The Alliance, Part 6

“My name is Brey.”

            Drack and the captured Stray took a right turn, towards the cruiser.

“Alright, Brey. This may be the last time we see each other before I take you to the nearest City. Thanks for your cooperation. My name is Drack, and my partner, who should be here shortly, is named Cain.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t count on that happening!” A voice called from behind Drack.

“Huh!?” Drack grunted, startled by the voice and by the words he just heard. Fear slipped its way into his mind. He froze, afraid of what he would see.

“Now, if you don’t mind, we’d like our Stray back. Un-harmed and un-cuffed!” the voice commanded.

Drack began to turn around.

“No! Stay facing that way! Release the Stray then drop your weapon.” The voice said. “If you cooperate, I won’t have to use force.” The voice said, mocking Drack’s earlier statement to Brey.

Drack tried to turn around again. NO ONE will tell me what to do! He thought to himself.

ZAAPPP!

Drack’s eyes slowly closed as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Thud!

Cain’s motionless body was thrown down beside Drack’s.

“Hmm hmm!” the voice laughed. “That takes care of those two for now.”

“This is wonderful!” Another voice said.

“Now, un-cuff our Stray. We need him around still.” The first voice commanded. “But, now it’s time for part two. Those other pests will be here soon to back up these sorry Searchers. Go around back and wait till I give the word.”

Minutes later…

“Wha… What? What happened?” A Searcher named Raan said.

All the Villains who heard Drack’s call surrounded the bodies of Drack and Cain.

A City Guard member stepped up to the bodies. “That’s the two who called us alright. I’ll check to see if they’re okay.” He then crouched down to observe the bodies.

“What could have gone on here?” another Searcher named Makahr said.

“I just want to know how a single Stray could have taken out two of our own so quickly!” Raan said.

“They both appear to be alive,” The City Guard said. “Cain seems to be in pretty bad shape, though. But, Drack only has a minor injury.”

Something small hit the City Guard, and down he went, right on top of Drack and Cain.

--

The simulation that happened days ago at the Villain’s Research Laboratory, continued…

Nex tried to get as far away from the house as possible. As he was about to step foot outside the house, a giant boulder landed right in front of the door way. He bashed his head on it, toppling over backwards. He scrambled to get up, running for the back door of the house he hoped would be there. He had to get out soon, or that tall building that looked loose earlier, that is now falling directly on the house Nex is in, would smash him to smithereens!

There was a window at the back, but no door he could see. He stopped briefly, heard chunks of the tower crush the ceiling of the front of the house. He decided he would run and break through the back window.

He ran, jumped and, Crash!

He was through the window. He did a roll, got back on his feet and continued to run, barely holding onto his gun. He wanted to lighten up the load by dropping it, but decided to keep it, just in case he ran into some trouble.

Project Weapon, aka Decim8r, was not far behind, staying clear of the havoc he had created. Its goal was to intercept soon. But, it was enjoyable toying with the target!

A huge cloud of dust burst from the impact of the tower on top of the house, sending debris everywhere, nearly missing Nex in some instances.

Nex continued to run, but the dust was gaining on him fast. It would soon be difficult to see. Nex struggled to go faster, away from the chaos. Little did he know, chaos itself was near him at though it all.

--

Currently…

“Huhh!” The rest of the Villains shouted, surprised. They all to turned around as fast as they could, many to fall the same way the City Guard member did.

One by one, Searchers fell to the ground, the other City Guard member with them was the first to fall.

Was this some sort of strategy? Take the Guards out first?

As Raan turned around, he realized they had all walked into a trap. He also saw the face of the mastermind behind this. Ahaz. The menace who killed some of his comrades. The cause of all this mess.

“Hello Sergeant Raan.”

Raan scowled as he recognized the Villain he was staring at. “Ahaz.” He muttered, disgusted.

“Go ahead. Try and attack me.”

Raan growled and continued to stare at Ahaz.

“Well? Don’t you want to attack the one who just took out your whole team?” he snickered.

Raan’s eyes enlarged as he looked behind him to see one of the other Searchers fall face flat onto the ground. Now, his whole team was taken out, Raan the only Searcher remaining.

“I’m still here.” Ahaz said, smiling, his arms out in a come and get me pose.

Raan looked Ahaz in the eyes. “I hope you know what this means, right?”

