Extinction was hiding out in an abandoned subway system that the city had created and scrapped decades ago. He had entry and exit points all over the city. He was taking the dead bodies of people he was killing. That was actually how Victoria tracked him down. She still had connections in the criminal underbelly in the city, and there was talk amongst them of someone picking off their customers.
The plan was supposed to be very simple. Gar, Odie, the Sniper, and the Arsonist go in first. They would try to remain undetected for as long as possible. They figure out how Extinction is creating his monsters, then try to covertly kill as many of them as possible.
Then Victoria, Serena’s Crimson, and I go in and try to take control of his technology. We finish Extinction off, then tonight we take down a defenseless Polybius.
Casper, John, and the Surgeon were all on standby in case any of us needed their assistance. Serena, Dion, and Alistair were setting up the raid on the tower, and thus couldn’t help. The plan was explained to me by Gar as he drove our van down to the rendezvous place.
“Alright, take this.” Odie said as he handed everyone walkie talkies. Everybody fastened them onto their belts at once. Then he turned his attention to me.
“When we communicate over talkies, we call each other by our codenames.” He explained.
“Gar and John.” He pointed to the two as he said their names. He then pointed at himself. “Odie.” He said, staring at me. Then he turned his finger in my direction. “Little Man.”
“Can’t I pick my own codename?” I pleaded.
“I didn’t get to pick mine, you don’t get to pick yours, Little Man.” Odie laughed. Gar chuckled a little. I saw John smirk as he drove.
“Where are the meeting points?” John asked as we pulled up to an abandoned subway entrance.
“Recon team is right here.” Gar pointed straight at the subway entrance.
“Action team is in that building over there, until Recon gives the go ahead.” He pointed at a building that we were passing as we slowed down.
“Med team is in the van.” Suddenly the car stopped. John unbuckled and Odie crawled to the back with me and Gar. Followed shortly by John.
Then we went our separate ways. John opened the back door of the van for us. I ran towards the building that I was supposed to meet my teammates in. John stayed behind in the van. Gar and Odie ran off together towards the giant hole in the ground.
The building had only been abandoned for a few weeks at most. It was definitely one of the ones left empty during the gang war, or during Cement Suits rampage. There was rotted food still on the table where the occupants had left mid dinner. Pictures hung crooked on walls and the whole building smelled like mold.
Victoria stood regal and silver with her arms crossed, and her back to a stairwell. I could hear Proxy slithering around upstairs. The Crimson sat on a couch that looked like a breeding pit for roaches. She didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m Jason.” I held out my hand to shake hers. My voice modifier made me sound a little like Gar, awkward and older. She looked up at me, and then straight forward at the wall without taking my hand.
“Sarah.” She mumbled.
“Hey Vicky! How’ve you been?” I asked. She looked over at me with a frown.
“I see you’ve taken my advice about ditching your friends.” Victoria said in a grouchy tone. “Mazel tov, by the way.” She added with a snicker.
I took a step closer to where she was standing. Then I flicked my tail forward and inch away from her face. It flicked fast enough to make a cracking sound like a whip. The wind it caused moved her hair in front of her eyes. Sarah momentarily looked back at us, then went back to staring forward.
Proxy scrambled downstairs to investigate the noise. His many blacks spun and moved around in all different directions. Then he slithered back upstairs. Victoria didn’t react at all.
“Why’re you even with this Serena lady?” I asked.
“Well, turns out Mr. P isn’t good for his word. He sent his private army after me the moment I escaped. I got about three cities away before the FBI started tracking me. Serena showed up and offered to protect me. Apparently even the FBI is afraid of the Platinums.” She explained.
“So… What’s the plan?” I asked her after a moment of awkward silence.
“You and the Crimson will do what you do best, and Proxy and I will do what we do best.” She replied.
“What would those things be?” I asked in reply. “You’ll break things and I’ll do the thinking.” She said smugly.
I sighed and walked away.
…
Gar was never big on tunnels. Tunnels have rats, and Gar knows for a fact that those don’t taste very good. Sometimes tunnels have anthrax in them. Gar would rather not die in a cold dark anthrax tunnel, only to get eaten by rats later.
But his worries are less important than the mission. Not that he particularly wants the Little Man to be forcibly hitched to the Platinums. But even that’s less important than the mission. And the fact that the last supervillain Gar fought almost killed him, and he was wearing a super suit made by a super genius then, and he’s not now. Well, even that’s less important than the mission.
