They were now at his mercy...
After a failed bank robbery, Opperculus found himself in an abandoned warehouse with three supers at his feet.
Green Guardian. The most jovial of the three. He had the ability to expand his body parts in different ways. Despite being such a big problem, he wasn't taking Opperculus seriously. This made him mad to an extent, but it was something he could use to his advantage.
Sharkwoman. An Atlantean with a human ability. He remembered long ago when King Neptune made the law to kill all human-Atlantean hybrids. It seems this one got out of being executed. Her ability allowed her to liquify solid matter, or swim in it? He didn't know, but didn't have enough time to figure it out.
Obsidian. She was the most dangerous of the three. She was some kind of shapeshifter that could make weapons out of her own body. Deadly weapons that could kill him.
These three could kill him easily.
If he didn't have his spear...
He had generated a lightning strike that sent the three of them across the warehouse. They were on the ground.
Disoriented...
Discombobulated...
Weak...
At his mercy.
He noticed one start to get up, though: Obsidian. He knew she was the most dangerous one because of her weaponry.
So why didn't he attack her?
He lunged at Sharkwoman instead, spear in hand, rage in his eyes.
Why?
Was it his Atlantean instincts tugging at him? Was it his warped sense of honor tricking him? Even he had no idea. All he knew was he wanted, no, needed her dead. Suffering and screaming first, but dead nonetheless.
As she slowly picked herself up, she noticed him coming her way. She tried to get up but her back hurt as she did. Probably from hitting the wall with such force.
He was almost upon her, raising his magically charged spear overhead for his first and final blow.
Then he stopped.
A red beam of light had hit him a few milliseconds before. Stacya looked around, but Paulina was still morphing her hand into a gun.
"Was it his doing?" No. He looked just as confused as her. She looked at his arms. They had turned to stone, leaving him and his spear in place right in front of her.
She looked up to see a hole in the skylight from which the beam came. Then she squinted her eyes to see a silhouette dropping down towards her.
A woman.
A woman in a green scaly costume with a large frill on her head, dropped down from the skylight and landed gracefully on the floor like some kind of professional gymnast. He turned toward her and smiled a wide-mouthed grin, exposing rows and rows of sharp teeth dwarfing hers.
"You!" He screamed, a hint of saliva dripping from his maw.
That's when Stacya remembered. She was among the supers of Milten's group. The New Guardians.
"What was her name again?" She thought.
"Viper!" A muffled voice shouted from the remains of the broken skylight. Then a larger, darker silhouette dropped into the scene.
He landed with an immense force, radiating a presence that intimidated the whole room.
"You!" Zack shouted at him.
Blue Shadow. The man who took him down in one punch.
What a monster of a man he was.
Zack got to his feet while Obsidian rushed to him, her arm in the form of a cannon she kept aimed at Opperculus.
"Z..Zack.. are you..?" She whispered into his ear.
"I'm fine Paulina. I'm perfect in fact." He said as he cracked his knuckles.
Opperculus' spear began to glow and suddenly the stone that enveloped his arms broke apart, allowing them to move freely.
He wanted to do the same, but stopped before his instincts took control.
In front of him was Sharkwoman. His instincts were banging on his head, forcing him to move. To kill that disgrace of an Atlantean, but he forced himself not to.
Behind him was Viper, he heard that was her name just now, and the glowing blue monster she seemed to love deeply.
And to his left were Obsidian and Green Guardian. Obsidian alone was a major problem but with everyone else around, he was screwed unless he acted smart.
It was a standoff.
No one made a single move...
Until...
"What the hell are you two doing here?!" Zack shouted, throwing everyone off guard.
"Zack?" Paulina shouted at him, stunned at the sudden break in the silence.
"I'd ask you three the same thing." Viper said to him with a smirk.
"We saw the robbery on the news. No way we were letting this psycho out free. You?" Zack answered her.
"We were in the area. We saw he killed people. Someone had to stop him." Blue replied nonchalantly. Even while calm, his deep, evil-sounding voice still shook Zack to his core.
