Zoey was never much of a fighter. Fighting was too primitive. Bashing skin and bone against skin and bone. It all left a bad taste in her mouth. She preferred using her brain to get out of situations. Escape and survive and you’ll live to fight another day. She’d also never considered doing a job this big before.
The tower was enormous. With one hundred floors and its own police station contained within, robbing it was no easy task. But luckily Zoey had been given the golden ticket. Her brain could interface with any computer near her wirelessly. She had access to every light, every door, every elevator, and the mechanical suit of every cop in the entire facility. She wasn’t really all that scared of the boy in the suit.
He was a minor obstacle on her way out of this place. Zoey had already taken control of enough guards to rob all of the bank vaults in the building, and moved the money to a secure set of vehicles that she could control with her mind. All she had to do now was beat the boy into submission, and she could leave this city and start a new life somewhere far away. All he had to do was say yes to Mr. Polybius’s deal. But the boy was stubborn and didn’t seem to be able to take a hint.
Zoey sat in Mr. P’s chair, and rummaged through his computer files without ever touching the keyboard. She found lots of wonderfully interesting information about so many different organizations. While she was pondering who exactly she was going to sell these secrets to once she escaped, she scanned the various levels of the building via security camera.
Zoey had been multitasking while checking the files. She controlled the guards and battled the boy as her mind searched the computer. The boy had defeated the guards, by damaging their suits enough that her control was broken and they went limp. A smile grew on Zoey’s face.
“That was very entertaining. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.” Zoey said out loud.
She let out an uncontrollable fit of laughter and a clap of her hands. The computer that controlled the speaker system caught every noise she made. Zoey watched the boy from the twenty seven night vision security cameras in the room. His tail flicked back and forth. Victoria touched her throat. Not too long ago that tail had wrapped itself around it like a noose. “Are you ready for your second trial?” She asked.
“Why are you doing this?” He growled. It startled Zoey a little.
“I have no choice. But you do.” She said in a calm voice. “Agree to his deal and we both get to walk away without a scratch.”
Come on kid, just take his deal. He’s gonna make both our lives a living hell otherwise. I just want out of here. She pleaded silently.
“So you’re one of his.” He said in that same frightening growl. Zoey couldn’t help but be intimidated. She let out a nervous laugh and then abruptly shut off the speaker.
“That went horribly.” She muttered to herself as she flicked the lights on for her dear ape boy. She watched from the security camera as the Ape Boy approached a group of teenagers that had been knocked out in the chaos. He tried waking each of them up. Only one had risen. “So those are your little friends.” Zoey muttered. She jumped a little as she caught the ape boy’s eyes staring directly at her.
Did you hear me? She thought.
She realized from the audio caught by the camera that he was simply scanning the room to see if any others had awoken. She let out a small sigh of relief. She took the time to listen close to everything he was saying to his little girlfriend. He gave her instructions on what to do if he died. For a single moment Zoey felt guilty for what she was about to do.
…
I tapped my foot on the floor and waited for the elevator doors to open. The doors opened so fast I could barely register that they moved at all. I was on floor thirty five. Victoria had chosen it the moment I stepped in. If I remembered correctly, that meant I was in one of the prisons designed by Polybius. When this structure was built they shut down all the maximum security prisons and locked the prisoners away in this place.
I cautiously creeped out of the open elevator. It led into the front office of the prison section. The office was devoid of any people. Just empty chairs and a front desk with nobody around to man it. The two electronic doors leading into the actual prison opened as I approached.
I looked up at the nearest security camera.
“Hey you!” I hollered. I didn’t receive any response. “I know you can hear me!” I hollered again. The security camera moved to face away from me.
I shrugged it off and kept walking through the empty floor. The two metal doors on opposite sides of the front desks slid open at once, as I approached. I continued walking once they fully opened. They led to an empty hallway with offline metal detectors. I stopped when a sudden loud boom echoed through the halls. It was followed immediately by the door at the end of the hallway starting to open. In sync with its opening, the door behind me began to shut. I looked back and contemplated my options for a solid minute.