Ahaz leaned in. “Is that some sort of threat? You’re gonna have to try harder than that. Your Leaders can’t help you right now.”

“You really will pay for this!”

“Oh, stop it with the empty threats!”

Raan scowled.

“Also, if you were trying to send out a distress signal to any other Villains in the area, your transmissions have been jammed.” Ahaz said, grinning.

Raan felt the fear rising again. Was he lying? How could this be?

--

Cain suddenly awoke, eyes wide open, taking in all the madness he saw around him.

He felt crushed, literally. The beating he took earlier was bad enough, now, being under the bodies of fellow Villains, he could barely get up. Then he saw the Searcher Sergeant, Raan, face to face with . . .  some Hunter. He didn’t know who it was, but had a feeling he was the one behind all this, and likely behind the death of some of his comrades who were left lifeless at the Capitol City gate. He looked up to see who was on top of him. A number of Searchers and Drack. Cain slowly, so as not to draw attention, contorted his arm backwards to try and shake Drack awake.

He was successful.

Drack opened his eyes and moaned.

One of the Hunters behind the pile of bodies heard the grunt and started to walk around.

Cain motioned for Drack to be quiet.

Drack was face down as the Hunter slowly approached the front of the pile.

--

Dust engulfed the streets Nex was running down, so, he had no choice but to slow down a bit to avoid tripping on something, or running into a wall.

Where could he go?

What is going on?

Why am I outside the Capitol City?

What is going on?

Where are the rest of the Heroes?

WHAT is GOING ON?!

These thoughts raged through Nex’s mind as he moved along.

Decim8r’s special visual sensors had the capability to see right through the dust clouds. He could see the confusion and fear in the eyes of Nex.

Soon, it would make its move.

Very soon.

If it had the capacity to feel emotions, it would be exited right now.

--

Ahaz ordered Raan to give him the com link he had.

So, Raan did it. There wasn’t much of a choice at this point.

“Very good. Now, you,” he pointed to one of his gang members, “Turn off the jammer. I want to have a conversation with our other Villain buddies.” He laughed a little.

“You betcha!” The gangster flipped a switch on the backpack he wore.

Ahaz pressed the talk button on the com link. “Hello fellow Villains! I have struck yet again! Ha ha ha!” he cackled.

Cain started to look up at Ahaz and scowled. He had an idea. It might be the end of him, but he was going to do it anyway, for the sake of his partners.

The Hunter who was walking around the pile of bodies noticed him.

Ahaz listened to see if there was any response on the com link. Then, moments later, there was one.

“Who are you? What’s your problem, you sorry Hunter!” someone said over the link.

Ahaz pressed talk to respond. “Why would I reveal that? It’s fun to hear the ‘powerful’ Villain Leader’s pathetic servants not knowing what they’re doing. Not having ‘everything under control--’.”

Cain called out, not seeing the Hunter off to the right of him, out of his field of vision. “His name is Aha—“

Boom!

Cain’s body lie limp on the ground.

“What’s going on there?” the Searcher talking to Ahaz over the com said.

Drack stared at his now former partner, shocked to see the wretchedness of these Hunters.

He would enact revenge! One way or another. But, now was not the time. He would surely face the same fate as Cain if he moved even a little bit.

“What was that?!” Ahaz demanded of the gangster who just took Cain out.

“One of them had awoken and tried to reveal who you are, so I took care of them.”

“Drat. Well, we should get going then, very soon.”

He then grabbed a smoke grenade pulled the pin, let go of the release, and threw it at the knocked out Villains, just in case any others were awake so they would see the Hunter gang’s escape.

Pfffffffffff!

Ahaz then responded to the Villain on the com, “Why not come here and find out yourself?”

With that, Ahaz ordered his gang to leave the area immediately as he dropped the com link, which the Searchers and Guard members could most likely track.

They cleared out so quickly, it was as if they were ghosts. There were no traces left to find out where they had gone. Just as Ahaz liked it.

As for why all the Searchers weren’t just killed on the spot, Ahaz wanted some survivors, for the sake of making them feel fear. Some would die, and some would live. He wanted Searchers and Guards to feel the need to watch their backs at all times. He wanted to disrupt the leadership. He believed this would ultimately help in his plan, Anarchy.

