Crystal Ch. 15

"This is the Commander speaking, Osprey," the hero heard on his mic. "The villains are prolonging the fight as long as possible. End it quickly."

'That's easier said than done, Commander,' Osprey thought.

Not finished, Acrobat flew in the air and came back down, gaining momentum, to administer an even bigger punch to his foe. He didn't get the chance, though, as Osprey surprisingly leaped to his level and landed a mid-air kick straight to his face.

The kick really sent Acrobat off balance and he spun out of control, crashing into a building below. Osprey followed him instantly, knowing civilians were now in danger since Acrobat came into their vicinity. And he was right as Acrobat flew out with a couple of office workers . . . and a giant bruise on his chin.

"Do your job, hero," Acrobat sneered as he dropped the office workers.

Osprey immediately dived and caught the workers, setting the safely on the ground before flying back to confront Acrobat. However, Acrobat wasn't finished. Screeching, he made all the glass shatter, falling to the citizens below. Osprey followed suit, screeching to make the glass shards even smaller so that it was no more than glittering dust in the sun.

Acrobat tackled him from behind, but Osprey maneuvered himself in Acrobat's arms so that he could knee Acrobat in the stomach as they fell. When they were closer to the ground, Osprey flipped Acrobat over and slammed him on the ground, drawing a shocked gasp from Acrobat.

Seeing the villain struggling to stand, Osprey hit him with an uppercut followed by another mid-air kick that sent him back to the ground in more pain than he could even bear.

"You're finished," Osprey pronounced victoriously. He pushed the button on his mic to call in his status with Acrobat. "Commander, I've defeated Acrobat and will be bringing him in shortly."

"Don't worry about that, Osprey. There are agents who are in the vicinity who can get that done," Commander Shinobay informed. "How bad was the fight?"

"I wasn't up against any of the heavy hitters, Commander, so there aren't any destructed buildings here," Osprey replied as he flew off. "There is some glass shatter from a few buildings. We'll have to get someone to look at that. I'm on my way back."

"Good, be sure to get some rest first," the Commander instructed.

*****

"Dot make sure you get the battle finished as quickly as you can," the Commander ordered. "The villains are prolonging the fight on purpose."

"I'm on it, Commander," Dot replied.

The zoo was in chaos as Dot arrived. Citizens were pouring out in droves as screams could still be heard inside the zoo. With no time to lose, Dot raced in the Dallas Zoo, the current location of her opponent: Pterror. There were already multiple agents in the area, doing their best to help citizens recover from shock, applying the Rapid Recovery Medicine to the wounded, and above all, maintaining order and control.

While it was a bad thing that the people were fleeing in a panic, it was good for her because it let her know which direction she was supposed to go to. Jumping from tree to tree, Dot searched the zoo, looking for Pterror. However, she came to the conclusion that Pterror wasn't in the area since she couldn't find his giant hide anywhere.

A scream from afar reached her ears and Dot bolted in that direction. Taking a southern route, Dot hoped the scream was because someone had hurt themselves and not because Pterror or a zoo animal, especially the carnivorous, large, and/or aggressive ones, was attacking a citizen.

She came around a gift shop, panting from running. A little boy, probably about seven, was holding onto his leg tightly.

"Are you okay, kid?" Dot asked as she slowly approached him.

"Catwoman!" the boy smiled, temporarily forgetting about his wound.

"My name isn't Catwoman, it's – never mind," Dot gave up. "What's wrong?"

"I tripped and hurt myself," the boy replied, showing a bloody knee.

"No worries," Dot said as she took out some Rapid Recovery Medicine. "Just drink a little bit of this medicine and your pain will go all away."

He took a small sip to see how it tasted and felt the effects almost immediately. His wound was repaired in an instant and, without the wound, the pain faded away. He even stood up and flexed his leg to test to see how good it was.

"Thank you Catwoman!" the boy exclaimed, hugging her.

"No problem, now let's get you out before –," she began before her nose twitched.

It was an animal coming straight for them, no doubt about it. Dot grabbed the kid quickly and jumped on top of the gift shop to keep him out of harm's way. As she jumped back on the ground, a carnivore she didn't want to fight strolled out of the trees: a lion.

