literature

Alliance of Worlds - Chapter 2

Deviation Actions

Juliapopstar's avatar
By
Published:
1.5K Views

Literature Text

Acmetropolis, April 14th, 2779

Most villains had very humble beginnings, which was the case for the one known as Massive. As Jeremiah Drake, he grew up in a small, poor town hundreds of miles away from Acmetropolis, a desolate environment where each person resorted to petty crimes to survive. Jeremiah was no exception, resorting to cheating in poker and pick-pocketing. One of his prized trophies was a Britainian – formerly known as British English – 20 pence coin from the 21st Century. This little object had triggered such fervor within him, an obsession for historical artifacts. In a strange sense, they were alluring; objects crafted with primitive tools and maintaining such beauty throughout the years stood out in this technology-dependent society. And naturally, well-preserved artifacts translated to immeasurable wealth.

Thus the love for money and passion for old relics fused together to form this man. And yet, he was still far from becoming the infamous criminal he was today... That is, until sometime in the middle of the year 2772, that fateful day when he had sneaked into the Acmetropolis Museum of Earthern History to steal a priceless, ancient jewel. Just when he was ready to carry out his plan, the meteor struck the city and irradiated its citizens, blessing him with an incredible abundance of power.

He'd never had dreamed of becoming Massive, the infamous gravity-bending villain extraordinaire.

It would rather seem that fate had a twisted sense of humor, seeing how the crook stood in front of the same museum two years later. One of the artifacts that the building housed was worth millions on the Underworld's black markets. Massive fell easily under temptations when the big bucks came in, especially when fulfilling his desires wasn't as much of a chore as it used to be.

Still, as the museum glazed with the rays of early afternoon sunlight, the man was stricken by nostalgia and irony.

Make no mistake, Massive had left his humble beginnings as a sly thief in the past; gone are the days where his only routine consisted of sneaking into a building and stealing all the goods under the utmost discretion. He had grown so proud of his powers, so passionate about his love and desire that he didn't need to conceal himself; why, that would spoil all the fun in crime-committing! He made sure that he'd hit the screens on the six o'clock news. That's what made him so special, so memorable amongst Acmetropolis' criminals; he dared to show himself in broad daylight, to demonstrate his awesome powers to the world while other villains preferred to do their crimes at nighttime, when everyone was sound asleep in their bed.

For a villain like him, he loved the spotlight. He would put on a show to remind everyone that Massive was here to rock their socks. Today was no exception.

Without much care in the world, Massive climbed the stairs and waltzed into the building. He stole a glance at a young female receptionist, talking on the phone before she glanced at him. He smirked as she stopped and acted paralyzed, realizing that she recognized him and moved on.

He looked around him, giving himself a small tour of the museum. While items have been moved in and out of this place, the museum hadn't changed much since his last visit. There were the same displays ranging from old technology, such as TV sets from the 1950s, to fossils of extinct dinosaurs. Of course, these relics were not class or fascinating enough to appeal to Massive's luxurious tastes.

He walked into the hall of Europa – some sort of state dating back to the 23rd Century. Flags and holographic maps and images displayed each country within that state, and Massive spent no longer than two minutes before he found the area he was looking for: Switzerland, in which a newly-imported artifact had been set on display exceptionally this week. This statue was none other than Helvetia, the national personification of Switzerland. She was a woman dressed in a roman robe, one hand placed on top of a cross-plated shield – no doubt the country's flag back then – set at her feet, and her other hand clutching a spear. She had been gracefully sculpted out of marble by Hans Kletzer, a Swiss artist, in the year 2000 to commemorate the beginning of a new millennium. Massive whistled. Yes, this made this sculpture incredibly valuable, but he couldn't help but marvel at this beauty. Her gracefulness was measured by the curved, gentle features of her body, yet the fierceness of a great warrior emanated from her.

He would have dated her had she been around. After all, he did have a soft spot for feistiness.

Massive grew aware another set of footsteps that joined his; glancing behind him, he noticed three men who converged to his location. No doubt they were guards who had alerted the authorities and quietly told the visitors and staff to exit the premises. They knew who he was, or else they would have raised their voice by now.

As much as the guards feared Massive, one of them dared to raise his gun at him and approached him with hesitant steps. He had heard of the criminal in the news, but had never come this close to him. In his mind, he'd imagined all the praise he could get for catching the crook, maybe even a promotion if he was lucky enough. It couldn't be that hard; all he needed to do was to taze him into submission, cuff him, and everybody could go home and celebrate.