To Be Continued…

The Alliance, Part 5

When the team of Villains, led by Barah, returned to The Castle to report on their supposed killing of 3 Hunters…

The Captain of the City Guard and Searchers, who is known as The Captian, listened to the Searcher team’s report. 

Barah was concluding her oral report. “And this, Captain, is all that is left of that sorry band of Hunters.” She motioned for one of her team members to show the Captain the scorched blue armor plating they found in the wreckage of the missile blast zone. He did so.

The Captain reached out and took it in his hands, and inspected it.

“Hmmm. Are you certain this is all that was left? That there weren’t any others who saw the whole thing and got away?” The Captain asked of Barah.

“Have I ever failed a mission before, Captain?” She responded.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” He shot back.       

“I had my team search out the area thoroughly. In fact, some even went back to the scene at a later time and looked around, just in case anyone was planning to come back to see what was left of their incinerated Hunter friends. We came up with nothing.”

“Alright. Good. But, I do have something to say. And, I want to make myself clear. The Leaders did not call for a war against all Hunters. They wanted to find only the ones who killed my troopers, and terminate those ones in particular. Not all Hunters are necessarily enemies. Some might never cause a problem with us, and I don’t want to deal with unnecessary conflict. From now on, we need not engage Hunters in every circumstance. Only in cases where they are hostile towards us. If that happens, you have my personal permission to engage. But, if you see a gang walking down the street during a patrol, and they carry on or run away, let them go for now, unless otherwise instructed. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Captain.” Barah said.

“Good.” The Captain then stepped toward Barah, and said in a hushed tone so that only she could hear was about to be said, “Now, if I were speaking to any other Searcher, I’d be direr with my consequence. You’re a well-respected Villain, and you’re too good to let go.” He leaned in closer, squinting his eyes slightly. “But, don’t let that get to your head.” He stepped back and looked at Barah’s squad.

“Understood.” She said, also whispering.

“Alright. I think I’ve said quite enough. Be on your way now.”  He saluted Barah, she and her squad did the same, and were dismissed.

--

Inside their cells, the Team Alpha Heroes looked at the screens that had come down from the ceilings. All that remained of Team Alpha were Stormer, Furno, Breeze, Rocka, Stringer, Surge, and Nex, who was now inside the Chamber. Evo died at the hands of Ahaz and Bulk fought valiantly against the mighty Anak during the Villain’s takeover of the Hero Factory, but lost. The last thing these Heroes want to see was another one of their team mates leave them.

--

Nex walked around, still wondering what was going on. He knew something wasn’t right. Something was wrong about this. Very wrong.

For a split second, he felt a presence off to his right, just out of the line of sight. He turned to see nothing. He did an about face, trying to see if there was someone or something behind him. Nothing. He knew there had to be something there, though. 

A bit of fear creeped into his mind. He quickly pushed it away. I can’t be frightened that easily, He thought to himself, walking towards a smashed house. Maybe he could stay here. It probably wouldn’t make him as vulnerable compared to being in the open.

He was nearing the door of the house when… It came again. That presence. It felt like it was from... behind!

He spun around. Nothing at all. All he saw was a wrecked city. A building that looked like it could collapse any day now.

--

The machine kept its eyes locked on Nex from the shadows, moving to and fro. There was no sign that its target, Nex, was aware of its presence. As soon as the target entered the house it was heading into, Decim8r walked into a big building that looked very unstable. He then looked up at the ceiling and saw what it was looking for. 

--

Nex saw a chair under a bunch of clutter, and decided to clear it off and rest for a little while. Finally, something better than a cement floor and metal beds! He sat down and relaxed a bit. He tried his hardest, but couldn’t keep from closing his eyes. He felt a sudden sense of tiredness. Wow. He thought. I never thought a chair like this would be so comfy.

RUMBLE!

Nex’s eyes shot open, frightened at the sound he just heard. He tore towards a window to see the cause of the noise.

“Oh No!” He exclaimed.

--

The Heroes in their cells saw everything Nex saw. They were all scared for Nex too.

--

The Alliance was gathered together once again, also having the rest of their crew who were in The Hatch listen and watch their meeting on a video call. It was the only video call system they had set up, but it was thanks to Oran’s handy work.

Jerin stood before everyone and the camera feeding to the Hatch.

