aurora sputtered, tears filling her eyes, "why have you done this? Why are doing this?"
"The why doesn't matter for you guys anymore," Signe hissed as she corrected herself and gracefully placed her feet firmly on the ground, "you've all already proclaimed that you will not accept the new world that I will bring. If not in your words," she looked up at Chris and Alex as the too lowered themselves to the ground and stepped away from Signe, backing up towards the others, "then with your actions."
"Accept your new world!? But your new world will be built upon the destruction of billions!" Aurora pleaded.
"In order for great change, sacrifices are necessary. And if the end goal will bring about a peaceful new era, then the end will justify the means. In order to obtain peace, you must first prepare for war," Signe spoke with a strong authoritative voice.
"This isn't you," Aurora shook her head, "this isn't the Signe I knew!"
"Know me! When did you ever know me!? Since when were you, any of you, in any position to know what the real me was like!?" Signe's rage flared up as her words exploded out of her mouth, "I was always shunned! Conversations always stopped whenever I entered a room!"
"That's not true Signe, you were our friend," Aurora continued to plea.
"Friend!? Friend!? How dare you claim to have ever been my friend Aurora! You did nothing but treat me like a child! A pet puppy! You saw me as nothing more than a nuisance! You never accepted me for who I was! None of you did! You tell me "oh it's okay, it's fine, just be yourself" and in the same sentence you'd try and tell me how I should act, regardless of whether that was how I would act or not!" Signe's rage was building even more, her fists her clenched up by her sides.
"We tried to help you Signe but you'd never let us," Chris jumped in, "whenever we’d talk to you, you'd tell us your problems and whenever we offered solutions you just shot them down! How could you have expected us to help you if you were never ready to help yourself!?"
"I did not just disregard what you said! Quite the contrary in fact! I took on everything you guys said to me! Everything! But it still wasn't good enough! I tried to be more outgoing, I just got shunned by more people I tried to introduce myself to! I hid away and everyone hounded me to go out and be more social! I could never win!" Signe's features started to become more feral.
"I know it can sometimes seem impossible to be accepted by those around you, but we really did care for you Signe," Aurora tried to reassure her, "and….I still do care. I thought I'd lost my friend and yet all this time you were still alive," a slight smile sprang to her lips.
"Care for me!? You abandoned me! You all abandoned me! Seven years ago when Olympus was attacked, where were all of you!? I was left alone! Forced out and away! Where were all of you when I needed you all the most! Or at least I thought I did, but instead I learned a most valuable lesson to not depend on anyone except those who can accept you!" Signe growled.
"We didn't abandon you, we thought you were dead! No one was recovered from the wreckage!" Aurora tried to make Signe see reason.
"And yet none of you made any inquires after me!? None of you investigated what had happened!? No! No, instead you all just gave up and went your separate ways and continued to live your lives! Forgetting about me! Probably feeling glad and relieved that I was gone! Even as a member of Olympus I was never accepted! My power was worthless to them!" Signe's long buried bitterness was starting to seep through.
"Signe please…" more tears began to trickle down Aurora's cheeks.
"Give it up Aurora, she doesn't want to hear it. It's as Chris said, she won't even help herself, so how can we possibly do so?" Alex resolved.
"As expected, dealing in absolutes Alex!" Signe gritted her teeth that had morphed into fangs, "You've all already made up your minds anyway! There's no point in trying to convince you! The Redeemer was right, Olympus would bring nothing but ruin to this world! But I will continue his work and go beyond his vision! I will make a world built for supers and supers alone!" Signe cried out as she raised her arms to the ceiling.
"Are you guys alright?" Chris turned back to the others as they seemed to be wobbling.
"We should be fine but I don't think we can fight," Freya replied.
"Or heal you," Lucio panted.
"I'm sorry Chris, looks like you and Alex are on your own, just don't let her grab you, she can drain your powers somehow," Freya gave a pained expression as if to say she didn’t know whether or not they could be Signe.
"Alright," Chris nodded at them, "ready Alex?"
"Yeh," his electronic voice crackled.
"No surprises here then," Signe hissed at the pair, "very well! You'd best be prepared to kill me for I will not be stopped otherwise! Come! Come to your deaths!"
Signe's arms were set ablaze as fire sprang forth from them. She unleashed two ravaging flamethrowers towards the group of heroes, a determined and savage look in her eye. Chris powered up and as she did so, released a powerful shockwave, knocking the three behind her off their feet to get them out of the way of the fighting. Alex was flung to his right and let out a slight groan at Chris as she had given him no warning. The aura clad fighter stretched out both her arms and countered Signe's flamethrowers with huge bursts of energy. Alex got back to his feet and began to heavily increase the gravity around the flaming Dane.