Oh, how wrong he was.

The guard tried to be a hero, but failed at it miserably. It went all too quick: the cracked up smile when the enormous person turned around, the guard being catapulted to the wall, and then the cries of panic... Everybody understood why he looked so familiar, and therefore fled to safety. Some of the more loyal guards stood their ground to defend what they were hired for, but they either ended up lying on the floor or floating in the air.

Massive barely looked back at the guards and aimed his hand at the statue. It rumbled to life and within seconds hovered in the air. He marched towards the exit, walking through the Greek and Egyptian Exhibition along the way. His face couldn't hide his disappointment. It had been already about 20 minutes since he started this commotion, and there were still no signs of the Loonatics. Would it be that one day where he got away with his loot and without a real show?

Of course not. As he had anticipated, the Loonatics were waiting in front of the stairs of the museum. Each superhero's stance differed from one another, some ready to rumble, others more relaxed, such as the confident leader. They all shared a common look in their eyes: the thrill and promise of a tough battle. Comrades and enemies exchanged glances before Massive struck first by tossing a vehicle at the heroes. And that was how we witnessed the commencement of the battle.

The dust created by the car's explosion had been cleared away by the team's brawn, Slam Tasmanian, an anthropomorphic Daredevil who could create tornadoes as soon as he spun at incredible speed. He used his Tornado Maximizer to suck up all the dust, giving room for the team to counterattack.

As the fight raged on, Massive had to recognize defeat, no matter how much he enjoyed battling the heroes of Metropolis. It wasn't about being outnumbered, he had enough brawn to deal with many foes. These, however, were each powerful on their own – except for that Duck, who was more annoying than powerful. And to complicate things even more, the Loonatics were equipped with gadgets that countered his gravitational abilities when used against them – the Gravity Stabilizer Gyro, as the team's brain called them. His chances of winning were very slim.

Oh well... Fun's over.

He glanced at his prize floating at his side, and sent his opponents a gleeful smile. "So, you want this really bad? Here, catch!"

He jerked his hand forward, the statue flying in the Loonatics' direction. This move threw the heroes off-guard. Before they could even begin to wonder why Massive would toss this priceless statue, Rev Runner, the team's speed, was fortunately fast enough to catch it, avoiding the statue being shattered to pieces. The downside? The statue was at least 2 meters tall, nearly crushing the life out of him as the weight subdued him to the ground. Massive's powers had added more weight to the statue, which was more than the roadrunner could handle. The villain then struck his hands to the ground, breaking through the concrete floor, and from beneath induced the gravitational pull to anyone standing on it, including all six heroes. He had noticed during the battle how they would reach for the gadget on their wrist to undo the alteration of their weight. So while they all were lying on their stomachs, trying to grab for their gadget, Massive dug his hands deeper into the ground and tore part of the street off the ground as if it were a rug. And like a floating carpet, he released the ends of it, watching with a sly, triumphant smirk as the concrete strip ascended to the sky along with its passengers.

"You know how I'd love to see you cherries handle this, but I'm running a bit late. Always business before pleasure." he called out to them, "Gentlemen, milady. Until we meet again!"




Sprawled and puffing against the ground of the flying debris, the Loonatics struggled to cope with their limbs weighing tons and rendering every inch of movement as well as futile and a tiring effort. The only one capable of succeeding where others failed was the purple beast known as Slam. With a combination of strength and endurance, he was first to reach for the Gravity Stabilizer Gyro and annulled the gravitational change. It was no surprise; strength was one of the many aspects that defined the beast.

As he went for each Loonatic and clicked on their gadgets to free them from their helpless state, he blabbered some incomprehensible words and grunts that - surprisingly - only his friends could understand. The fowl clad in black and orange let out an exasperated sigh, his eyes twitching in annoyance.

"Seriously, Slam, do you know how useful it is to have English lessons? No one can understand a word you say!"

Well, most of his friends understood Slam, most of his words, most of the time. The one who had understood nothing was Danger Duck, the teleporter and at times, the butt of the team's jokes. He was first to stand up and looked at some of the smaller floating debris above him. "And talk about being carried away..."

"Duck-I'd-say-that-you're-the-only-one-who-didn't-understand-that-Slam-thought-he'd-go-for-some-food-after-this-but-I-could-really-use-some-help-here!"