“Alright.  I hope everyone is rested up. Now that we have the new Square system set up, and radar surrounding our posts, we can begin the next major phase of The Plan: setting up underground tunnels to save and release families for the Villain’s cities. We’ll start by targeting smaller cities, without as large of security teams. Having scouted many areas over time, thanks to our wonderful and brave scouting teams, our first place will be a city east of here. We have to do it slowly, that way these Villains won’t notice.

Now, these tunnels cannot start in our hideouts. They must be a distance from here, just in case a Villain discovers our tunnels. For security reasons. We’ll have to make a way to seal them off from both sides, that way the tunnels are not so easily accessible. Now that everyone is here, you all are free to pitch ideas about how this will work.”

The Alliance carried on for quite a while. Having many present at this meeting provided quite a few viewpoints and perspectives. Bouncing the ideas off of a lot of bots helped in making a more concrete plan of action, having covered ways to deal with different scenarios. It went quite smoothly. They would soon begin the next phase.

--

Days after the meeting between Drack and Cain with the Fire Lord and Witch Doctor…

Cain was driving the patrol vehicle today.

“Hmmm. Still no sign of any dangerous Hunters.” Cain said.

“Nope. I haven’t heard anything from The Captain.” Drack said.

Drack’s mind suddenly went to a thought of Sheer. He hadn’t thought about her in a while now. Hmm… He wondered. It must have been because he was thinking about bots who were against the Leaders. He was slightly surprised he hadn’t seen her anywhere. Ever. But, because he always had Cain with him on patrols, he never had the chance to look for her.

“Hey! I think I see something!” Cain said. He slowed the cruiser down. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Whaaa…” Drack shook his head, clearing it. “What is it?”

As soon as he asked the question, it was answered for him.

“A Stray!” Cain said.

“Alright. Pull ahead a little further. Once we park, we’ll try to intercept the bot.”

Cain did just that.

Drack picked up the Searcher communicator, pressed the talk button and then said, “There has been a potential Stray sighting. My partner and I are attempting to engage. Here are my coordinates.” He named them off. “Get here as soon as you can. Over and out.”

The receiver beeped and a voice came from it saying, “Copy that. Back up is on the way.” Another voice said, “We hear you. We’re heading your direction as well. Over.”

The two Searchers took off toward where they saw the Stray last, inside a house. They exited the patrol vehicle, and brandished their rifles. They were nearing the house they saw the Stray in.

“Okay. Listen carefully. The Stray may know we were coming back for him. So, I’ll go around this side of the house while you go around the other. I will enter through the front. You stay outside, just in case he tries to make a run for it. Maybe we can catch him in his attempt to escape.”

“Good plan.” Cain said. “Let’s do it.”

So, Cain circled around the back of the house as Drack circled the front. He looked around and stayed as quiet as possible. He ducked under a window to avoid being seen.

The front door was only a couple of steps away now. 

He entered the house.

“Okay. I know you’re in here. Come on out. You can make this easy for the both of us and just come towards my voice and turn yourself in. I promise not to hurt you, if you do that for me.”

Silence.

“Don’t make me use force.”

He stepped further in.

“Come on out!” He called as he entered a hallway with three doors.

He opened one of the doors, and turned on his flashlight. Nothing in that one.

He stepped in front of the second door and waited. He then called, “If you have some sort of weapon, I’ll have no choice but to use force against you!”  He cocked his gun slowly, intentionally. Click… click.

He connected the light to his rifle and pushed the door open. Still nothing.

He entered the hallway again.

“I’ll give you one last chance! Come on out, unarmed, and I won’t hurt you. You have my word!”

He waited a moment. The house was quiet.

He walked in front of the third door, adrenaline starting to rush.

He kicked the door open. Smash!

There was the Stray, sitting in a corner of the dark room. The only room in the house without a window.

“Come on out, and keep your hands where I can see them.”

The Stray sat there, scared.

“Did you hear me? Get up, I said!”

He got up and stepped toward Drack.

“Hands in the air.” The Stray put his hands up. “Alright. Stand right there. Your hands are to remain up!” He pulled up the small com link from his belt. “Alright Cain, I have the Stray right here. Come on in. I have him in a room. I’m cuffing him right now.

The Stray followed all of Drack’s orders as he cuffed him.

Drack noticed Cain had not responded.

“Hey, Cain, I now have him cuffed. He didn’t put up a fight. I’m taking him to our cruiser now.”