Signe grunted and groaned as she fought back against the pull dragging her down. She gritted her teeth and began to build her power up, readying herself to be catapulted forward at supersonic speeds. Dust began to pick up around her feet, fighting back against the gravity. The battle between the two forces were beginning to make the ground around Signe's feet splinter and shatter as she slowly sank, her boots making great holes in the floor.
There was a tremendous swirl of power rippling right through the entire warehouse as it's paneled walls and roof began to violently shake. Letting out a roar, Signe exploded forward with an almighty sonic boom, releasing herself from Alex's grasp. She rocketed towards Chris and swept under her still outstretched arms and knocked them up. The energy that Chris was firing from her hands suddenly shot upwards and blew a gigantic hole in the roof, ripping the metal apart.
The night sky suddenly erupted with this bright flash of light beaming up into the sky. Olem was just beginning to make his third pass over the city when he was suddenly startled by the explosion off in the distance.
"That'll be them then," he grunted as he turned the heli-jet round and headed for the docks. He would soon be there.
Now positioned just in front of Chris' abdomen, Signe unleashed a sonic fuelled uppercut into Chris' gut, sending the fiery warrior catapulting up through the hole she had just created. Signe followed up her attack as she let rip another sonic boom as she zoomed upwards and smashed another fist into Chris' ribcage sending the heroine hurtling back to the ground.
The fight was now happening at such a tremendous speed that Alex was unable to keep up with it. He was unable to prevent Chris from making a small crater in the center of the room as she crashed into the floor. Signe boomed back downwards, intent on finishing this fight quickly. As she came flying back down, Signe brought her elbow crushing down upon Chris' left knee, shattering the leg. The heroine gave out a sharp cry before she clamped her jaw shut and growled at Signe through gritted teeth. Chris then powered herself up, focusing a lot of energy around her right fist before she cracked it right across Signe's face, sending the Dane flying through the air.
"Chris!" Aurora cried out as she tried to get to her feet and rush over to her friend but her injuries were still to great for her to manage that without help.
"No! Let me," Freya insisted as she held Aurora back and pulled herself up.
Freya was not so injured that she couldn't continue at all, she had just felt it best that she stay out of it in her weakened state but now she was needed. She held her hands parallel to each other, her body's width apart and began to focus and concentrate the remainder of her power. Signe had left her feeling quite drained and so she was no longer at one hundred percent but she had to do something to help. She formed a small star in her hands and waited for her moment to strike.
Alex had rushed over to help Chris up. He slung her arm around his shoulders and helped her hobble back up.
"Dammit!" he growled, "How do we beat her!?"
"Well we're not beaten yet, we can do this!" Chris tried to encourage him.
"She's too fast when she flies, I can't keep up," Alex moaned.
"Just pin her down and let me do the rest!" Chris instructed.
Signe came racing back at them as another sonic boom rang out. Chris instinctively fired off a wave of energy with her spare hand but Signe was too quick. The Dane swung around Chris' attack and flanked the pair of heroes. She grabbed hold of Chris' arm and threw her over her shoulder, smashing the heroine into the ground. As she did this, Signe let fly a kick to Alex's side, knocking him away.
The Dane reared up and was about to slam her hand down on Chris' face when suddenly the rest of the roof caved in as Olem crashed the heli-jet through it, heading straight for Signe. Chris freed her arm from Signe's grip and propelled herself away from the oncoming craft. Olem ejected himself from the jet, kicking the door off its hinges and leaping out. He tried to roll with the landing but from the height he jumped at, landed heavily on his right shoulder and dislocated it at the joint, cracking the bone slightly as well.
Being caught off guard by Olem's sudden arrival, Signe had to recompose herself. Her mind suddenly switched back into focus as she grabbed the heli-jet using telekinesis and ripped the huge propeller blades off the top. She sent the body of the aircraft flying towards Aurora and the others whilst she fired the two blades off. One aimed at Chris, the other at Alex. Each one ripped through the air at an alarming speed as both heroes were getting back to their feet.
>THUNK!<
Freya released the star she had been forging in her hands to rip apart the craft's hull as it flew towards her and the others. She threw her arms in front of her face to shield herself from the blast. When the smoke cleared and the dust had settled, she looked around and her eyes were met with a horrific sight. Alex looked down at his stomach, his hands drenched in blood as the y were gripped around the propeller blade that had ripped right through his abdomen and left him skewered. He let out a gasp as blood began to seep through the small slits in his mask and he collapsed to his knees, desperately clawing for air as he coughed up more blood on the inside of his visor.
"Aleeeexxx!!!" Freya screamed as she scrambled to her feet and rushed over to cradle her husband as he began to slowly fall backwards.
"Amico! Noooo!" Lucio roared as he charged at Signe.
Chris had batted away the propeller blade aimed at her but like Freya, she was then met with the sight of Alex being run through.