Don't let Rev Runner fool you or annoy you. Speaking incredibly fast was all natural to this roadrunner, except for the urge in his voice. He didn't complain as much as Duck usually did, but how else would he have reacted if he had a delicate, weight-induced artifact crushing his entire body?

"Let me correct what I just said: both Slam and Rev need English lessons."

"DUCK! NOW!"

"All right!" One moment he went blimp, and he was gone. The next moment, pfzit, and he had teleported himself to Rev's side, cracked his fingers and wrapped his hands around the artifact. With one heave, Duck was left breathless and the statue remained in its place. "Woah, this thing won't budge! How do you plan on moving if..."

Curious of Rev's unnatural silence, Duck glanced over to his comrade. He saw the roadrunner attempting to push the statue off of him, his face turning from red to purple.

“Oh... Oh!"

Realizing the urgency of the situation, Duck immediately clung onto the statue and disappeared along with it in a flash, leaving traces of light-particles. The roadrunner gasped and coughed, unable to breathe regularly and gulping huge amounts of air between his phrases. "Thanks, Duck... But I would've done that faster..."

The fowl had teleported himself along with the statue to the leader of the superheroes, Ace Bunny. The hare had pulled himself up to his feet, shortly before he aided his unofficial girlfriend (in Duck's opinion).

"Good call, Duck." Ace Bunny said, watching Tech E. Coyote, the brains behind all the team's operations, precipitate towards Rev Runner.

"Saving people's in my blood." he stated charismatically as he inspected his fingernails... which seemed rather irrelevant, since he didn't have any.

Lexi Bunny, the team's turbulent femme, rubbed her red cheek and hissed. She had scraped it hard against the floor when Massive used his abilities on her. Her fingers smeared the blood from the open wound, but she couldn't dwell any longer on it as the rumble of the floating street made her aware of the situation. "Save the hero appraisal stuff for later, guys!" she told the others, "We'll be in outer space if we don't do something-"

"NOOOOOO!"

Everybody's head spun to the source of the sudden howl of pain, which came from the coyote, knelt down at Rev's side. Lexi and Ace exchanged worried glances with Duck, who shrugged in response. As they made their way towards the coyote, trepidation and concern gripped at their hearts when the coyote's cry quieted down to a silent sob.

Ace sprinted at Tech, skidding into a halt as the hare grabbed his shoulder. "Tech! What's happenin'? Don't tell me Rev-"

Rev jumped up to his feet, nearly bringing Ace's heart to jump out of his throat. "Oh-don't-worry-Ace-I'm-fine-thanks-for-worrying-though-I-do-feel-I'm-gonna-have-some-bruises-tomorrow-morning-the-problem-is-that-the-device-broke-when-Massive-threw-the-statue-at-me-and-he's-very-upset-so-we're-going-to-be-"

Duck had shut him off by wrapping his feathered hand around his beak. Lexi breathed a sigh of relief, happy to see the roadrunner in peak condition, but also glad that the fowl had stopped his yapping. She was also spared of the Duck's snarky comment thanks to the coyote cutting him off.

"Such felony..." Tech growled as he stood up, holding in the palm of his hands bits and broken pieces of Rev's Gravity Stabilizer Gyro. His hands trembled, and his tears were dried up, replaced by the fiery and infuriated scorn in his eyes. "Massive will pay for this ruthless crime! What has this beautiful creation ever done to deserve-"

Lexi, who had caught up just in time to hear everything, tugged tightly at the coyote's shoulder. She couldn't conceal her utter disbelief of his unnecessary theatrics. "TECH! For God's sake, pull yourself together. We've gotta figure out how to bring this whole chunk of street back down or we're toast!"

"Lexi's right." the team leader looked over to the statue, then to the fowl. "Duck, you bring the statue back to the museum and secure the area. And try not t'break anythin'."

Duck released his grip on the runner's beak. "Say no more, I'll be gone before this guy adds anything else."

Ace smirked, holding back a chuckle. Rev Runner wasn't quick enough to comment before the fowl disappeared after a sharp sound of pfzit. Slam Tasmanian, who had peered his head over the edge of the street, came running back to the team, blathering words, but Ace had an idea what he was suggesting.

“You're-completely-and-utterly-right-Slam-ol'-buddy-we-gotta-deal-with-this-big-problem-right-now-pronto-A-S-A-P!”

Ace looked over to Tech. The coyote's blank stare led the leader to believe that he was cooking up a plan. “I don't suppose we can just let it fly away inta space?"