His shaggy mane had a few twigs and leaves stuck in it, and his gaping jaws were stained with blood. There was no doubt he was drawn by the boy's formally bloody knee. Dot went full feline mode, knowing he would go after the boy if she didn't stop him.

Oddly, her nose began to twitch again, this time coming from the opposite direction. Lumbering down the walkway towards them was a large grizzly bear, sniffing the ground until it noticed them at his destination. Rising on hind legs, it roared at them terribly, demanding they leave. The lion roared back, not backing down because the bear could stand on its hind legs. Even Dot roared, clearly showing her intent to stand her ground.

And then her nose twitched again.

This time it came from the air. Looking up, the three of them couldn't see what was coming towards them, but the smell just about gave the creature away. And when they finally saw it, their guess was right on the money,

Pterror.

The scaly monster landed opposite of Dot so that all four of them were in a circle, growling threats at each other. As they measured each other, the carnivores came to the conclusion that Dot was the best choice to attack and turned their eyes on her.

"You've got to be kidding me," Dot sighed.

The lion lunged first at her, wanting to pin her down before she could escape, but Dot leaped over his head. She landed on his back and pulled on his mane, forcing the lion to stand on its hind legs as it roared in irritation. The bear wasn't fooled one bit and charged at the lion and Dot. Just before he hit them, Dot stopped him in his tracks when she jumped off the lion and shoved her foot against the bear's jaw.

The bear stumbled back as Dot roared at him, but he didn't leave. The lion jumped on her from behind, but Dot rolled with the momentum, grabbed the lion with her legs, and flipped him over. Both animals rushed for her simultaneously, prompting her to jump back evade their attacks. The lion made it to her first, leaping to pounce on her, but Dot rushed beneath him, going straight for the bear's legs.

In one swipe, she gave it a deep cut, not that he would die from blood loss, but enough that he couldn't stand on it. For the final blow, Dot clubbed his nose with her fist then followed it with another kick. Seeing he won't be getting anything but pain, the bear rushed away as best as it could with its wounded leg.

The lion growled at her and Dot surprised him by running for him this time. He swiped at her, but she stepped to the side and barreled into him. With him on his side, she cut his shoulder deep enough and jumped off, waiting to see his response. Like the bear, the lion limped away, not wanting to receive pain instead of food.

"Alright big bird, you're next," Dot said to Pterror.

He hissed at her as she ran at him. Leaping in the air, she bared her fangs and claws as she latched onto his wing. Before she could move any further, he slammed her against a tree, actually breaking the tree in half. However, Dot didn't slide off. Instead, she jumped off his wing and double kicked his beak. As she landed, she lunged and scratched his legs, drawing a roar out of the monster.

Pterror flew up to a nearby tree to let his wound heal, but Dot wasn't finished with him. Racing after him, she climbed up the tree and leaped onto his back, tipping him over and sending both to the ground. Climbing to his feet, Pterror swiped at her, but she ducked and jumped kicked his chest, knocking him onto his back. A moment later, she was on him, painfully scratching his chest and kicking his arms away when he tried to knock her back. A small click made her pause, prompting her to turn around to check on the kid.

Dr. Genie was standing next to the kid with a gun to his head. Dot knew it wasn't a gun, though. It was her serum injector.

Reflexively, Dot grabbed Pterror's throat and stared Dr. Genie down. Dr. Genie smiled wickedly as she knew Dot's first priority was the kid's safety. One accidental twitch of her finger and the kid was a goner . . . and so would Pterror.

"Let's trade," Dr. Genie offered. "I need Pterror alive and this boy needs to return to his family . . . alive. So, if you release Pterror, I'll let the kid live."

"What makes you think I believe what you say?" Dot demanded. "Don't forget that I was in that kid's place years ago when you said that to Raptor. He accepted your request and you still turned me into this."

"Yeah, but you're a pretty little kitty cat," Dr. Genie smirked. "He'll turn into some kind of roach hybrid. It's your decision."

Snarling and growling her frustration, Dot slowly let Pterror go and climbed off from him. Shockingly, Dr. Genie was true to her word and jumped down from the building. Pterror instantly stood up after his wounds healed and Dot suddenly found herself in a position that she didn't want to be in.

"Down Pterror," Dr. Genie ordered and he obeyed. To Dot, she said, "You guys aren't important to me right now, so don't worry, I won't hurt you . . . today."