"Alex," Chris whispered under her breath as her eyes widened with shock.
Her brow quickly furrowed as she scrunched her face up, her rage setting in. Giving out a great cry, Chris powered up to her absolute maximum. There was a huge boom as the wind picked up throughout the entire building. Once she was powered up, she thrusted herself forward at Signe, pushing off from her good leg and propelled herself through the air at an immense velocity.
Just as Lucio was charging in, Signe waved a hand and threw him back across the room, slamming him into an already fragile wall. Chris was soon upon her though, attacking with great speed, too great for her to handle. Right hooks, jabs, palm strikes and flying kicks were all being sent Signe's way as Chris heavily laid into her, her bright yellow aura turning into a raging red. All Signe could do was take the hits, her durability and invulnerability being put to the most severest of tests. She swung her fists around like a drunken child, hitting nothing but thin air. Chris had made sure to stay airborne as she was now most mobile this way with her left leg out of commission. She couldn't afford to use up her energy to heal it, she had to make do with the shape she was in and fight on.
Freya was left holding her husband as his life slowly drained away. She tore off both of their masks as tears began to burn her eyes and stream down her face. She brushed his hair out of his flickering eyes and tried to neaten it up, fussing over him slightly as she then began to stroke his cheek.
"Alex?" she whimpered through the tears, "Alex c'mon please, wake up," her sobs only grew as she plead, "you stupid, stupid idiot! I told you not to go moonlighting! I told you it would be too dangerous! You promised me you were done with all of this superhero business! Why Alex, why? You're supposed to be at home," she buried her head in her his chest as her tears continued to flow, "what am I going to do now? Who's going to be there when I wake up in the morning? When I come home in the evening? Who am I going to kiss goodnight?" her cries were slightly muffled by his suit, "who's going to be there for me when I have to put up with my parents and attend all those stupid fancy dinners with a load of stuck-up pretentious pricks? You can't leave me Alex! You said you never would! You promised remember? In sickness and in health so hurry up and get better okay? C'mon wake up, please!" her pleas were becoming more and more desperate, "you can't leave me here like this! You're my home-boy! I love you!" it was at this point that Freya broke down completely and could say no more as she became consumed by her sobs.
Aurora had managed to shuffle her way over to Freya and began to hold her, rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her even though she knew it would be of no use. She did not say anything for there was nothing she could say to help the situation. She simply allowed Freya to let it all out even if this was not the best time to given their situation.
There was no movement from Alex. No twitching, his eyes stopped fluttering and his chest ceased heaving as the last breathes of air left his lungs. His rolled into the back of his head, leaving Freya with only the whites. His head tilted to the left in Freya's hands as Alex, the Master of Gravity, was no more.
Chris continued to rage at Signe, beating her around as she unleashed her full fury. However, due to Chris now being fuelled by her emotions, she had lost focus on concentrating her power and so, her energy was draining and fast. It did not help that she was channelling her power to massively increase her strength and speed whilst airborne. This feat was putting a great strain on her ability and Signe was still not showing any signs that she would be beaten despite the continuing barrage of blows Chris was dealing out.
Eventually, Chris ran out steam just enough that her speed slowed to allow Signe the chance to fight back. She blocked one of Chris' punches by suspending her fist in midair using telekinesis. The Dane then ran her own fist right into Chris' jaw. As the heroine was forced back by the blow, she threw herself forward and connected a sharp kick into Signe's side. Signe reeled away, beginning to feel the pain. She then let fly a jet of fire towards Chris who managed to counter it once more with her own energy. However, due to Chris' fast depleting reserves, her energy wave soon gave out and she was blown back by the blast. Using a telekinetic pull, Signe yanked Chris towards her and repeated Alex's lariat that he had inflicted upon her.
The heroine hit the deck with a tremendous thud, her aura starting to wane. Signe now loomed over her victim and readied herself to finish Chris once and for all. Suddenly, the air rang out as Olem marched defiantly towards Signe, firing off round after round from his 9mm. The Dane was surprised to see Olem doing this but considered it him simply sealing his own fate.
Signe caught the bullets in a telekinetic field and waited to hear the *click* of Olem's gun running out of ammo. Upon hearing that sound, Signe sent the bullets flying back at Olem and sent them ripping through his knees. The Plague Doctor collapsed and sprawled out on the ground, his gun skidding out of his grasp. He grunted in pain as he reached round his back and took out his .45 magnum. He fired off a few more rounds at the advancing Signe but she just deflected them away. She ripped the gun from his grasp as she hoisted him up and tore away the remainder of his mask. As she approached the suspended Olem, he activated his power and began to inflict her with terrible diseases. Signe simply morphed her body into metal, counteracting Olem's ability. She made herself a little taller and placed a hand around Olem's throat and held him there, his toes scrapping the floor as he squirmed in her grip, gasping for air.
