Super Crush (BxB)

A Metaphorical Face Slap

Well, this is a disaster! I tell myself as I bob and weave through the crowd of maniacs terrorizing commuters and tourists. Our plan went to shit almost immediately, but that doesn't stop me from tearing wigs off of every crazed zombie I see as I go.

Split up–check.

Find Sir Madness–check.

Get him to stop his mind control...

I stop mid-thought. Sprawled out before me, where Broadway meets Seventh, the crux of the square, are dozens of lifeless bodies. Some still have their orange manes attached, some do not.

We didn't get Sir Madness to call off his army. Sir Madness is dead.

My head sags as I think about Tiptoe and what happened moments ago. I seem to be trapped in a mind rewind. Frozen in place as the horror replays in my mind.

***

"He's in here," Tiptoe whispers as we press out backs to a small artist's stall. There are ten or twelve scattered around the big lawn of Bryant Park, set up for the art show opening later this week.

I should be focusing on what Sir Madness is saying, but instead, my mind is thinking about the time Abe and I came to a farmers market here. I bought some cherries from this exact stand. The guy selling them was super sexy and Abe made a joke about me wanting him to pop my cherry. Abe didn't usually say dirty things but there was something so hot to me about it when he did.

I am such a cliché.

In my ear, I hear Clay tell us that Matriarch's tracer led him to a dead end, but it is the bony nudge I get from Tiptoe that brings me back. She aggressively jerks her thumb toward the wall behind us to signal me to pay attention.

I zone in and realize he isn't mumbling to himself. The kook has someone else in there with him.

"Well, I guess our partnership is terminated then," the person speaking to Sir Madness informs him.

"But you need me. We make each other better." There is pleading in the crazy scientist's voice.

Just as the pieces come together, Tiptoe does something very un-Tiptoe-like. In a graceful turn, she takes the corner of the stall and flings herself through the rear worker's door to make a scene.

"Hey," she says as I join the party in the small seller's shed.

At this point in the game, I deserve to be slapped in the face for not seeing this a mile away. Before us stands Matriarch, sword raised and pointed at Sir Madness.

"Rachel!?" Sir Madness says to Tiptoe. 

Hearing her name for the first time was like hearing a song that was your favorite years ago. Something you may have forgotten about but was happy to find you still knew closely.

I command my body cam to go live. I know people all over the world are seeing what I am seeing in real-time.

"Aw. A family reunion, is it?" Matriarch's facetiousness creeps me out. "How about a funeral instead?"

With one swift plunge, right in front of us, Matriarch rams her sword through Sir Madness's chest.

"Dad!" Rachel screams as she lunges for his body before it hits the ground.

"Now it's your turn," Matriarch says, wiping the blood from her blade with her gloved hand.

Rachel is crumbled on the cobblestone with her father in her arms. She doesn't give two shits about Matriarch at the moment, and the psycho superhero has no problem murdering my friend right in front of me. I mean, I know I am next.

The ooze ball hits the leader of The Fleet in the left shoulder. It was a perfect throw by me to tell you the truth.

"What the hell is this? Some kid's joke?" Matriarch grunts.

But her smirk quickly fades as the goo expands faster than she can handle it.

"Come on, Tiptoe," I try to hoist her, but she just grits her teeth and tells me to go.

"I am going to finish her off. Go to Slammer. Keep everyone away from here."

I press Tiptoes record button, so her cam takes in her POV. After a moment of me standing there, she yells at me to go.

"Go do what you can to stop them from killing the maniacs. There is no other way now."

***

It's the sound of Rachel's grunts that get my attention. I look up from the onslaught of dead bodies to see her fighting Matriarch on the jumbotron above the M&M Store. Our enemy seems to have taken care of the ooze with some power of her sword.

Matriarch launches herself at Rachel, but she evades the attack easily. They dance around a bit, each of them throwing punches and kicks that can't find their intentions. All of the crazy shit around me disappears for a moment. Watching my friend go toe to toe with the biggest holder around is mesmerizing.

Rachel dips and dodges and then, with a quick flick of her hand, she sails a dagger right into Matriarch's right shoulder.

"You little bitch," the Wonder Woman wannabe growls.

With Matriarch's next punch, I see the quickest blip of four knuckles and the feed goes black. Time Square blinks. And I send a wish up to whoever is listening, asking them to keep my friend safe.