Chapter 27

Chapter 27

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The hooded man took a step back, his hands outstretched in a relaxed fighting pose. The eerie skull-like mask on his face shining a bit with the reflection of the purple flames dancing from his fingertips. His armored body tensed, the cloak on his back fluttering in a sourceless breeze. Ahead of him, framed by the backdrop of the dimly lit warehouse he was standing in, was a scantily clad woman in what amounted to the world's most revealing fighting gi. She shifted on her feet and held up her fists, her eyes narrowing, her brown hair swaying left and right at her waist.

He moved first, racing in with a sharp jab to her waist. She shifted a half step and dropped her arm to block it, a strange golden glow reflecting the attack. He pivoted and tried to dip into a sweeping kick only for her to drive her knee into the side of his head. His head whipped to the side and he pulled back with a snarl and grunt of pain, before darting forward again. This time she caught him with a punch to the shoulder that he failed to block in time. He stumbled and she hit him again, this time in the gut, he folded over under the force and was launched into the air.

“Gah!” He gasped only to get struck with a spinning uppercut at the same spot. He went higher and before he could blink she was above him, pinwheeling in the air as she brought her heel down on his back. He hit the ground with a crash and turned into a plume of purple flame that ripped across the ground a few feet, gaining some distance. As soon as he reformed she was there again.

“Hyat!” She shouted, driving in another punch, then another, and another. He was forced back further and further, one strike leading into the other effortlessly. He tried to respond, to block, to do anything to protect himself, but he could only stagger when the flurry ended, swaying on the spot. She landed on the ground a few feet away and brought both her hands back, fingers curled like teeth. She kicked off the ground and he watched as what looked like an illusory tiger formed around her hands. It struck with a resounding bang.

“Aaaaaughhh!” He cried out as he was thrown onto his back.

“K. O! MIKU WINS!” A deep voice rumbled.

Sonya dropped her controller and let out a groan of frustration, slumping back onto the seat of the couch. Next to her, Amos threw his hands up in a whoop and hopped to his feet, kicking off his slippers doing a little dance. She crossed her arms over her t-shirt that said ‘yuri is my anti-drug’ and kicked her legs in her pajamas. “Again?” She whined, “How did you even do that?”UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

Amos was in the midst of his dance when he stopped and struck a heroic pose, chin in the air in his baggy pajamas and an overlong t-shirt, “Get good, that’s how.”

She growled and jumped at him, getting him into a headlock and pulling him to the ground. He struggled and kicked his feet. “Hey! Leggo!” He barked as she ground her knuckles into the top of his head, “You’ll never get my secrets, witch!”

“You wanna bet?” She barked back.

Behind them, standing in the middle of the multi-room hotel suite, Marta was sipping at a cup of coffee and watching them with barely contained exasperation. She was wearing a long nightgown and had her hair up in a ponytail. “If only the world could see you now,” She said with a sigh and walked over to the couch as Sonya looked up at her with a sheepish grin, letting go of Amos who scrambled out of her grip.

“I want another round!” Sonya demanded.

“You’ll lose again,” Amos warned her, rubbing his head.

Marta sipped at her coffee, “I have a question,” She said calmly, tilting her head at the two of them, “Why are you even bothering with controllers, don’t you both have technopathy?” She asked.

The two of them blinked at her, Sonya’s cybernetic eyes twirling a little bit to refocus. They looked at eachother, then back at her again. She let out a sigh as grins spread across their faces and they turned to the television again, sitting down in front of it. She let out a sigh and shook her head, “The world's first supervillain, everyone,” She said with a groan and leaned back into the couch to watch the match anyway.

Before they had a chance to really get started, though, a knock came to the door of the hotel room. Marta grunted and got to her feet, drifting across the ground as the other two moved to the couch to watch the door from behind it. Marta stopped at the door and peered through before reaching for the handle and opening it. Sonya squinted and then brightened, a smile bursting onto her face. She hopped over the back of the couch and landed, hurrying over.

“I’ll add it to the list!” He shouted back.

The pizza came not long after that and the young heroes were able to have a chance to relax, they talked and laughed, putting the scary day that was to come out of their minds for a little while. That brief moment of calmness did not last, unfortunately, as Marta glanced down at her phone and froze. She looked up at Sonya who cast her a sidelong look. “What is it?” She asked, though her tone seemed to imply that she already knew. Marta turned the phone around to show Sonya and Sonya’s expression went hard. “Amos, switch to the news, dear.”

Amos frowned at her and she gave him a stern look, “Now, please.”

The others looked over, “What’s up?” Nick asked.

Sonya let out a sigh and sat down on the couch as the tv switched over to the news. “Better seen, I think,” She said soberly.

“...in Dharan! There are monsters everywhere!” The reporter shouted. On the screen, dozens of hounds were darting down a street below. It looked like the reporter was in a helicopter. “Terrain is making it difficult for the Nepalese government to respond and the numbers of creatures continue to increase! We’ve already spotted at least four Lurkers during this pass and we haven’t even covered a fraction of the town. Local light-touched are doing their best but- wait- what the hell is that?!”

A terrible screech ripped out of the speakers as something with wings crashed into the helicopter just as the camera tilted up to see it. Shouts rang out and the feed cut. The screen turned back to an anchor sitting in their seat, pale faced, he swallowed and looked at the camera. “As you have just seen, a large wave of monsters has appeared in the city of Dharan, Nepal, government troops are doing their best to get there but are encountering resistance outside the city. We have amateur journalists filming the events as best they can, but the footage is difficult to watch.”

The screen changed again to a vertical video, taken on a cellphone. Someone was breathing hard on the other side, “So many hounds! Where are they even coming from? I’m at Chatara Line and Jana Path right now, I-I’ve got family here, we’re just visiting! Why is this happening? Where are the light-touched?” The sound of gunfire cut off the sound of the person speaking and the view turned to see a line of police with weapons raised, firing desperately at the oncoming wave of beasts. The hounds didn’t even flinch. “Oh my god.”

Nick gripped the back of the couch, “What the hell...”

Jessica covered her mouth and closed her eyes as the feed cut again.

Larry hung his head and slammed his fist, “Damn it.”

Sonya simply sat there, staring unblinking at the screen for a moment before taking a deep, shuddering breath, “Amos, how quickly can we ship munitions to Nepal?” Amos stared at her blankly, horrified for a moment before fully meeting her gaze, he swallowed and got to his feet, “I’m on it, it’ll take at least a day but I doubt customs is going to argue with me.”

“Get it done,” Sonya said and clutched her hands together tightly in her lap. She stared at the screen as the anchor continued to try to explain the situation as best as he could. She didn’t tear her eyes away as more footage came through, the bottom of the screen now featuring the words ‘Disaster in Dharan’. She took a deep breath and got to her feet as the chaos mounted, the others looked at her.

“Sonya?” Marta asked, “Where are you going?”

“To revise my speech,” She said darkly.

“Are they even going to keep to the schedule tomorrow after this?” Marta insisted, “This is horrible.”

“Oh they will, but it’ll be a formality now,” Sonya said coldly, walking to the door to her bedroom, she pushed it open and looked over her shoulder, “They need heroes now and they know it.”

Sonya stepped inside her room and shut the door before covering her face with her hand. She rest her back on the door and took a few deep breaths.

I thought I’d be okay, seeing that footage a second time, She thought, There was nothing I could do. If I pre-emptively sent equipment to Dharan, I would have been basically admitting I knew what was coming. There was nothing I could do, I had to let it happen.

“Damn these eyes,” She croaked, “I want to cry.”