"I must confess you're the last person I expected to come flying in to save the day," Signe chuckled.
"Well I have my moments," Olem growled as he continued to struggle.
"Purely for selfish reasons if I recall your character correctly," Signe hissed at him.
"And you're still acting like an entitled cold bitch I see," Olem retorted as he snarled down at her.
"Entitled? Aren't we all entitled to the same basic things? Acceptance for one. But then again, you were never one for accepting people were you?" Signe mused.
"Urgh! What do you want!?" Olem grunted as he continued to wrestle against Signe's grasp.
"I'm here to see the Redeemer's vision realised. I will destroy this world and rebuild it anew!" she proclaimed with a twisted glint in her eyes.
"The Redeemer! Don't you dare mention that name! He sought only to use people Signe! You talk about acceptance, the only thing the Redeemer accepted anyone for was their ability to further his plans, not the individual!" Olem reasoned with her.
"You are wrong Olem and you are an even bigger fool for betraying him! He made you Plague Doctor, he accepted you for who you are and you turned your back on him!" Signe growled.
"Oh no, I was the Plague Doctor long before I even attended university and obtained my powers," Olem gasped.
"Hmm. Speaking of powers, it is very fortunate that you are here Olem, for yours is the last ability that I require in order for me to execute my plan," a sickening grin spread across her face.
Olem's eyes rolled down to meet Signe's gaze. He stared back at her with terror in his eyes. He had never been so overpowered like this before. Signe threw her other hand forward and smothered Olem's nose and mouth. She activated her ability and began to drain Olem. He let out a muffled screamed as his body began to frantically flail about as he struggled to break free of Signe's grip. Chris tried to sit up but she was severely weakened. Aurora slid off of Freya and tried to crawl over to Olem but she was in excruciating pain. Soon, Olem's rapid movements slowed. They continued to slow until they eventually grinded to a halt and his body fell limp in Signe's grasp. The Dane relinquished her hold on Olem as his body flopped to the ground.
"Now!" Signe boomed, "This world shall fall!"
The London skyline was now homing into view for Olem as he approached the city. He had no idea where the others were if they were even in any danger, he'd just followed Herbert's instructions without giving it too much thought in all honesty. If they were in trouble though, Olem suspected that it would be because of Olympus even if Rhodes had claimed that this super hunting down and murdering other supers was not related to Olympus. The Plague Doctor had no clue as to what fate had befallen his old friends. He flew on, beginning to circle around the city searching for any sign of trouble. If only he hadn't severed all ties to the others when he'd left, a simple text would've done the trick to help him locate them.
Alex's green eyes were shaking in their sockets as he seemed paralyzed with shock by what he beheld. Time appeared to have slowed to a stop as they all looked on at the unmasked villain. Signe just held her cold stare, her eyes not even blinking. She thought of typical it was that they were so surprised to see her. Having had enough of the staring competition, Signe released a burst of telekinetic energy, throwing Alex off of her. As he flew backwards, Alex pulled on the gravity around Signe and yanked her towards him. Not wanting to be beaten this way again, Signe swung a fist forward at Alex just as he did likewise. Both hit each other square on the jaw as Alex's grasp on the gravity around them was released and the pair tumbled to the ground.
"Chris help Freya!" Alex cried as he got to his feet and charged at Signe.
The Dane seemed ready for his attack and so as she flew back down to help Freya, Chris fired an energy ball at Signe with pinpoint precision. Signe noticed the blast coming for her at the last second and instinctively erected a force field to counter it. Alex came flying in and slammed against the field from which he immediately bounced back off of.
As she swooped down low, Chris gathered Freya in her arms and spirited her away to Aurora and Lucio. Freya's life was fading fast. Chris placed her down and looked up at Lucio expectantly before she darted off to rejoin the fight. The hole in Lucio's chest was still not yet fully healed and Aurora was close to breaking point with all of her injuries but the two of them knew they had to do something or else Freya would die. The Tellasite placed his hands on Freya and a green glow began to shine out from his hands. He struggled and panted and he concentrated, trying to knit Freya's broken body back together.
Signe had rocketed off after Alex, ripping through the air at supersonic speeds. She grabbed hold of his leg and threw him down to the ground with tremendous force. Chris came flying in as she connected a right hook to Signe's face. Before he had hit the ground, Alex had managed to soften his fall by gently lowering himself to the ground through the use of his powers. He then reworked the gravity around him to catapult himself back up to where Signe and Chris were fighting. The Dane was trying to stand toe to toe with Chris, throwing punches in a wild fashion, but Chris was far too quick for her, ducking and dodging around Signe's blows, slamming her own attacks into the Dane's torso and across her face. Just as Alex was about to re-enter the fray, Signe unleashed a huge blast of telekinetic energy, throwing the pair of heroes in opposite directions away from her.
