Heroes of The Collective Volume One : Resentment

8. The Astral Sheriff #3 : Batalha Pela Cidade

Somewhere.

"Ma'am, Brazil is on the phone and they are mad."

"Yes, I'm sure they are."

"They have mobilised their army but they're not going into the city yet."

"Fine. Where do we stand on the G7?"

"We have ourselves and Canada primed. Japan, UK and France are on standby, but they'll take time. Germany and Italy will provide last resort cover should we need."

"Copy. Maintain their status for the time being."

"Ma'am?"

"Lucas, I'm not going to send five of the best into a foreign field with six complete high risk potential threats, as you call them, who want to fight it out between themselves. And I'm not going to explain myself to you anymore."

"But Brazil-"

"Brazil can sort themselves out. If it goes south, they can be the ones to flatten their city. We will not be tidying their home for them."

"Yes Ma'am. I'll pass that on."

***

"I'm completely unstoppable!" he declared, finishing with that grin again.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"Oh, and why not? Just look around you. Look at your comrades. Look at you. Blinded by revenge, an immigrant to this world and clearly not a very strong one. I was designed to be strong. I am stronger than all the forty four subjects before me. Too strong to even be handled!" The 45th appeared to be giddy with excitement at his own self-congratulations.

Blane maintained eye contact but kept checking and glancing over at the four KO'd allies of his, willing for one to at least stir.

"And that infant I took. There are plans for him. I'll turn him into me. Strip him of his humanity and give him a new purpose. How poetic is that? I murder the man who did this to me. Who wanted me gone, to waste this power like a bowel movement and I kill his wife and two of his children! And the young one I will do onto him what his father did to me. His father's legacy ends up becoming his new father. And the father of this new world. Poetry. Magic. Beauty!"

Upon hearing the plans for the scared infant, it was enough for the Sheriff to fix up. He was not going to allow that to happen, not after all this. He moved his hand to signal to Blane that he was conscious.

Do'Lânqwa checked his HUD display for any damage alerts to the integrity of his suit and for any injuries. He had sustained 15% damage to his suit in the roof collapse. Not bad considering, he thought. The 45th had his back to him so he started to run through his options. He didn't have much on him, except for his nightstick and his ability to shoot stardust. How effective is that? Do'Lânqwa gave Agwé on his right and Mindy on his left a nudge. Only Agwé stirred. He placed a reassuring hand on her arm, suggesting that everything will be ok. Agwé looked into his eyes, or at least where his eyes would have been under the visor of his helmet with a wide eyed panic. She's out of her depth. I should have left her where she was, he thought. She probably has abilities she doesn't even know she has and here she is in a fight with beings who know exactly what they're doing.

The 45th was still ranting on when the Sheriff refocused himself. He wasn't sure what he was saying but it was agitating Blane. Agwé was watching carefully but then turned to Do'Lânqwa, mouthing the word 'ready?' He had no idea what she was ready to do but he nodded. Mindy or Holt hadn't come round yet, but the odds were still in their favour.

Do'Lânqwa got up, Agwé just a second behind him. He retracted his nightstick from a panel on his right thigh, extending it to its full length. Raising it above his shoulder, he charged and within the right distance, he brought it down and around the back of The 45th's head. Blane had done a good job of not giving anything away and The 45th, who was now taken by surprise, spun round to face his attacker. The Sheriff went in for another whack, swinging from left to right, and then jabbing front and centre on the nose.

Blane from behind, delivered a powerful kick which brought The 45th down on one knee. The 45th tore his type of Dao from its sheath on his back and struck out, striking Do'Lânqwa on his upper arm, however, the Kugreycium suit was no match for it. Do'Lânqwa grabbed onto the blade so The 45th swung his sword arm with Do'Lânqwa still holding on, and sending him flying. Blane took advantage of the exposed side The 45th had created by raising his arm, and flew in for a tackle. Agwé was doing her best to rouse Mindy and Holt who were still out for the count.

In the tackle, The 45th dropped the Dao, and Blane was now on top of the orange menace, firing his stardust beam directly into his face. Do'Lânqwa dove right onto him as well, and joined in with his stardust beam. Their combined efforts were taking all their strength, but The 45th looked like he was going to outlast all of them.

Agwé was feeling useless. Blane and the Sheriff were on top of The 45th and Mindy and Holt weren't coming to. Do I help the men? Blane was really struggling now to maintain his power. He was growling in agony. What do I do?

Suddenly, The Sheriff pushed Blane from his hold and whether it was euphoric relief or frustration, or just simply pain, Blane screamed out, which in turn, managed to pull Holt and Mindy out from their stupor. Was this a sibling connection at its best? Mindy and Holt just about registered their surroundings as Do'Lânqwa got a blow to the head.

The blow to head, Do'Lânqwa was ready for.
Blane was down, but Holt and Mindy were now up with Agwé, The odds were improving again. The 45th got back on his feet, slow clapping.

"For a moment, you guys actually nearly had me! How uplifting!" he mocked, looking around at his opponents. "Let's just call this quits, and just be grateful for the good cardiovascular activity."