These are things that Gar pushed to the back of his mind. He kept his thoughts empty and his mind clear. Because having a head heavy with worries is the kind of thing that distracts while someone sticks a knife in your throat and you bleed out. Then you’re left to be eaten by rats in a cold, dark, anthrax ridden tunnel. The thoughts formed and he simply pushed them aside.
“This sucks.” Gar whispered to John, who was inches away.
They were both trying to keep as quiet as possible while Dion’s mercenaries scouted the area in front of them. They were supposed to be watching behind, to make sure nothing would attack them where they weren’t looking.
“Yep.” Odie responded.
Odie understood the importance of the mission. They all understood it, one way or another. John used it to drive every aspect of his life. Gar used it to keep from slipping into madness from his own anxieties. Odie used the excitement of it as a mask to keep from showing the fear beneath.
The mercenaries stopped suddenly. Gar reached for his gun. Of everyone there he was by far the worst shot, but he figured he was better than nothing. Odie had his revolver in his hand and was ready before Gar had even reached for his.
Odie walked forward with his pistol at the ready. Gar followed carefully behind. They crouched as they approached a hole in the wall that contained Extinction’s makeshift base. All Gar could see from the back of the group was the dim blue fluorescent lights that Extinction had set up. Gar could hear chirping coming from the lab.
It was the sound of those raptor things. He also heard a strange grinding and sloshing noise. Something whirring behind the wall. He gripped his pistol tighter. The mercenary with the sniper rifle took a quick peek behind the wall. He whispered something to his brother, and then his brother got to work planting something.
“Retreat.” He looked back at us and whispered.
Gar turned around and started heading back fast. He was energized with fear. He knew that if those things heard him, they’d all be dead. Those mercenaries were good, and Odie was quick with a pistol, and Gar could hold his own in a scrap. But they weren’t anywhere close to being prepared for this kind of thing.
Gar looked behind and saw Odie walking back and the mercenaries catching up after finishing whatever it was they were doing. Planting C4, he suspected. A footstep in the dark caused Gar’s heart to come to a screeching halt. Then confusion sank over him when he realized that the footstep had come from in front of him, not behind.
…
Antonio looked at the vat that Polybius had given him. He commanded his raptors to feed it another body. They did so without question. Six raptors grabbed the struggling homeless man, each taking a limb, and carried him into the machine. Then they turned and shut its opening behind them.
The homeless man tried to escape before the opening shut, but they bit his hand and slammed it closed. Whatever kind of suit it was that Polybius had merged Antonio with, it had many benefits. It healed his injuries. Made it so he didn’t need to eat, or sleep, or drink. It kept him alive. It was made from some sort of moldable polymer, that Antonio could change the shape of with his mind.
When hit with sheer force, it dented but did not break. It gave him a mental link with the vats, and allowed him to control his creations via voice commands. The homeless man went from banging on the glass and crying for help, to being a melted puddle of meat soup and bones. The machine swirled around and churned at what remained of his corpse. Before long all that was left was a thick soupy pink liquid.
Antonio didn’t need any more raptors. He had a few other, bigger things growing. But big creatures were a pain in the ass to have to deal with and feed. So he didn’t need any more of those either. He wanted to keep the dinosaur theme. He thought up a design in his head and the machine went to work.
The pink slime drained into the bottom of the machine. The base of it made whirring noises for several seconds. The creature inside was cooking. Then the tray at the bottom of the base opened up.
The creature steamed as it moved its long parrot sized head. Still warm from the birthing process, it was covered in a translucent pink slime. It made chirping noises as it carefully rose and spread its pterodactyl wings. It flapped them in an attempt to get the slime off. It shook its head and fell back a little, catching itself as it gave a roar of excitement at the prospect of being alive.
Air support. That’s what I need.
Excitement built in Antonio’s armored chest as the prospect filled his mind. He gave a mental command to a third of his raptors to continue feeding the vat new bodies, and he gave the vat the command to automatically make pterodactyls from now on. He told the infant pterodactyl to leave the birthing tray.
Another third of the raptors were digging out the lab. The last third was poised, ready to attack. Antonio stood straighter as he heard a noise outside his base. He grabbed a hunting knife in preparation. Somewhere in the tunnels, footsteps. Followed by another sound, a voice.
“Who the fuck are you?”
…
“Little Man, Little Man come in!” Gar’s voice shouted into the walkie talkie. I could hear a roaring sound in the background, plus a multitude of other noises my brain wasn’t prepared to process. “Requesting backup immediately!” Gar’s voice echoed, followed by gunshots.