No response still.

“Say,” Drack said to the Stray, “How have you been able to survive for so long?”

“I just found enough to get by,” he responded.

The Searcher and Stray stepped outside.

“I’m impressed. Thank you for not putting up a fight. That would have been a very bad choice. By the way, what might your name be?”

“My name is Brey.”

To Be Continued in Part 6

The Alliance, Part 4

In the facility where the Fire Lord and Witch Doctor were conversing…

“What are you doing here?” Fire Lord asked Drack and Cain, who had just entered their chamber, with his and Witch Doctor’s cautious permission. They both had their gang members in ready positions for and attack, just in case, but to not look like it. They didn’t want Cain and Drack to be threatened pre-maturely.

“Yes, what brings you two here?” Witch Doctor asked.

Drack said, “I was hoping both of you would be here. We are here to confirm our alliance with you two. Well, for Cain and I, anyway.”

“Exactly,” Cain said. “We both received word from the Capitol that a gang of Hunters had killed a platoon of Searchers. We wanted to make sure that you knew that, even in this major event, we do not plan to take any actions against you or your gangs. We’ve done our best to avoid conflicts of this sort.”

The Witch Doctor asked, “What did the Leaders have to say about this incident?”

Drack replied, “The Black Phantom was furious!”

As Drack was speaking, The Fire Lord and Witch Doctor made a subtle signal for their gangs to be at ease.

“He and the other Leaders agreed to have the Searchers deviate from their typical patrols to try and catch the culprits off guard. But, the Captain of the City Guard and Searchers did not want us to attack just any Hunter we see. We have been, and will continue to keep a war against all Hunters from happening as best as we can.”

Fire Lord then said, “Alright. Thank you both. We will also do our best to keep Hunters, whether it be our gangs or neighboring gangs, from recklessly engaging in quarrels with Searchers or City Guards. But, we can only do so much. As you know, a lot of the other Hunters want to avoid being under the control of a large governing body.”

Witch Doctor also said, “I’m glad you came here to give us this report, and that we could set up these parameters of our agreement. Thank you. If there is anything else, let us know as soon as you can. We hope to be prepared for whatever happens.”

“We’re glad to help.” Cain said.

            “But, we had better be on our way now,” Drack said. “We have a lot of ground to cover today, thanks to those rogue Hunters. Farewell.”

            Cain and Drack left the facility satisfied at how well the meeting went.

            “Well, back at it again.” Drack commented as he and Cain stepped into their patrol vehicle. Then, they took off, nodding their heads in a respectful manor towards the Hunters who were stationed outside the chamber.

--

Bang Bang Bang!

“What is that?” Sheer thought. The sound was coming from the back door of The House.

The Stray put in charge of the Radar monitoring pressed a button. A window popped up on the computer monitor showing live feed from the camera at the back door.

There was a collective ‘Gasp!’

“It… its Jerin, Oran and Callibur!” Sheer said loudly.

“Let them in!” Aleck said.

The Stray pressed the unlock button.

Sheer sprinted there and arrived at the door first. Opening it up, she found the three to be very worn out. But, something appeared wrong with Callibur. Jerin and Oran were holding him since he could barely walk.

Aleck, after observing this said, “What can we do to help you guys?”

Jerein responded, “Get him to a table so he can get worked on.”

Aleck and Sheer quickly took the place of Oran and Jerin.

Cheering could be heard from behind the group. The Alliance was very, very happy to see their leader Jerin, the Hero, Callibur and one of their greatest hopes, Oran.

Sheer insisted that Jerin and Oran get some rest, and that things would be fine. Aleck assured to them that he would see how things went with Callibur. So, after Jerin shared what happened with Aleck and Sheer, and informed them of the injuries that Callibur had, he watched as Callibur was brought to a room to be cared for. The operators decided to Callibur under while they performed repairs. The main operator came out and told Jerin and Oran that Callibur would be fine, they were relieved enough to head to their quarters to get some rest. Aleck walked into Jerin’s room and chatted for a little bit. He left with, “Get some rest, friend. You’ve done well!”

Aleck emereged from the room to make an announcement. “Well, they are all doing okay. Callibur is injured, so he will need some rest and repairs. Also, I think rest is a little something all of us need right about now. So, let’s all call it a day and get some rest too. Though, we will still need someone to take watch. We mustn’t leave our guard down.”