Walking past Dot, Dr. Genie climbed up Pterror's back and had him take off. Unable to do anything now, Dot watched them become a speck in the sky, then went and helped the kid off the gift shop.

"Dot to Commander," Dot called in as she walked with the kid.

"I hear you Dot," Commander Shinobay replied. "What's your status?"

"I'm returning a kid back to his mother," Dot informed. "As for Pterror, he was rescued by Dr. Genie. I didn't have a choice because Dr. Genie would have turned the kid into a hybrid if I went any further."

"That's okay, Dot. You did the right thing," the Commander said.

"Also, I need to help the authorities with rounding up all the loose animals that had been released," Dot told him. "I'm not saying he did it on purpose, but I bet Pterror broke the cages and inadvertently letting the animals escape."

"Affirmative. When you're finished, head back to the nearest tower for some rest, then get to the United Nations," the Commander replied, then hung up.

"Alright, little guy, let's go find your mommy," Dot said to the kid.

*****

Ghost was going to have an important talk the Commander when he returned. The reason why was because all the Hero's Towers in the United States were located in the states' capital across the country. The problem with this was that a capital could be located on one side of the state, while the crime is being committed on the other. This means that a hero and/or heroine who has no other methods of transportation was going to have to race all the way to the scene of the crime . . . which might have already been done by the time he and/or she gets there.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case with him. Since he had hero status, Ghost was able to get a free pass from the Tallahassee International Airport to the Miami Airport Station. It might not have been as fast as he liked, but it was better than taking a ground route.

However, it wasn't even an hour before Ghost saw something really strange. Being so high up in the sky, it was hard for him to make out a black mass that was moving through the streets of downtown Miami, Florida. Intrigued, he requested for a parachute from the flight attendant and, once he received it, he phased through the airplane. He freefell for a while, getting closer and closer to what the black mass was.

"Ghost, this is the Commander speaking," Ghost heard on his mic. "The villains are trying to make the fight last as long as possible. Don't let it happen."

"Understood," Ghost replied.

As it turned out, it was people . . . a lot of people. At first, Ghost thought it was a parade or state event that was taking place (and that he was wasting valuable time), but there wasn't any music playing or celebratory items anywhere in the area that he could see. As a matter of fact, as he fell closer to the ground, Ghost could see the lack of excitement on the faces of people he could see.

Pulling the string, Ghost's parachute opened up and he gently landed on a low building. The moment he stopped, he could hear all sorts of screaming down below on the streets. Running to the edge of the building, Ghost saw critically injured or dead bodies all over the ground. There were a few agents and paramedics administering the Rapid Recovery Medicine, but it seemed there were more of them needing it than others.

And that's when he saw it.

An agent working on a civilian suddenly screamed in pain as his back arched with blood spurting from a wound that just appeared. Turning invisible, Ghost instantly found Giggles location: not directly behind the agent, but down the street, armed with knives of all sorts.

Using the parachute as rope, Ghost climbed down from the building and ran at Giggles. She wasn't facing him so he ran as stealthily as possible, avoiding any type of debris in his way so as not to make a sound. Fortunately for him, she was moving at her own pace, since no one could see her. Suddenly she threw her knives again, impaling a police officer who was assisting a family inside a building.

"Aww, what a nice little family you have," she said to the parents as she revealed herself. "You don't mind if I kill the little ones do you?"

Before they could answer, she thrusted the knife at one of their kids. Unfortunately for Giggles, she felt a hand land on her shoulder a moment before the child was stabbed and the knife passed harmlessly through the kid.

"GO!" Ghost ordered the family.

"You again!" Giggles snarled.

She swiped at him with another knife, but Ghost dodged and disarmed her of the knife. Not even a second later, she had another knife in her hands and stabbed at his head, but he ducked and weaved out of harm's way. As much as he wanted to get this over with by turning intangible, he knew he had a limited amount of time to do so and wasting it right now would not be the wisest thing to do. It was better if he waited until Giggles tired herself out beforehand.

However, it certainly didn't appear like Giggles was going to tire out any time soon. Armed with all the knives he could think of, Giggles definitely came prepared for a fight that she wanted to win. As Ghost disarmed her for the twenty-seventh time, he felt a cut on his chest. Looking down at himself, he saw a cut deep enough to draw blood almost directly above his heart.