Tech's ears twitched and his eyes, blinking, widened in concern. “Are you kidding? The gravitational pull is fluctuating as it passes through the many layers of Earth's atmosphere, influencing the imposed gravity of this street. The effects will deteriorate and nullify once it reaches the limit of the stratosphere, and what's worse, under the circumstances of sub-temperatures, frozen particles will form on the extremities of the concrete strip and in 10.57 minutes will engender a shower of frozen debris upon Acmetropolis."

Every team member stared, with the exception of Rev Runner, who nodded in agreement. He was the fast thinker around here, his intellect closer to Tech's, and therefore could work his way around the coyote's words. For the others, they still had to get used to Tech's use of technical terms, which made him in times like these incomprehensible and, to the leader, frustrating to work with. “Okay, Tech. I think I understood somethin' about a 'shower of frozen debris' and 'gravity', but could you please pretend I'm dumb and speak English, plain and simple?"

“Right.” Tech sighed. Oh, how hard it was for him to work with simple-minded people. "The higher we go up, the faster Massive's ability wears off and the colder it gets, which means...”

“Acmetropolis' gonna get that 'shower of frozen debris'. That could really ruin everybody's day.”

"Well, it's definitely not doing us any favors right now.” Lexi added, “We're running out of time.”

"Not if we do somethin' about it." Ace replied, his voice calm and his body relaxed, but ready. He knew that self-composure and fierce determination would reassure his comrades and convince them that they can make a difference. "We gotta find a way t'bring this gently down, if possible back in its place. Any ideas, Tech? And save the long speech for later."

The genius shut his eyes and fell into deep meditation, pondering for a short while. The rumble beneath their feet reminded Lexi that time was of the essence. She felt a hand on her shoulder, knowing that it was Ace. He didn't need to say anything, because she knew what he was thinking, and it calmed her down. Finally, the coyote's eyes flipped open. A brilliant idea struck his mind. "I've got a plan, but I'm going to need all your Gravity Stabilizer Gyros."

The roadrunner had unstrapped his gadget from his wrist and put it in Tech's hand long before the hares and the Tasmanian nodded. They were all unsure what the coyote's plan entailed, but they trusted him enough to hand their Gyros over to Tech. Ace, however, showed more curiosity towards the coyote. A leader, after all, needs to know what goes through the mind of the team's strategist. “So, what's the plan?”

Ace could barely see what was going on as Tech knelt down, his arms moving all over the place as pieces of technology clashed and collided into each other. His skills far surpassed the brilliance of his mind, for he possessed the power of Magnetism Activated, which allowed him to seize control over any metallic object – including components of any form of technology – and to levitate and bring them together to create something he had pictured so accurately in his mind. That made him an invaluable, reliable asset on the team, a hard worker who would focus more on his inventions than anything else. The technician himself barely turned his head, but his eyes glowing in emerald color showed that he was too preoccupied to answer his friends upfront.

"I'm assembling all gadgets to rebuild a new, powerful one. If my calculations serve me correct, I'll be able to change its weight in a way that'll bring this street gently down." Clack went the entire gadget before the coyote rose from his knees. "Voilà! Behold, the Giga Gravitizer!"

In his hands, Tech held a modified invention which the others only could marvel at. ''While the Gravity Stabilizer Gyros revert any object to its original weight, this little baby does what the Gyros can't: inducing or reducing the weight of any object, small or large, while maintaining its modified weight. In other words, we can change the weight of this street to make it float downwards instead of upwards. The only thing it can't do is control where it's going or landing; judging by the way this street's been ascending southward, we must be off by at least 806.79 meters."

Ace had been already devising another plan as he listened intently. A glance to the big brute was all he needed before the smirk on his face gave away his idea. "So Slam, how 'bout you steer this hunk 'a rock with your Tornado Maximizer back down?"

The Tasmanian stared at first, but caught on soon enough, grunting and nodding his head. He then ran for the edges of the street, leaped into the air and dove into the city below. A wide, toothy grin had swelled onto his face. He felt the adrenaline set him in a high as the gust blew into his face, and with a swift turn, he began to spin.

With the Tasmanian Devil out of sight, Ace then looked over to the roadrunner. "Rev, you secure the area, just in case Duck might've missed someone."

"No-problemo-Ace-leave-that-to-me!" he blabbered and sprung off after his purple-furred friend.
Lexi looked over to the leader, ready for combat. "What should I do, Ace?"

"For the moment, nothin'." he replied back, "When the right time comes, there'll be somethin' for us three to do."