"Aurora…?" Lucio panted, "I-I…..I-I can't….c-can't heal her….f-f-fully," he looked horrified at the prospect of failing.
"Here, let me," Aurora groaned as she stretched out a hand and placed it on Freya, ready to take on any of her remaining injuries.
"No amica! I cannot allow you," Lucio said as he grabbed Aurora's arm.
"If you can't heal her then we have no choice, she'll die otherwise!" Lucio retracted his hand and let Aurora proceed.
Letting out a sharp cry of pain, Aurora began to absorb the rest of Freya's injuries. Her body was becoming more and more broken but she had to push through the pain. As she continued however, Aurora began to lose consciousness. Her body and her ability were at their limits and she could take on no more. She exhaled a defeated gasp as Freya was still lying there, not fully healed.
"Amica!" Lucio cried as he held Aurora up as she collapsed forward.
Grunting and straining, Lucio dug deep to use up the last of his energies to try and channel the remainder of his healing ability into Aurora. Freya herself let out a small groan as she came back round. She slowly sat up and looked around at the faces of her two friends and gave a wry smile. Freya then jolted her head around, fright spread across her face as she checked to make sure Alex was okay.
The Master of Gravity was doing just fine as he pushed and pulled on the walls and the ceiling, making his way back to Signe. Chris had already reengaged her as she fired off small balls of energy to deflect the projectiles that Signe was now hurling at her. As she got in closer, Chris stretched out her arm and let rip a huge wave of energy. Signe's forearm became engulfed in fire as she countered the blast with her own flamethrower. She was wary of Alex coming behind her and so as he did so, Signe waved her other arm and slammed Alex into the wall with telekinesis and held him there. Chris now seized the opportunity to further advance against the Dane as her attention had switched focus if only for a split second but that was all Chris needed. Powering up she flew round and behind Signe and kicked her legs out from underneath her, causing Signe to temporarily float horizontally. Once Signe was in position, Chris clenched her fists together and brought them crashing down onto the Dane's ribcage. Signe was sent plummeting to the ground, releasing her telekinetic grip on Alex. Chris powered up some more and gave chase to her falling opponent.
"STOP!!!"
Chris halted in midair just as Signe broke her fall by taping into her ability to fly. Alex began to hover back down to be level with Chris. The sudden cry had come from Aurora as she struggled to get to her feet. Lucio and Freya wrapped Aurora's arms over their shoulders as they too began to stand up, each one giving the other two support.
"Why?" Aurora sputtered, tears filling her eyes, "why have you done this? Why are doing this?"
"The why doesn't matter for you guys anymore," Signe hissed as she corrected herself and gracefully placed her feet firmly on the ground, "you've all already proclaimed that you will not accept the new world that I will bring. If not in your words," she looked up at Chris and Alex as the too lowered themselves to the ground and stepped away from Signe, backing up towards the others, "then with your actions."
"Accept your new world!? But your new world will be built upon the destruction of billions!" Aurora pleaded.
"In order for great change, sacrifices are necessary. And if the end goal will bring about a peaceful new era, then the end will justify the means. In order to obtain peace, you must first prepare for war," Signe spoke with a strong authoritative voice.
"This isn't you," Aurora shook her head, "this isn't the Signe I knew!"
"Know me! When did you ever know me!? Since when were you, any of you, in any position to know what the real me was like!?" Signe's rage flared up as her words exploded out of her mouth, "I was always shunned! Conversations always stopped whenever I entered a room!"
"That's not true Signe, you were our friend," Aurora continued to plea.
"Friend!? Friend!? How dare you claim to have ever been my friend Aurora! You did nothing but treat me like a child! A pet puppy! You saw me as nothing more than a nuisance! You never accepted me for who I was! None of you did! You tell me "oh it's okay, it's fine, just be yourself" and in the same sentence you'd try and tell me how I should act, regardless of whether that was how I would act or not!" Signe's rage was building even more, her fists her clenched up by her sides.
"We tried to help you Signe but you'd never let us," Chris jumped in, "whenever we’d talk to you, you'd tell us your problems and whenever we offered solutions you just shot them down! How could you have expected us to help you if you were never ready to help yourself!?"
"I did not just disregard what you said! Quite the contrary in fact! I took on everything you guys said to me! Everything! But it still wasn't good enough! I tried to be more outgoing, I just got shunned by more people I tried to introduce myself to! I hid away and everyone hounded me to go out and be more social! I could never win!" Signe's features started to become more feral.
"I know it can sometimes seem impossible to be accepted by those around you, but we really did care for you Signe," Aurora tried to reassure her, "and….I still do care. I thought I'd lost my friend and yet all this time you were still alive," a slight smile sprang to her lips.