There was a general agreement, and a few Alliance members went to their posts for the watch. 

Eventually, after the two Strays and Hero who braved their mission were rested enough, and Callibur got the necessary repairs, they would tell the tale of their dangerous return.

Jerin spoke first, “It began with us just finishing with the installation of the radar dome. Once we began heading back here very cautiously, we were all alarmed to see a missile heading our way.”

Oran then said, “I saw it heading our way on the Square module, and turned around.

“Then,” Callibur began, “the missile barely missed us. We got down justtttt in time to feel the heat of it go right over our bodies and smash into the ground a few yards from us. But, one giant chunk of rock was launched form the impact, and crushed my leg.” He said this while pointing to his newly repaired leg. Fortunately, the Alliance had the proper materials to give him some new armor plating.

A young Stray asked, “How did you escape?”

Oran responded with, “As soon as we realized we were all still alive, I began thinking of a rout of escape. If Searcher procedures were still the same, they would be closing in on the blast zone soon. We had little time to get through. Fortunately for us, the rubble that was blown up also threw a lot of dust into the air, giving us more cover. But, still, not much time remained. We then realized Callibur was injured greatly. So, Jerin and I had to lift him off the ground. We moved as fast as we could. Callibur used his good leg to help move us faster. The smoke and dust was clearing fast. I was afraid we would be spotted.”

“So,” Jerin said, “as we were only a few yards from the blast zone, a massive wave of heat hit our backs. The missile, we came to find out, was an incendiary round, a projectile that also releases an additional wave of fire. The shock of it nearly knocked us on our faces. The flames continued blazing, giving us a little more time to escape. Deathly black smoke rose from the flames.”

Callibur then said, “If we had left a moment too late, that could have been us in those flames… Wow.”

“It really is crazy.” Oran said. “Thankfully, Jerin had the idea to head to a building nearby to get out of sight. So, we got in as fast as we could. We had to make it through the whole city, avoiding Villains. Fortunately for us, there weren’t any Searchers on patrol. My guess is the group of Searchers trying to kill us had been assigned to that area.”

Callibur then concluded with, “After our long trek, we arrived to the back door of the House. We didn’t have our Square unit, so it would have been hard to track us. It was destroyed in the blaze.”

“Thank goodness you all are okay!” Sheer said.

“I’d have to say the same!” Aleck also said.

The Alliance held a small applause.

Sheer and Aleck looked at the two Strays and Hero, smiled, and clapped along.

Sheer then walked up and embraced Jerin. Aleck stepped up to Oran and hugged him along with Callibur, bringing the three close, in a brotherly embrace.

For the first time in a while, Oran felt real comfort.

--

Back at the Villain Researcher’s Laboratory…

Darkon read off the list from his electronic tablet. “Cameras?”

“Check!” a researcher said.

“Hero in place?”

“Check!”

“Decim8r in place?”

“Check!”

“Very good, then. Let us begin the simulation.”

The giant tube where Nex was held opened, revealing the virtual biome to him. The electronic hand cuffs were remotely released from his hands, and fell to the ground. Clink!

The tube and cuffs disappeared and Nex was awakened. He looked around, wondering what was going one. Where he was. All he remembered was seeing a massive Villain, likely the dreaded Anak staring at him through the small barred window of his cell, then being shocked and knocked out from electricity coming from the cell walls. Now it appeared he was in a vast landscape. It looked like he was outside the Castle. Houses were left in piles of rubble. Nothing lively seemed to be around. It was as if he was on the outskirts of the Capitol City. He looked to his left and his right. Nothing. Then, when he looked down, he saw his weapon. He cautiously picked it up. It was the very blaster he had during the Villain Breakout. He cocked the blaster. It was fully loaded. He started walking around, confused and still slightly dazed. He stopped, closed his eyes and shook his head, clearing his mind, opened them again. He continued looking around and behind him, wondering what was going on.

The Villain Leaders and Researchers along with Anak watched the clueless Hero.

Darkon smiled a wicked grin.

The Leaders were intrigued, wanting to know when the action would hit. The camera view switched to where Project Weapon was, hiding inside a destroyed house, awaiting instructions.

Darkon called the Leaders over a microphone he had. “What do you wish for Decim8r to do?”

