Sam: Imprisoned (Book 3)

Big Bad Black Hole

  Just as I expected, Ezekiel wanted a fight. He probably had been holding a grudge against Tony for years and now he found someone to take it out on. However, I knew that if I was going to stop Terrain then I'd have to go through this guy first. I had hoped that I was a bit more well-trained with fighting in a suit of armor but there was only one way to find out.
  As if reading my thoughts, Ezekiel took a threatening step forward. He raised his arm and shot a blast that was almost exactly like mine. Fortunately, I had enough time to move out of the way of the blast. He wanted to play dirty so I wasn't going to go easy on him.
  "Alright, let's dance," I muttered.
  Kicking on the repulsers in my feet, I lifted myself off of the ground so it would be easier to block any incoming attacks. The man in front of me followed my lead by hovering up to my level. We were still inside the lab so there wasn't a lot of room to move but it seemed like Ezekiel was too impatient to take it outside and I didn't feel like asking.
  Instead of making the first move, Ezekiel beat me to it by raising his hand to fire a blast at me. Fortunately, I was expecting it so I dodged the shot and used both hands to throw blasts at the moving target. I was a bit rusty because I didn't practice that often but one of the blasts caught the enemy's foot and made them lose their balance in the air.
  When Ezekiel landed, he fired more shots at me. However, this time when I dodged the attacks, Ezekiel fired some hidden firecrackers in his suit towards me. I wasn't expecting it so the loud pops pushed me back and disoriented me a bit. I had to land the suit as well because of the attack but it only made me want to focus more and stop this man.
  Focusing on his movements, I was able to read him and predict his next attack. While he continued firing his propellers at me, I managed to dodge or block them with my own. The moment that Ezekiel broke his fire, I used the repulsor in my chest to fire a powerful blast at the enemy. This - fortunately - threw him off balance and slammed him into the wall behind him which made it harder for him to recover quickly. 
  "Miss, your energy is running low," JARVIS mentioned through the comms in the suit.
  As I caught my breath, I processed his words. I had almost forgotten about the fight with Arsenal which probably drained a lot of the suit's power as it was. At this rate, the suit would shut off before I had time to stop Terrain. This made sense when I realized how much Tony had to do hand-to-hand combat because he didn't want to waste energy. 
  Before Ezekiel could fully focus back in on me, I shot forward and swung my fist into his suit's face. There was pressure against my knuckles when I attacked but the suit protected me from actually getting hurt. I continued throwing punches at Ezekiel in his suit as fast as I could so he wouldn't have time to react. Finally, I leaped up, kicked my foot against his chest, and allowed myself to jump back against the force before landing. 
  This blow knocked Ezekiel onto his back so he would have to stand back up before he could recover. While he got back to his feet, I took my time to catch my breath so I wouldn't run out of my own energy. I felt like I wasn't as in shape as I should be but I had been recovering in my bed for so long that I wasn't able to train. 
  "You're too late, Sam!" a familiar voice called from behind me. I turned my head and noticed Professor Terrain who was standing in front of his machine. When he arrived in the room was beyond me - I was too focused on Ezekiel. 
  "Don't turn it on, Terrain! You don't know what you're doing!" I shouted back at the man. If he started up his machine then we could all be sucked into his black hole maker.
  "Traveling to different worlds. Don't you understand? This could be the key to finding life in the beyond. Maybe even worlds like ours. Think Sam, what if you could find the family you lost in a dimension just around the corner?" Lesser offered. 
  That's what he was trying to do with black holes? Traveling to different worlds or even different dimensions other than ours? He was crazier than I thought. Although, at the same time, I wondered if it would actually work. Did Tony help him build a teleportation device? 
  Noticing my hesitation, Terrain continued, "I've lost family too. This could not only be the key to discovery but to getting back what we lost!" 
  "You need mental help, Terrain," I muttered to the man. "And you're making a mistake, shut it down!" I ordered. 
  Instead of replying to me, the professor turned to Ezekiel, "Kill her."
  Before I could even turn back to the fight that I was having with him, Ezekiel shot a blast that knocked me off my feet and shoved me through a glass window. I tumbled into another room until a table stopped my fall. This dazed me so it took me a minute as I rubbed my head and attempted to catch my breath. 
  Ezekiel was right on my heels as he burst into the room and launched his fist at me. I managed to block the attack with my arm but he shoved me back with his metal shoe. Once again, I slammed back and into a wall. If I was going to beat him, I needed to think quicker. 
  When Ezekiel attempted to shoot another blast at me, I dodged before firing back at him. If I could just stop him long enough to get to Lesser and shut down his machine. So, with this in mind, I fired another blast before launching forward and throwing my fists into Ezekiel's suit. I didn't stop until he was thrown back and needed time to recover. 