"Care for me!? You abandoned me! You all abandoned me! Seven years ago when Olympus was attacked, where were all of you!? I was left alone! Forced out and away! Where were all of you when I needed you all the most! Or at least I thought I did, but instead I learned a most valuable lesson to not depend on anyone except those who can accept you!" Signe growled.
"We didn't abandon you, we thought you were dead! No one was recovered from the wreckage!" Aurora tried to make Signe see reason.
"And yet none of you made any inquires after me!? None of you investigated what had happened!? No! No, instead you all just gave up and went your separate ways and continued to live your lives! Forgetting about me! Probably feeling glad and relieved that I was gone! Even as a member of Olympus I was never accepted! My power was worthless to them!" Signe's long buried bitterness was starting to seep through.
"Signe please…" more tears began to trickle down Aurora's cheeks.
"Give it up Aurora, she doesn't want to hear it. It's as Chris said, she won't even help herself, so how can we possibly do so?" Alex resolved.
"As expected, dealing in absolutes Alex!" Signe gritted her teeth that had morphed into fangs, "You've all already made up your minds anyway! There's no point in trying to convince you! The Redeemer was right, Olympus would bring nothing but ruin to this world! But I will continue his work and go beyond his vision! I will make a world built for supers and supers alone!" Signe cried out as she raised her arms to the ceiling.
"Are you guys alright?" Chris turned back to the others as they seemed to be wobbling.
"We should be fine but I don't think we can fight," Freya replied.
"Or heal you," Lucio panted.
"I'm sorry Chris, looks like you and Alex are on your own, just don't let her grab you, she can drain your powers somehow," Freya gave a pained expression as if to say she didn’t know whether or not they could be Signe.
"Alright," Chris nodded at them, "ready Alex?"
"Yeh," his electronic voice crackled.
"No surprises here then," Signe hissed at the pair, "very well! You'd best be prepared to kill me for I will not be stopped otherwise! Come! Come to your deaths!"
Signe's arms were set ablaze as fire sprang forth from them. She unleashed two ravaging flamethrowers towards the group of heroes, a determined and savage look in her eye. Chris powered up and as she did so, released a powerful shockwave, knocking the three behind her off their feet to get them out of the way of the fighting. Alex was flung to his right and let out a slight groan at Chris as she had given him no warning. The aura clad fighter stretched out both her arms and countered Signe's flamethrowers with huge bursts of energy. Alex got back to his feet and began to heavily increase the gravity around the flaming Dane.
Signe grunted and groaned as she fought back against the pull dragging her down. She gritted her teeth and began to build her power up, readying herself to be catapulted forward at supersonic speeds. Dust began to pick up around her feet, fighting back against the gravity. The battle between the two forces were beginning to make the ground around Signe's feet splinter and shatter as she slowly sank, her boots making great holes in the floor.
There was a tremendous swirl of power rippling right through the entire warehouse as it's paneled walls and roof began to violently shake. Letting out a roar, Signe exploded forward with an almighty sonic boom, releasing herself from Alex's grasp. She rocketed towards Chris and swept under her still outstretched arms and knocked them up. The energy that Chris was firing from her hands suddenly shot upwards and blew a gigantic hole in the roof, ripping the metal apart.
The night sky suddenly erupted with this bright flash of light beaming up into the sky. Olem was just beginning to make his third pass over the city when he was suddenly startled by the explosion off in the distance.
"That'll be them then," he grunted as he turned the heli-jet round and headed for the docks. He would soon be there.
Now positioned just in front of Chris' abdomen, Signe unleashed a sonic fuelled uppercut into Chris' gut, sending the fiery warrior catapulting up through the hole she had just created. Signe followed up her attack as she let rip another sonic boom as she zoomed upwards and smashed another fist into Chris' ribcage sending the heroine hurtling back to the ground.
The fight was now happening at such a tremendous speed that Alex was unable to keep up with it. He was unable to prevent Chris from making a small crater in the center of the room as she crashed into the floor. Signe boomed back downwards, intent on finishing this fight quickly. As she came flying back down, Signe brought her elbow crushing down upon Chris' left knee, shattering the leg. The heroine gave out a sharp cry before she clamped her jaw shut and growled at Signe through gritted teeth. Chris then powered herself up, focusing a lot of energy around her right fist before she cracked it right across Signe's face, sending the Dane flying through the air.
"Chris!" Aurora cried out as she tried to get to her feet and rush over to her friend but her injuries were still to great for her to manage that without help.
"No! Let me," Freya insisted as she held Aurora back and pulled herself up.
