As the sounds of police sirens, burning buildings, and shouts of an angry mob of people raged on, Jake, the Blue Shadow, and Ivy, Viper, got farther and farther from the scene.
Earlier, the two encountered a bank robbery by a member of the Kobra Clan, Operculus, better known as Sharkman. They tried to stop him, but using his magical spear of Selene, he sent a lightning blast to a nearby building.
As the two saved the people, Sharkman made his getaway.
As the two traversed the rooftops, they got closer and closer to catching up to him.
But Ivy wasn't focused on the mission at hand. Her mind was on something else, something Jake noticed when she was lagging behind.
"Anything wrong, Viper?" Blue asked, turning back to her.
"Did we do the wrong thing, Jake?" she answered him quickly enough to surprise him.
"Uh, what do you mean?"
"Well, shouldn't we have addressed those people about their homes being destroyed? They were pretty pissed at us."
"What? No. The one who destroyed their homes is getting away. Standing there consoling them isn't gonna bring their homes back and it's certainly not gonna bring that asshole to justice."
"So we're doing the right thing?"
"Well, I'm not some paragon of truth and justice. I'm just a guy with powers doing what he thinks is right. I could be wrong. Hell, I kinda feel like an asshole for leaving those people be but we can't just let this Shark guy get away with his bullshit."
"Y-yeah I guess you're right. I just hope it doesn't affect our image."
"C'mon, Ivy. Our image should be the last of your concerns."
Ivy didn't respond. She looked ahead and concentrated on jumping across various buildings with ease.
Jake didn't want to push it further. One good look at her face could tell he upset her.
Was she so interested in her image? How come he never knew this until now?
No.
It didn't matter now. All that mattered was the mission.
Meanwhile, Sharkman woke up in an abandoned building. His vision was blurry and there was some kind of ringing in his inner ear.
He tried to stand but stumbled and fell multiple times. His balance was off, meaning he had just been hit really hard by something really big.
He collected his thoughts. He robbed a bank but was attacked by two supers. He escaped capture by setting a building on fire as a distraction with his Selene.
He forgot the money...
It didn't matter...
He flew across the city in search of his base. He was pissed that he almost lost to a duo of dirty humans.
And having to endure one of Kobra's long lectures.
Then something hit him. Something big. Very big. It sent him falling.
He finally got a good look around and it was a large empty warehouse. He looked up to see a hole in the skylight. That's where he came through. To his sides were a few boxes of construction equipment and his front had a beaten down door.
This place didn't matter.
What hit him did.
He needed to fly out of there, but soon realized Selene wasn't in his grasp.
He looked around and saw the golden weapon shining only a few meters away. He rushed to attain his prize but then heard the sound of glass breaking. Then he saw some crash in front of him.
He looked up to see something large and green come flying towards him at high speed. His instincts quickly reminded him of the first time he got it.
This was what knocked him out of the sky.
He leapt to the side, narrowly dodging the giant green object as it catered into the ground. He got a good look and could hardly believe his eyes.
It was a giant fist, belonging to that of a scrawny black human in a silly tight green costume.
This is what knocked him out?
"Your reflexes are sharp, evil-doer, but you won't escape the mighty fist of... wait... are you an Atlantean?"
Operculus was steaming with rage. Such a weak looking creature had the audacity to not only attack him but knock him out.
And worst of all, annoy him with such a disgusting line.
He lunged at the green man, drool dripping from his gaping mouth, aiming to take a huge chunk of his body as payment for the attack.
Suddenly he felt the grip of two large hands grab him by the chest mid-air. He looked down to see a woman emerging from the ground.
The ripple effect she left behind would convince you she leapt out of a body of water.
"So this is another muman woman?"
"And Atlantean muman woman?"
She tackled him to the ground with her immense strength and dragged him across it, leaving a long trail of blood and broken concrete across the warehouse.
She was screaming something into his ear, her eyes filled with burning rage. He didn't care. He soon kicked her away and got his bearings.
She landed gracefully though, and began her inaudible tirade against him, just as his hearing returned.
"Wh-what the hell?"
"I was just about to say the same to you, scum! I was just about to join a super team, slowly restore the humans' faith in Atlanteans, and then for you and your crime spree to undo any hopes of that. Why? Why?!" She screamed and pounced on him.
With all his senses fully restored, he was done fooling around. He raised his hand to her so fast he caught her by the throat mid-air. Then he followed up by slamming her large body to the cold concrete floor, sending pieces of it flying everywhere.
He still held her and tightened his grip, choking her.
"W-why?" she said in deep breaths, trying to claw away his hand from her throat.
"Faith? Who gives a fuck? I'm only here to kill as many human scum as I want. Why are you attacking me? Don't you want the same thing?"
She kicked him by the face. Even he had to admit, it hurt like all hell.
He turned to see the green man running towards him, his left fist slowly growing in size. So these two were allies?
How convenient. He wanted to return to base but these two are fun enough to keep him here.
He threw the girl to Green Man and he caught her in an instant.
But it left him distracted.
Immediately after throwing her, Operculus lunged at the two with his mouth opened wide, ready to take a bite out of both of them.
Then he felt an intense pain to his left side.
In less than a second, he was sent flying across the warehouse and crashing into the nearest wall.
He suffered immensely to pick himself up but once he did, he felt an intense pain in his left arm. He looked to see the entire top half of his skin was burnt to a crisp, leaving exposed bone tissue.
His body wanted to yell in pain but his pride didn't allow that. He needed to see who did this to him.
And needed to make this one pay.
He looked forward to see another human join the group. This one intrigued him the most, however.