The Leaders took a few moments to respond.

Von Nebula suggested, “How about we have it kill the sorry Hero?”

“Or,” Black Phantom said, “We could have the machine capture, injure, but not kill the Hero?”

“I have an idea,” Voltix said. “How about we give all the Heroes a live feed of what’s going on in the Test Chamber right now.”

“I like that one,” Von Nebula said.

“As do I.” Black Phantom replied.

“Very well. We’ll decide as we watch the carnage. We won’t have him killed just yet,” Voltix said.

“Have him captured, for now, don’t kill the Hero yet. Make the Weapon have some fun with it first. We plan to give the Heroes in detainment a live feed of the whole thing.”

“It shall be done.” Darkon said in response. He soon gave the orders to Decim8r.

Stormer heard something in his cell. The TV was coming down. Strange. Then he saw his comrade Nex on the monitor, all alone. All the rest of the Team Alpha Heroes saw their partner on their own screen as well, wondering what this was all about.

To Be Continued in Part 5 

The Alliance, Part 3

Aleck, while waiting in the House, realized he hadn’t heard from any of the ones who had left to place the new radar booster in a while. He headed toward the room where the main communication gear and radar monitor were located. The Stray put in charge of the gear was monitoring the systems suddenly bursted out of the room, colliding with Alek.

Thud. They both hit the ground with a grunt.

“What’s the matter?!” Aleck said, alarmed.

The Stray responded in a loud voice, eyes widened, while the both of them righted themselves. “Something has happened to the team out there!”

“What do you mean?” Aleck said back.

Sheer overheard the conversation. “What’s going on?” She ran toward the two.

“Come!” The other Stray shouted.

The three of them dashed into the Communication room.

Aleck ran to communicator, picked up the microphone and pressed the talk button.

“Hello! Jerin! Callibur! Oran!” He released the button. “Anyone? Give me an answer!”

“Sir, I’ve already tried to talk to -“ The Stray was cut off.

“Let me try!” Sheer said with disparity in her voice.

Aleck handed the mic over to her.

“But -“ He was cut off once again.

“Hey, guys! Can you hear me!?” Sheer said.

When she released the button, static was the only reply.

Sheer and Aleck looked up at the radar screen. No sign of the team’s Square unit was visible.

“Ma-am, I’ve already tried. As soon as the explosion happened, I tried to see if they were okay.”

Sheer and Aleck’s eyes darted towards the Stray who was about to deliver stunning news.

“Explosion?!” Aleck and Sheer said simultaneously.

“Yes! I was watching the monitor when they went off the grid. I called over the com link, but . . .  nothing.”

Aleck and Sheer looked at the monitor.

The Stray hit a key on the board in front of the monitor. “Here’s where they were seen last.”

One blip on the screen showed where they were standing, before an explosion occurred.

“What caused the explosion?” Aleck asked

“Are they still alive?!” Sheer said.

“Well,” the Stray said, “it’s possible their unit may be damaged and that they are still alive.”

“We have to go out and find them, now!” Sheer exclaimed.  “Oh, why did Jerin AND Oran have to go?”

“Jerin did say he wanted to see the final radar dome be put in place, and Oran was the only one who knew how to properly install the system. Plus, Callibur is a Hero, so he wanted to be the security for their mission. But, remember what Jerin said, Sheer.” Aleck said back.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. If something happens, don’t come after them. It would jeopardize The Plan. But, part of the Plan was for Jerin and Oran to be reunited with their families.”

A voice came from the door way, “We mustn’t. I’m very sorry, Sheer.”

All three looked at the doorway. It was Zakor.

“If they are gone, I cannot loose either of you, too.”

His voice began to waiver, “You’re the ones that saved me. If anything, it should have been me with them. I should have gone. Maybe this would not have happened. My advanced senses could probably have prevented something like this from ever happening. Why didn’t I go?”

“Oh, Zakor, come here.” Sheer and Zakor embraced. Aleck bowed his head, trying to take it all in. Trying to find a way to see if his friends were okay. But, he just couldn’t.

BEEP

“Oh no!” the Stray said in front of the monitor. Everyone looked up at the radar monitor.

“Villains! They’re nearing the area our bots were seen last!”

All of them gasped.

--

Darkon got the attention of his crew and motioned for them to come close. “I have a plan! Our next target will be…”

The other villain researchers closed in to hear what Darkon had to say.