Freya was not so injured that she couldn't continue at all, she had just felt it best that she stay out of it in her weakened state but now she was needed. She held her hands parallel to each other, her body's width apart and began to focus and concentrate the remainder of her power. Signe had left her feeling quite drained and so she was no longer at one hundred percent but she had to do something to help. She formed a small star in her hands and waited for her moment to strike.
Alex had rushed over to help Chris up. He slung her arm around his shoulders and helped her hobble back up.
"Dammit!" he growled, "How do we beat her!?"
"Well we're not beaten yet, we can do this!" Chris tried to encourage him.
"She's too fast when she flies, I can't keep up," Alex moaned.
"Just pin her down and let me do the rest!" Chris instructed.
Signe came racing back at them as another sonic boom rang out. Chris instinctively fired off a wave of energy with her spare hand but Signe was too quick. The Dane swung around Chris' attack and flanked the pair of heroes. She grabbed hold of Chris' arm and threw her over her shoulder, smashing the heroine into the ground. As she did this, Signe let fly a kick to Alex's side, knocking him away.
The Dane reared up and was about to slam her hand down on Chris' face when suddenly the rest of the roof caved in as Olem crashed the heli-jet through it, heading straight for Signe. Chris freed her arm from Signe's grip and propelled herself away from the oncoming craft. Olem ejected himself from the jet, kicking the door off its hinges and leaping out. He tried to roll with the landing but from the height he jumped at, landed heavily on his right shoulder and dislocated it at the joint, cracking the bone slightly as well.
Being caught off guard by Olem's sudden arrival, Signe had to recompose herself. Her mind suddenly switched back into focus as she grabbed the heli-jet using telekinesis and ripped the huge propeller blades off the top. She sent the body of the aircraft flying towards Aurora and the others whilst she fired the two blades off. One aimed at Chris, the other at Alex. Each one ripped through the air at an alarming speed as both heroes were getting back to their feet.
>THUNK!<
Freya released the star she had been forging in her hands to rip apart the craft's hull as it flew towards her and the others. She threw her arms in front of her face to shield herself from the blast. When the smoke cleared and the dust had settled, she looked around and her eyes were met with a horrific sight. Alex looked down at his stomach, his hands drenched in blood as the y were gripped around the propeller blade that had ripped right through his abdomen and left him skewered. He let out a gasp as blood began to seep through the small slits in his mask and he collapsed to his knees, desperately clawing for air as he coughed up more blood on the inside of his visor.
"Aleeeexxx!!!" Freya screamed as she scrambled to her feet and rushed over to cradle her husband as he began to slowly fall backwards.
"Amico! Noooo!" Lucio roared as he charged at Signe.
Chris had batted away the propeller blade aimed at her but like Freya, she was then met with the sight of Alex being run through.
"Alex," Chris whispered under her breath as her eyes widened with shock.
Her brow quickly furrowed as she scrunched her face up, her rage setting in. Giving out a great cry, Chris powered up to her absolute maximum. There was a huge boom as the wind picked up throughout the entire building. Once she was powered up, she thrusted herself forward at Signe, pushing off from her good leg and propelled herself through the air at an immense velocity.
Just as Lucio was charging in, Signe waved a hand and threw him back across the room, slamming him into an already fragile wall. Chris was soon upon her though, attacking with great speed, too great for her to handle. Right hooks, jabs, palm strikes and flying kicks were all being sent Signe's way as Chris heavily laid into her, her bright yellow aura turning into a raging red. All Signe could do was take the hits, her durability and invulnerability being put to the most severest of tests. She swung her fists around like a drunken child, hitting nothing but thin air. Chris had made sure to stay airborne as she was now most mobile this way with her left leg out of commission. She couldn't afford to use up her energy to heal it, she had to make do with the shape she was in and fight on.
Freya was left holding her husband as his life slowly drained away. She tore off both of their masks as tears began to burn her eyes and stream down her face. She brushed his hair out of his flickering eyes and tried to neaten it up, fussing over him slightly as she then began to stroke his cheek.
"Alex?" she whimpered through the tears, "Alex c'mon please, wake up," her sobs only grew as she plead, "you stupid, stupid idiot! I told you not to go moonlighting! I told you it would be too dangerous! You promised me you were done with all of this superhero business! Why Alex, why? You're supposed to be at home," she buried her head in her his chest as her tears continued to flow, "what am I going to do now? Who's going to be there when I wake up in the morning? When I come home in the evening? Who am I going to kiss goodnight?" her cries were slightly muffled by his suit, "who's going to be there for me when I have to put up with my parents and attend all those stupid fancy dinners with a load of stuck-up pretentious pricks? You can't leave me Alex! You said you never would! You promised remember? In sickness and in health so hurry up and get better okay? C'mon wake up, please!" her pleas were becoming more and more desperate, "you can't leave me here like this! You're my home-boy! I love you!" it was at this point that Freya broke down completely and could say no more as she became consumed by her sobs.