"No chance, I've just got started," countered Holt.

"You need to leave, then we'll call it quits," Agwé shouted, wanting this to be over.

"My sweet, how? Your friends blew my ship up. They blew it up!" The 45th said with a faux sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry Agwé, but no one is calling quits. He dies, or we die trying," Mindy muttered through gritted teeth.

"Then let us dance," The 45th announced, rapidly spinning to send bursts of lasers at Agwé, Holt and Mindy.

Mindy grabbed Agwé by the hand and flew off in one direction, Holt in another, the laser bursts tearing up the car they were just stood in front of moments before. Do'Lânqwa took his chance and also flew up and towards the building and the floor that Blane had earlier hidden the infant on.
Agwé's plan had better work.

The 45th fired directly at them but Mindy was ready, grabbing Agwé and lifting off in one direction. Holt went off in the other. Blane was also now up, having recovered from his exertion, but as instructed, waited for his cue to go. Blane stunned The 45th with a burst of his stardust, and Holt added a burst of his solar beam.

The brothers flew in harmony, charging towards The 45th. He expected to swat them out of the air, but was not positioned well enough to prevent them grabbing an arm each and lifting him up in the sky, like an eagle would grab its prey. With Holt's ability to fly at the speed of light, they had flown over part of the city, down towards the beach and across the water in no time.

There waiting, Agwé was ready. The brothers let go- Blane first, which allowed Holt to continue the momentum more, getting further out into the bay. He soon let go at the right moment, leaving The 45th to free fall, but not for too long. A giant column of water rose up beneath him, smacking him as hard as a fall on concrete would.

Agwé was stood in the middle of the bay not far from where The 45th was being suspended in water. She was manipulating the bean stalk of water, sending the orange terror up into the sky. This was to disorientate him.
She then let the water 'go', effectively dropping The 45th into another free fall. The impact on the water would be agonising. But that wasn't all they had up their sleeves. Holt and Mindy looked on, impressed with what Agwé was achieving and being able to come into her own. They momentarily glanced behind them to see Sheriff's craft hover into view, having achieved his job of securing the infant.

It was Blane though who had the final part. It was a bit over kill, but would do the trick. Blane stood dramatically, arms up and wide, palms open and looked up skywards. For those not in the know, he would have looked silly, but the wait would be worth it. He was certain.

The 45th had hit the water hard. There was no movement and Agwé had him contained in a large hydro-sphere. The sea would have at least rendered his electronics out of action and he could be feeling dizzy and out of sorts.

The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon, but the sight was unmistakable. For in the sky above them, was a cluster of meteors, careering towards a very specific spot. Agwé's breath was taken away. It was a view that she would never forget, up there with her life altering supernatural storm on her record attempt flight.
She wasn't convinced if this part of the plan would really have been possible, but there in the sky, at an alarmingly quick speed was a cluster of burning meteors. It really, really was!

The noise was becoming almighty, and if the residents of this poor city weren't already awake from the earlier goings on, then they would be now. Hell, the whole country would surely have been woken by this din.

Blane remained, fixed and focussed- his energies on the meteors he had summoned. The ground now began to shake and the ocean in the bay sloshed about. The meteors continued, the heat rising in the air as they approached. Agwé waited until the last moment to relinquish manipulation of the bubble holding The 45th and to get ready for her last bit.

Those meteors were huge now, and as planned, they crashed right on the mark, bombing right in the middle of the bay. The ground seizured. The water flew up far and wide, the sea being completely displaced, making room for the mammoth space boulders.

This was Agwé's cue. She had to stay strong. Her role was to now do her best to minimise the potentially devastating tsunami that would wash up onto the beach and into the city.
It was on the beach where she stood, Mindy and Holt behind her in case a speedy extraction was needed, that she held the surging wall of ocean from drowning the city. Do'Lânqwa flew out to the impact site, scanning for any signs of life. Or evidence of a body.

Ten minutes of holding the ocean surge, and Agwé could feel the water's will weakening and she began to do the same, allowing the ocean to continue its natural rhythm of pulling in and out. The sun had fully risen now, casting the city in a new light and highlighting the trauma it had suffered. The triplets regrouped with an exhausted Agwé on the beach. Do'Lânqwa flew back inland to the beach, landing to join his new allies in surveying the city in front of them.
Over the mountain, five military helicopters flew into view, the sound of their beating rotors now the only thing disturbing the calm peace that had fallen.


"Breakfast anyone?" Agwé asked after a moment of collective silence.

"Heavens, I could eat a baked floshiun!" Blane remarked, his siblings groaning in delight at the idea.

"Excuse me, but what is one of that?" Agwé asked, bewildered by the strange word.

"Oh, it's this tasty treat we have on our planet. Greasy and fattening. Wait, what do you guys have on this planet to eat?" Mindy wondered.

"Well I have no idea what Brazil does for breakfast, but let's just get it all!" was her response.

And with that, they trudged off the beach and onto the promenade, on the hunt for big foods.

Do'Lânqwa hung back and de-activated his suit, and remarked to himself, if I have to be stuck here, it may as well be with them.