I ultimately decided to swallow my doubts and keep moving forward. Victoria’s some sort of psychopath, I can’t be sure she isn’t willing to murder everyone in this building if I don’t keep moving forward in her little games. I glared at the camera as I continued forward through the open doorway. I was treated to another boom echoing through the halls.
This one was just around the corner. My ears began ringing and my head felt dizzy from the sudden noise. I jumped up to the ceiling and started walking in the direction of the booms. If I approach my enemy stealthily, they are less likely to deglove my hand, hopefully. My eyes immediately locked on to the figure in the open space. This was where they kept the prison cells. Two floors of cells designed to keep supervillains in. The super prison that Mr. Polybius had promised the city. It was where I’d ultimately be locked up if they ever caught me. Now the power was out and the cells were unlocked.
Why did it have to be him?
A cloud of dust covered the open cell block. It swarmed around one individual. It flowed out like a pale ocean around him. It was thinner than it had once been, but I could see that it was already eating holes in the concrete around us. His face was scarred and warped from where I had smashed it beyond repair. His eyes were white and bloodshot. Whatever thin bit of humanity was once in them was gone now. He smiled a crooked smile with torn lips.
His teeth were smashed beyond repair. He had ripped his jumpsuit to ribbons, leaving his back exposed. I could see it clearly. It was more scarred and torn than his face. It was more mangled tissue than flesh. A massive pulsating hole was present in his spine, covered in dust. The veins of his back were black and thick. He was far too thin, with multiple ribs visible on both sides. His right arm was a concrete sword, his left had taken the form of a large shield. His chest was covered in a layer of armor, and as the dust grew in thickness and size, the concrete on his body did too.
I didn’t make any sort of noise as I crawled up to the second floor of the cell block. I could see the entirety of the block from there. I could see Cement Suit using his shield to hold a guard against a wall, while he disemboweled them with his sword. The body went limp, and he turned around and used his shield to protect against the guards across the room firing at him. Chips of concrete flew off of it as the bullets connected. My concentration was broken by a nearly silent thud behind me.
No, not a thud. Footsteps.
I leapt straight out to avoid being grabbed by the monster’s black and silver claws. I landed on my knees on the hard concrete floor of the prison cell block. Cement Suit had the five remaining guards cornered and the rest of the block was splattered with blood, guts, and corpses. He turned his ruined eyes towards me. The dust started coalescing on his face as it did and slowly spread into a thin concrete face armor. The dust leaked from two open eyeholes. He started to laugh.
“Don’t have your water gun this time. Do ya’, kid?” He let out a raspy cackle. He didn’t even seem to notice the next round of bullets being shot at him. His armor grew thicker in response. “And I’ve got Billy with me this time.”
Billy? Wait, does he mean spittle beard… From that first night? Where?
The thud that the monster from the bridge made behind me was far too soft a noise for its massive size. But it was definitely loud enough for me to turn around on reflex. It was on all fours like it had been that night. Its porthole eyes moved on its dome head to fix on me. When I stared at the thin rays of light in the darkness behind the glass, the realization of what this thing was hit me.
And it sent shivers down my spine. Almost as much as the sound of Cement Suit’s cackle behind me. There was a person inside there. Or at least, the brain of a person. A living, formerly breathing, person. Trapped in a moving metal coffin. And Polybius put him in there.
He put him in there for me. I did this to him.
I was too stunned to move. The prison guards screamed behind me as Jones plucked their souls from their bodies. He laughed the whole time. I could see the anger behind the Matter Chameleon’s porthole eyes. The tiny lights were a raging fire of pain and suffering. It was ready for a rematch as it approached me.
Only I wasn’t the one in the suit, the last time we fought. I’m not sure I could take you one time, let alone twice. I barely beat Jones last time, what chance do I have now? I don’t deserve this.
The Matter Chameleon approached on all fours with his eyes trained on me. Cement Suit slid his sword against the floor as he cackled and approached from behind. Both of their footfalls sounded like thunder in the massive open prison. Then I felt a hand grab my shoulder.