“… A real Hero!”

“That sounds wonderful!” one of the Researchers said.

“Astounding, even!” said another.

Not long after this, Darkon presented the results of his first test with Decim8r to the Leaders. He also requested that a real Hero be used next. After a discussion, the Leaders agreed to his request. But, the giant, sinister Villain, Anak would oversee the whole transportation of the Hero and observe the test.

“Also,” the Black Phantom said, just as Anak and Darkon were leaving towards the prison, “provide us with a live feed of the test. I want to see how this creation of yours can handle this situation.” The main reason the Leaders wished to stay in the throne room was for protection, in case the Hero was to escape.

“Yes sir!” Darkon said, and bowed his head. Then, Anak and Darkon left the Throne Room and headed to the prison.

On the way, even though Darkon was intimidated by Anak, he tried to throw out an idea of which Hero they would use for the test, since Anak was given the final say as to which could be used. “How about we use Stormer, or even Furno? I think that would be --“

“No,” Anak replied sternly, never looking at Darkon. “There are plans for those two later.”

“Oh…” Darkon said.

They left the main Castle, and approached the maximum-security prison. It was quite ironic how the Heroes and Villains had changed places in this situation. Darkon couldn’t help but smirk at this fact.

They both remained silent until they reached the prison, then entered the front door. The prison guard who sat at a desk, behind a thick glass wall with a hole in it for speaking, looked up from his computer monitor to ask for clearance for entry to Darkon.

Darkon stepped to the side and said, “Shall this suffice?” and motioned a hand toward Anak. The prison guard looked up, very surprised, and said “Uhh, uhh, yes, of course, my apologies sir. Come right in!” He pressed a button to open the main prison gates. The guards inside the prison immediately stood at attention and saluted as Anak entered. The prison warden did the same and then said, “How may I help you two? Is there anything--”

“We need a Hero for a test,” Anak responded abruptly.

“Very well. I’ll show you all we currently have in custody. Follow me sirs.”

The three Villains entered a room with a computer that monitored every inch of the prison, and the data base of all the detainees was accessible as well. “Is there any Hero you had in mind?” the warden asked as he pulled up the list on the computer monitor.

“Let us take a look at the list,” Anak said, squinting, carefully looking at the list.

“How about Breez, or Nex?” Darkon asked.

“Hmmmm.” Anak paused for a moment.

“We’ll take Nex,” he finally said.

“Right away sir. I’ll alert the Leaders and we’ll have him transported to...?” The warden asked.

Darkon relied with, “The Research Lab’s Testing Chamber.”

--

“Keep me updated,” Barah commanded over the Villain’s com link.

“Yes ma’am.” One of the Searchers responded.

As the smoke began to clear, The Searchers closed in on the blast site.

“How many of those Hunters did you see when blasting?” Barah asked the Villain who shot the rocket.

“At least three. Who knows if more were around here, but were scared off.” He said back.

“That’s what I thought.”

“That would be a good thing too. Those traitors have a reason to be scared! They will pay for this treachery.”

“Precisely!” She paused, and pressed the talk button on her com, peering at the Villains who closed in on the scene. “Anything?”

“No Ma’am. No movement yet.”

“Okay. But, before you approach any further, we will ignite the secondary incendiary portion of the rocket. Whatever is left of those bots will be obliterated!”

She nodded towards the rocket Villain. He pressed a button in his launcher and the blast zone burst into flames. The Searchers near the zone were set aback at the heat from the burst of flames.

“No one will have survived that!” The rocket Villain said, peering through the scope of the launcher to see the extent of the damage.

Dark smoke rose immensely from the raging flames. It raged for a few long moments.

It then came to a stop. Nothing but black scorches of what was once there remained. Not even the rubble was left unscathed.

“Close in to inspect,” Barah said over the Villain’s com links. So, they did. All they could see where scorches, ashes and coals, still glowing with heat.

Nothing much to see, really, one Villain thought.

“I found something!” one of them said.

“What is it?” Barah asked over the com.

“It looks like a piece of armor. Or, what’s left of it, rather.”

“Very good. All of you, continue searching the blast zone and the surrounding area. We will not let those worthless Hunters get away with this treachery! They MUST pay!”

A collective agreement.

 To Be Continued...