Despite that, Zack couldn't help but notice how pragmatic he sounded. Yet there was a hint of righteous nobility in that voice of his.
In a way, he sounded like...
Opperculus let out a loud, monstrous roar and enveloped himself in energy from his spear. He flew upwards, attempting to escape through the skylight. His instincts told him two conflicting things: Kill the Atlantean disgrace and run.
He knew which was the smarter option.
While in the air, he looked down at the supers and noticed them watching him escape. Why were they all just standing there? Why were they all...
No. Not all of them
Where was the monster?
He looked up and saw the beast in front of him, midair, blocking the skylight. He was winding his fist back and the farther it went, the more it glowed a bright blue.
Paulina gasped.
"What's wrong?" Zack asked her.
"That energy! I've seen it before." She answered, pointing at Blue Shadow.
"What? Wait... I feel like I have too.." Zack said, observing the monster punch Sharkwoman with enough force to send him crashing down to the ground with enough force to form a 6-foot-deep crater into it.
"No..."
Blue Shadow landed next to Viper and she gave him a long hug.
"Where was that when we were fighting him?" She asked playfully.
"A hit like that took a while to charge up. Didn't have that when we were fighting him. Hell, I admit I'm pretty drained right now." He said, scratching his horn and smiling.
She lifted herself up to kiss him since she was much shorter but noticed a hand settle on his shoulder.
"Jake?!" Zack said, standing behind Blue Shadow with his palm on his shoulder.
Shadow looked at him in silence.
"Hey! I said your name! Answer me! Prove to me I'm wrong!" He shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. Obsidian pulled him back.
"H..holy crap it is you! How are you alive? I watched you leave me. Paulina told me you died!"
"J..Jake? Is that really him?" Stacya came from behind and tipped her head in confusion.
Viper looked up at him expecting a response but got nothing.
"I.. I'm sorry."
Zack smacked him square across his jaw with an enlarged left fist, only for him to still be standing perfectly still.
Paulina held Zack back before he did anything more.
"H... how could you? We thought you were dead! We engraved your name in the Super Memorial! I thought..."
"How dare you!" Viper hissed and lunged at him, only to be stopped by Jake. She turned to him in confusion while he just gave a silent nod.
"Jake? Is that really you?" Stacya said, coming closer while being glared at by Viper.
"Yeah. It's me." He said, smiling.
Stacya rushed towards him and gave him a long, deep hug. Viper wanted to stop this but she knew Jake wouldn't let her, so she left it at that.
The two monsters towered before her and all she could do was watch in silent anger.
"W..we thought you were dead! Why? Why are you working for Milten. Why are you with her?! Are they forcing you? Is that it?"
Jake pulled her away for a moment, now his eyes moving through all three. He then noticed Zack's expression, a confused mixture of anger, sadness, and joy.
He had never seen that side of him.
"Listen. Please. You're right. I did die, but Milten saved my life. Well, my abilities helped, but it was mostly him. He let me continue helping people through this new team he's forming. Even though I look like this he gave me a chance." Jake said and walked closer to Zack.
"Then why are you allowed to be a hero while I'm not? YOU knocked me out. YOU whispered into my ear to stop doing this. I didn't take your words to heart to honor YOUR memory. What kind of sick joke is this?"
Jake was silent for a moment.
"Zack I..."
"Sorry to interrupt.." A voice hissed from the crater Opperculus formed.
There was a glowing green light from the hole. The five supers stared at it for what seemed like an eternity till a silhouette took shape.
It was larger than even Jake. It's steps were light, silent even. Like that of a baby. The figure had dark green armor but what stuck out were its glowing dead eyes.
Paulina felt that spark again, not from Zack, not like any she had seen since she took over this body. Something else. Something she did not like at all.
The five looked on in horror when she muttered his name to them.
"K..k..k...King Kobra?!" She stammered. Something that caught Zack off guard.
"In the flesh. Or armor.. well you get the idea." He said, not a single hint of emotion in his automated voice.
Jake's senses were going haywire. That only meant one thing to him...
Someone strong was nearby...
To be continued...