  Once I found my opening, I flew out of the room and back into the lab where Terrain was already turning on his machine. After messing with the dials on the panel, Lesser pressed a button and the opening began to glow. Before I knew it, the opening whirled with energy until a black hole was summoned. The lab around us was filled with powerful wind that shook the entire room. 
  Hoping I could convince him, I continued the conversation with the professor, "If you don't stop, you're going to destroy the world that you already have! You need to shut it down before it becomes something you can't control!" 
  Out of nowhere, Ezekiel tackled me until we were on the floor fighting each other. His tech was strong and fast like mine but I had a feeling that he might've had more time to train and practice in the suit he made himself. That being said, I had motive and adrenaline enough to try to stop the two of them. 
  Even though Ezekiel was on top of him, I managed to block some of his attacks. It wasn't until he smashed his fist into the centerpiece of my suit that I worried he would shut off my suit. Maybe worse; actually be able to hurt me. The lights in my suit flickered briefly - as if it wanted to shut down - and I realized how much damage he did. If Ezekiel kept this up then I wouldn't last much longer. 
  I noticed the black hole that the machine created was starting to grow. If we weren't careful then it could suck us up along with everything else in the room. Fortunately, I was able to shove Ezekiel off me hard enough to knock him a ways back. While he was down, I raced over to the machine and looked at the panel in hopes there would be a big 'off' button. Alas, it wasn't that obvious. 
  Before I could figure it out, Ezekiel shoved me away from the panel. I tumbled until I was standing in front of the black hole. I could feel the force wanting to pull me inside but I clicked on the metal cleats that were in the suit's shoes so I wouldn't move. 
  When I noticed the enemy coming at me - again - I dodged any of his attacks before shoving him away from me. What I didn't realize was that I had pushed him back into the vortex that the black hole created. He didn't have cleats like I did so he couldn't find anything to hold onto before he was pulled into the black hole.
  In shock, I shouted, "Ezekiel!" Alas, it was too late. The man disappeared from my view and through the portal of the device. At first, I stared at the hole in hopes that he would be fine and would just jump out of the black hole. Unfortunately, Ezekiel never showed up from the portal. 
  I didn't have much time to process that I had just accidentally shoved a guy into a black hole and potentially ended his life. I pushed the thought aside and raced back to the machine. I had no way of knowing how to stop the machine and I knew Terrain - who was standing far enough away so he wouldn't be sucked in too - wasn't going to help. I needed-
  "Sam! What's going on?" Tony's voice sounded right behind me. 
  A huge wave of relief crashed over me so hard that I wanted to cry for a moment. I swallowed the strong emotions so I would be able to explain, "Terrain turned on the machine and I don't know how to turn it off before it sucks us all into a black hole." 
  "Step aside," Tony ordered as he turned to the panel. 
  While Tony worked on the contraption, I kept an eye on Terrain. He would be stupid to try and make a move because we were wearings suits and he wasn't. The evil scientist was shouting at us about how it was a mistake and about how he was so close to discovering multiverses - whatever that was. However, we just ignored him until the chaos in the room ceased when Tony turned the machine off. 
  With a deep breath, I asked, "Is it off? Did you do it?"
  "Duh," was all Tony responded.
  After taking a step back, I aimed the repulsors in my hands at the machine and fired. I didn't stop until the machine was smoking. As the two men in the room shot me weird looks, I just glared at the black hole machine. It was a death trap and finally destroying it made me feel like it was finally over.
  "SHIELD should be here soon to take over this base and whatever you have here. And - as for you - you will be locked up for a very long time," Tony stated towards Terrain but Stark's expression was dangerous and chilling. He really had a grudge against the professor. 
  "Sir, there are some men escaping from the back," JARVIS chimed up. 
  "I'll handle it!" I shouted before turning on the rockets in my shoes and flying to the other end of the compound. It didn't take me but a minute to land right in front of the group of men that were trying to escape before SHIELD showed up. 
  With a smirk, I lifted my hands up as a warning, "If anyone moves, they'll be blasted into next year." Then my eyes caught a familiar face, "Oh! Hey, Walter! How have you been?"
  The man that once used to hold me captive glowered at me. It felt good to finally be the one in control and to know that all of these bad guys were going to be locked up. I was sure that some of these men were HYDRA and others were hired on by Terrain. Either way, I knew they weren't good people so they deserved to get caught. 
  When a loud whooshing sound broke my thoughts, I peered up and noticed the jets that were flying towards us. That was definitely SHIELD finally arriving. So, with a smirk, I announced to the lot of bad guys, "That's our ride."

(I hate to do this guys, but I'm going to have to save the last chapter for tomorrow! But we're at the last chapter so I hope everyone is excited to see how it ends!
~~~~~ LL2z)