"You know, red looks good on you," Giggles smiled. "Would you mind if I painted your body with your blood?"

"Yes, I would mind," Ghost glared, searching his pockets for the Rapid Recovery Medicine.

"Well, it's not like I wanted your approval anyway," she shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm going to do it whether you like it or not."

"Not if I have a say about it," Ghost replied, taking the vial of medicine out of his pockets.

"That's why you don't," Giggles laughed, throwing a knife at the vial. It cut the vial in half, with the lower portion splashing to the ground as a shocked Ghost watched in agony. "Your opinion holds little value to me."

She plunged a knife down at his chest, but Ghost turned intangible and stood up at the last moment and her knife became imbedded in the concrete. Knowing he was behind her, Giggles spun around with her arms spread out, trying to get another slice at him. What she got instead was an electrocution from a taser that Ghost was carrying. After he applied the cuffs to her, Ghost went and searched for another vial of Rapid Recovery Medicine. When he found one, he drank half the vial and immediately felt the cool healing effects.

"Ghost to Commander Shinobay, Giggles has been dealt with," Ghost reported. "From what she has done, downtown Miami has a plethora of bodies needing medical assistance. Most of them are civilians, but there's a handful of officers and some of our own agents that need some as well."

"Thanks Ghost," the Commander responded. "More agents are being sent over as we speak. I'm going to have to ask that you stay with Giggles to make sure she doesn't escape before you return."

"Of course I will," Ghost answered. "I'll be there soon."

*****

Phoenix, Arizona . . . check.

During the day . . . check.

Extensive physical exertion . . . check.

Ruthless . . . check.

Defeating her as fast as possible . . . check.

No close water sources . . . check.

And no help . . . check.

Crystal's list of everything needed to kill her was finally complete. Ruthless had finally gotten the bright idea to take their next fight to a place where she had a major advantage. Truthfully, Crystal was waiting for this idea to come up. It didn't have to specifically come from Ruthless, but since it was her idea, it makes her seem dumber for taking this long to come up with this plan.

Seriously, was it that hard to exploit one of Crystal's weakness?

Then again, it was stupid for Crystal to chase anyone, and Ruthless of all people, to a scorching state in the first place.

But alas, what's done is done. She can't change the fact that she blindly followed Ruthless to a place where she had no hope for winning and possibly no chance of returning back in the state that she arrived.

However, she wasn't going to make it that easy for Ruthless. Before she set off, she into one of the buildings and went to the bathroom. Turning on the faucet, she took control of it until it filled half the bathroom. Now that she was better prepared, Crystal set off to locate and quickly defeat Ruthless as the Commander instructed.

It wasn't that hard to find her; all she had to do was follow the cars that were thrown into the buildings, plus the screams from the civilians near the villainess, and she soon caught up with her.

"Ruthless!" Crystal yelled. "Stand down! I'm not going to say it twice."

"You shouldn't have said it at all," Ruthless grinned as the crowd back away from the rivals, knowing a brutal battle was about to start.

Ruthless leaped into the air and brought down her foot at Crystal, who reflexively made a shield to block the attack. Since it was hotter than Crystal could bear, the ice cracked heavily upon impact since the sun was making it weaker. Smiling, Ruthless pounded at the ice, making the crack bigger and bigger, but, despite her efforts she was unable to bust through.

As she began to sweat, Crystal hit Ruthless with a block of ice rising out of the shield, knocking the villainess off and back to the ground. But, due to the low speed of the attack, Ruthless wasn't even fazed by the dull pain and rushed forward, punching the shield with all her strength.

It shattered.

As Crystal expected, Ruthless ran straight for her. Before she could get close, Crystal made all the ice shards hit Ruthless, in an attempt to slow her down. That didn't work, since Ruthless broke them all with her two powerful fists.

With all of her options out of play, Crystal had no choice but to confront Ruthless. Duck below the wide swing for her face, shift her feet to avoid being tripped up, backflip to save her face from being kicked off and . . .

She went sprawling to the ground as a second kick unexpectedly hit her back. Before she could crawl to her feet, Ruthless was on top of her and striking her face with malicious intent. Dazed from a throbbing headache, Crystal couldn't stop Ruthless from picking her up and throwing her against a car, denting the side from the velocity of the throw.