Aurora had managed to shuffle her way over to Freya and began to hold her, rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her even though she knew it would be of no use. She did not say anything for there was nothing she could say to help the situation. She simply allowed Freya to let it all out even if this was not the best time to given their situation.
There was no movement from Alex. No twitching, his eyes stopped fluttering and his chest ceased heaving as the last breathes of air left his lungs. His rolled into the back of his head, leaving Freya with only the whites. His head tilted to the left in Freya's hands as Alex, the Master of Gravity, was no more.
Chris continued to rage at Signe, beating her around as she unleashed her full fury. However, due to Chris now being fuelled by her emotions, she had lost focus on concentrating her power and so, her energy was draining and fast. It did not help that she was channelling her power to massively increase her strength and speed whilst airborne. This feat was putting a great strain on her ability and Signe was still not showing any signs that she would be beaten despite the continuing barrage of blows Chris was dealing out.
Eventually, Chris ran out steam just enough that her speed slowed to allow Signe the chance to fight back. She blocked one of Chris' punches by suspending her fist in midair using telekinesis. The Dane then ran her own fist right into Chris' jaw. As the heroine was forced back by the blow, she threw herself forward and connected a sharp kick into Signe's side. Signe reeled away, beginning to feel the pain. She then let fly a jet of fire towards Chris who managed to counter it once more with her own energy. However, due to Chris' fast depleting reserves, her energy wave soon gave out and she was blown back by the blast. Using a telekinetic pull, Signe yanked Chris towards her and repeated Alex's lariat that he had inflicted upon her.
The heroine hit the deck with a tremendous thud, her aura starting to wane. Signe now loomed over her victim and readied herself to finish Chris once and for all. Suddenly, the air rang out as Olem marched defiantly towards Signe, firing off round after round from his 9mm. The Dane was surprised to see Olem doing this but considered it him simply sealing his own fate.
Signe caught the bullets in a telekinetic field and waited to hear the *click* of Olem's gun running out of ammo. Upon hearing that sound, Signe sent the bullets flying back at Olem and sent them ripping through his knees. The Plague Doctor collapsed and sprawled out on the ground, his gun skidding out of his grasp. He grunted in pain as he reached round his back and took out his .45 magnum. He fired off a few more rounds at the advancing Signe but she just deflected them away. She ripped the gun from his grasp as she hoisted him up and tore away the remainder of his mask. As she approached the suspended Olem, he activated his power and began to inflict her with terrible diseases. Signe simply morphed her body into metal, counteracting Olem's ability. She made herself a little taller and placed a hand around Olem's throat and held him there, his toes scrapping the floor as he squirmed in her grip, gasping for air.
"I must confess you're the last person I expected to come flying in to save the day," Signe chuckled.
"Well I have my moments," Olem growled as he continued to struggle.
"Purely for selfish reasons if I recall your character correctly," Signe hissed at him.
"And you're still acting like an entitled cold bitch I see," Olem retorted as he snarled down at her.
"Entitled? Aren't we all entitled to the same basic things? Acceptance for one. But then again, you were never one for accepting people were you?" Signe mused.
"Urgh! What do you want!?" Olem grunted as he continued to wrestle against Signe's grasp.
"I'm here to see the Redeemer's vision realised. I will destroy this world and rebuild it anew!" she proclaimed with a twisted glint in her eyes.
"The Redeemer! Don't you dare mention that name! He sought only to use people Signe! You talk about acceptance, the only thing the Redeemer accepted anyone for was their ability to further his plans, not the individual!" Olem reasoned with her.
"You are wrong Olem and you are an even bigger fool for betraying him! He made you Plague Doctor, he accepted you for who you are and you turned your back on him!" Signe growled.
"Oh no, I was the Plague Doctor long before I even attended university and obtained my powers," Olem gasped.
"Hmm. Speaking of powers, it is very fortunate that you are here Olem, for yours is the last ability that I require in order for me to execute my plan," a sickening grin spread across her face.
Olem's eyes rolled down to meet Signe's gaze. He stared back at her with terror in his eyes. He had never been so overpowered like this before. Signe threw her other hand forward and smothered Olem's nose and mouth. She activated her ability and began to drain Olem. He let out a muffled screamed as his body began to frantically flail about as he struggled to break free of Signe's grip. Chris tried to sit up but she was severely weakened. Aurora slid off of Freya and tried to crawl over to Olem but she was in excruciating pain. Soon, Olem's rapid movements slowed. They continued to slow until they eventually grinded to a halt and his body fell limp in Signe's grasp. The Dane relinquished her hold on Olem as his body flopped to the ground.
"Now!" Signe boomed, "This world shall fall!"