She wore a black spandex mask and costume with bright pink lines spread along her limbs and torso. She was almost mesmerizing to look at.
Her costume reflected the dimly lit room with so much light she was practically lighting the place up herself. She had pale skin and a blond ponytail and was almost as scrawny as the green man. He wasn't surprised they were a couple. Their outfits blended together the more he looked at them.
As he watched her, her arm was in the shape of a large black cannon with a glowing pink aura around it. That was definitely what shot him down.
Suddenly it liquefied to form a normal human arm in the span of a few seconds. She was some kind of shapeshifter.
Shit...
"You OK guys?" the mystery woman said to the two.
"Y-yeah...Pauli...ah...I mean Diamo...wait no, uhhh...what was it again?" The Atlantean girl answered with a confused tone to her voice.
How she went from such a ferocious fighter to this clueless sounding idiot disgusted Operculus way more than all the faith bullshit she was spewing.
"If you mean to say her codename, Sharkwoman, it's Obsidian now," the green one interjected.
She called the Atlantean Sharkwoman? What right does that defecting nuisance have to take the same name as him? What has such a sacred moniker been reduced to?
"You may be wondering why I picked that name. Well, allow me to explain..."
"Sorry, Expander, I would, but this isn't the time. Maybe when we're free. Right now we have to take this one down," Obsidia interrupted, pointing at Operculus who was still feeling his burnt hand.
"I'm sorry, but that name has to go," the green one interrupted.
"What? You mean Expander?"
"Yeah. It's so devoid of life and fun. Expanding Man was so much better."
"C'mon, Zack, we have a criminal in our midst right now. This isn't the time for this."
"Yes. We don't need to waste time on this. That's why I've already decided on a new name! Even I admit Expanding Man was pretty lame as shit. From henceforth, I'll forever be known as Green Guardian!" He said, flexing his muscles in some kind of heroic pose.
All it did was make him look scrawnier than he already was though.
Sharkwoman burst into laughter while Obsidian shrugged and looked away. She couldn't help but smile at how cringe-inducing he was. It also didn't help that the spark she felt around him flickered for a moment just now.
Him being so happy just after his sour mood ever since the Animal Farm incident was probably what caused said spark in the first place. Not that she was complaining though. Seeing Zack happy was always welcome.
All the while, Operculus watched them.
They were fooling around while he was right in front of them.
They weren't even taking him seriously...
Three mumans in front of him now. The green man, Expander, or Green Guardian as he now calls himself, with the ability to seemingly expand parts of his body at will.
The Atlantean, Sharkwoman, who was a muman as well. Operculus never knew that was even possible. She seemed to have the ability to swim on land like water. However, he knew this ability went deeper than that despite just seeing it in action.
And the last, was Obsidian. Some kind of robotic entity. His instincts told him she was the worst one to deal with. It was a well known fact he had never disagreed with them.
They were laughing with each other like he wasn't a threat. He needed to make them pay. Make them suffer...
He didn't want to start now.
He knew he wouldn't stand a chance in this fight. No matter what his pride was telling him.
Selene...
He looked around and noticed the spear a good distance from him. If he lunged close enough, he could grab it and take these three down with ease.
Now the problem was getting to it.
He made a running stance and watched the three dead in the eye.
They all made stances of their own and got ready to attack.
Now.
He lunged forward a few meters and broke into a frantic run. Sharkwoman sunk into the ground like she was being swallowed by some creature and in just a few seconds, she was gone.
Expander enlarged both his fists and beat them together.
Obsidia morphed her left arm into a much longer cannon than the first.
"If he wasn't going to get that spear now, he was as good as dead."
Obsidia fired a loud powerful beam of light at Operculus which cut right through his left torso, it would've pierced his heart if he hadn't turned towards the spear at the last millisecond.
Expander pounced on him with his enlarged fists in an attempt to grab him but the Atlantean was too quick.
He slid under Guardian's reach and immediately grabbed him by the leg, all before Guardian's fists hit the floor. Then as quickly as he grabbed him, he slammed his face to the floor and threw him toward the metal woman.
She was about to fire another shot until he threw the man at her so he got a brief moment to grab the spear.
Brief but enough.
Just as he got to the spear, however, it sunk into the ground out of his reach.
He saw the ripple effect of the Atlantean and knew it was her pulling this shit.
"How dare you! You working with humans, being a muman and opposing your own kind? What kind of Atlantean are you? How can you claim to be one when you pull shit as cowardly as..."
Before he could finish his sentence though, she appeared from the ground before him.
"I am a lot of things, but I am no coward," she said, tossing him the spear.
"Sharkwoman! What are you doing?!" Obsidian raged as she held onto Guardian.
"I can't do this. I can't be as dishonorable as attacking someone trying to grab their weapon. It is not the Atlantean way."
Just as she said this, she felt some liquid hit her left cheek.
It was spit.
Operculus had spat on her.
She turned to see him fuming at her, his spear in hand, glowing with bright yellow energy.
"How dare you speak of the Atlantean way while you stand here and work with humans to stop me! How disgusting! That name you have... Sharkwoman. You do not deserve it. Sharks are a sacred symbol of my people and you desecrate their name with your deplorable actions. I don the name Sharkman to show my power! My predatory might while you parade with it like some childish nickname. Pathetic!"
"You have no idea why I wear that name!" She shouted as she pounced on him.
"And I do not need to! You disgust me either way. Now prepare to die!"
And with that, Sharkman slammed the spear into the ground, sending the trio flying at the walls all across the warehouse.
Sharkman had his spear..
And now the tides have changed...
To be continued...