The citizens of Acmetropolis gawked up at the incredible incident that unfurled above the city. You have never witnessed such an event: a purple tornado appeared out of nowhere, increasing in length and width until it seemed to be carrying some oddly-shaped infrastructure. It wouldn't be a surprise if you were frozen to your feet, just like most people who were nearby.

And as Rev dashed off the roof, the leader noticed how Tech's facial features were creased, his eyes slightly widened in worry. “Ace, the probability of this machine working is at 30.04%. There's still a 69.96% chance of it failing; the machine requires a huge amount of raw and powerful energy, and I'm afraid that the machine won't be able to make so much, at least not long enough to run on its own.”

“So what do you suggest we do 'bout it? Any bright ideas to solve that problem?”

Tech fell momentarily silent, his fingers brought to his chin as he scoured his brain for a solution. His eyes twitched. “I think I've got something.” he placed the Giga Gravitizer on the floor. He opened the hatch which revealed a small orb, attached by multiple wires. “This is the core of the machine and acts as a an energy converter. It absorbs all forms of energy, including infrared laser, which is the most powerful form of energy that we've got on this team.”

Lexi's eyes lit up. “So you want him to shoot at the core in case it fails?”

“In case it does, yes. He'll have to keep firing until we're low enough to drop the street to the ground.” Tech unstrapped one of his gadgets. “I'll monitor the height we're at. Right now, we're at 5.9 kilometers above the city. We need to be at no more than 20 meters before we can drop the street, and that's when you can stop.”

“All right. Should be easy.”

Tech's face remained serious. “Ace, Plan B has to be a last resort. There are just too many risks.”

“Risks? What kind?”

“The kind that can get you killed.”

Lexi's jaw dropped. "What?!”

“You heard me.” Tech replied, “Ace, you know that using your laser-vision for a lengthy period of time drains your energy, especially for a core that demands so much juice to maintain itself. Stop using your powers when you feel like you're at your limit, because if you keep it up, at some point... You'll die from energy depletion.”

Ace didn't appear too bothered, brushing off that little detail like some speck of dust on his shoulder. “Okay, so it won't be that easy.” Ace smirked, “But you can bet your tail that I'll handle it.”

Lexi punched Ace's shoulder, who turned around to see her narrowed eyes. “Don't say anything you'll regret saying, Ace.” Lexi added, “It's your own tail we're betting on, and I for one will not just stand by and let you do it.”

He was slightly taken aback by her bluntness, but couldn't help chuckling. “Jeez, you're acting like the end of the world's about to happen.”

Lexi looked away in embarrassment. It would be for me if something were to happen to you. That's what she should have said, but couldn't bring herself to admit it. They had had gone through a lot of things together, from fights to emotional dilemma. They cared for each other as much as lovers did, but much to Lexi's dismay, both of them had never dared to openly ask for one's hand.

She was caught off guard when the leader cupped her chin and locked his eyes with hers. “That's why I'm counting on ya t'be at my side and back me up, just in case. If all else fails, keep the team together and kick some tail, got that?”

She was flustered, her heart pounding in her chest. This was the first move Ace had ever made, however small it may have seemed to others. It was love, unsure, unspoken, but there nonetheless. And as soon as she realized that, it made her worry; doing something this bold meant that the leader himself didn't want to leave anything for granted, or regret not having done anything while he still had the chance to do it.

When he saw the concern in her eyes, his lips curved into a soft, reassuring smile. “We'll make it through. Together.”

Her eyes widened slightly before returning to their fiery, determined hazel eyes that fit her personality. Her head bobbed in agreement, earning another smirk from Ace Bunny as he got himself into position. As the coyote finished the necessary preparations and set in the coordinates, the coyote pressed on the Giga Gravitizer's switch, and the machine vibrated to life before shooting a beam below itself. The street slowed its ascension before it halted for good, floating still in the air. It was a calm moment that was interrupted by a raucous rumble, growing more intense until everyone realized that the whole street had begun its descent.

From there on, all anyone could do was wait to see what results their plan would yield. The outcome of it all was unpredictable, even for the smart coyote himself, and he dreaded the idea that everyone relied on him. This sensation where stakes were too high gripped at his heart: this mission needed to succeed, for if the coyote did not take into account all possible mistakes that he was unable to predict, there would be dire consequences on the world, on this city...

And on his teammates.
In this chapter, we delve into the action in one important place in this saga... Can anybody guess the place? ;D
© 2014 - 2024 Juliapopstar
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In