Fusion

13. Welcome Home

Garbage is strewn through the roads and the streets look almost abandoned.

A feeling of despair lingers in the frigid air and I try to understand what's going on. Snow covers the streets like a wrinkled blanket and small drizzles of ice rain from the sky.

Cold white specks cover our faces and our bodies lose heat quickly. I breathe in and out heavily and shiver, visible air coming from my mouth. So cold.

"My kind of weather," Subzero says, exhaling. "If only it could be like this every day." We keep walking in a group on the cracked concrete, looking at everything as if we're from another planet.

People pass by in dirty beat up clothes and stare wildly as they walk past us, mumbling lightly. It looks like the world took a devastating hit.

Everything looks dirty and forgotten and the city has been torn. I can see posters and signs with graffiti sprayed on some of them. I walk over to a wall and look at it, shocked and silent.

A red X is sprayed over what looks like a familiar face. Purge. Signs, posters, giant tv screens, all of them have his face on them and a red and black symbol.

"How long have we been gone?" Fireworks says, looking around like me.

"Months, years. Who knows?" Olivia says as she stops a citizen. "Excuse me. What is the date?"

"It's Thursday." The woman replies a little frightened.

"No, ma'am, the real date."

"It's December 23rd, 2016." She replies. We all look in shock, shaking half from the cold and the confusion.

"Aren't you heroes? You must leave, if Purge saw you-" then she is stopped mid-sentence as a voice comes from behind us.

"Halt! Stop heroes! Turn yourself in or face the consequences!" A...you guessed it, Purge goon shouts from down the street.

"Pfft...what is one-" Fireworks scoffs and before he completes his sentence a whole military grade armored truck full of Purge soldiers rolls up to us, stopping only a few yards away.

In an instant, a large machine gun rises on top of the van and a dozen men step out the van simultaneously.

"You gotta give it to them, it was quite the entrance," Shadow says smiling, then he slowly walks towards them.

"Hey guys, you know if you need more firepower I'm willing to root for the winning team." He puts his hand next to his mouth and whispers. "That's you guys."

"We can hear you!" Tidal says, using a wave of water to drag Shadow back to us. "You are fighting for us." He says sternly. "Now, if anyone would like to leave, please do so now, or forever hold your peace."

Tidal puts a smirk on his face and he cracks his knuckles before taking the spear off his back. One of the guards slowly steps away and drops his gun. Wow, I can't believe that actually worked.

"Anyone else?" Tidal holds his spear tight and the rest of the team charges their energy in their hands. "No one? Then let's begin."

Tidal throws his spear into one of the guards and then violently yanks it back using the chain attached to it, pulling the guard into his fist at high speed.

The gunner on the armored truck unleashes hordes of bullets upon us with the large machine gun. Ironclad steps in the way and the bullets start deflecting off him. Then he grows to the size of two stories and blocks even more bullets.