SteelStar

Episode Three: Part Six

The U.H.E. headquarters blared its alarms as employees fled for the nearest exit. Only a handful of people remained behind, some security as well as a few technicians in the command center. There were a few other superheroes in the building, but most were busy assisting the evacuation. Though it was a desperate situation, all personnel remained calm as they swiftly found the nearest exits and a few bravely stayed at their posts.

In warehouse 3B, Paramount kept fighting Black Ash's wooden arms as SteelStar paced back and forth uncertainly, his metal eyes never leaving the organic bomb. The rookie superhero was afraid to even touch it should it trigger some sort of reaction. He knew regular bombs were usually booby trapped to prevent tampering, and figured this thing was no different.

"Paramount!" cried SteelStar. "I don't know what to do!"

"Contact Animage!" the elder superhero replied.

Right, she had animal telepathy. SteelStar felt foolish as he brought up his smartwatch.

"Animage," said SteelStar. "We found the bomb, and it's a living thing."

"Are you serious?" She asked. After a pause, she said, "You're right, I can sense life signs at your location, but I can't sense an animal mind. Whatever it is, it has no brain. I won't be able to control it."

Of course it wouldn't be that easy, thought SteelStar.

"Can you get any information from it?" he asked.

"I can sense it charging the energy within," said Animage. "And it's charging fast. I don't recommend attacking it, though. You'll cause it to explode prematurely. I don't think it has enough of a charge to cover the entire building just yet, but there are still people in the area who would be killed, not to mention you and Paramount. On top of that it has tendrils burrowed deep underground. It will take too long to dig out."

"Can you tell me how much time we have?" asked SteelStar.

"Nine minutes."

SteelStar swallowed.

###

Under the sound of the alarm, Demigoddess strolled through the room towards a large generator. She could sense the radiation flooding the room as men in hazmat suits ran in to rescue people on the floor, sick from radiation poisoning. By absorbing the energy into her reserves, the radiation readers in the room began to go down, and when Demigoddess placed her hand on the generator, the levels fell even faster.

"No need to thank me boys," she said, leaning against the generator casually. "Just get this patched up so we can get out of here."

A few technicians in hazmat suits came up with tools, prepared to fix the generator. As they worked, Elementus approached the room, his body transforming until he looked like a finely sculpted statue, a man of stone. He walked up to Demigoddess who gave him a disinterested look.

"What's up?" she asked, looking at her fingernails as she kept one hand on the generator."

"They found the bomb," said Elementus. "It's a living thing, so they might need you after all."

Demigoddess smirked, "So tin boy can't save us after all? Pity."

Elementus clenched his fists, "Are you going to help or not?"

Demigoddess didn't stop smirking, but the gears in her head began turning. As satisfied as she was that this SteelStar wasn't going to outshine her, Demigoddess realized that Paramount had a point. She'd never absorbed Tholatite energy before, so there was a risk she couldn't absorb it. Not wanting to die in a Tholatite explosion made Demigoddess hesitate.