|
|
Seeing the security guard in danger, Connors turns on a dime and directs his blazing speed at the Vikings. "I've got to save that guard and maybe take some of those Vikings out of commission." Connors speeds towards the Viking with the axe, his mind set on eliminating the threat posed to the guard.
The Viking's axe raises high before coming down in a vicious swing that surely would have cut the security guard in two if Connors had raced by in a blur, snatching the axe from the shocked attacker's hands. Connors twists in mid-run, sliding to a stop, and then in a flash is racing at top speed back towards the Viking to slam into him, but the marauder dives out of harm's way, rolling to his feet a few yards away.
"That guy is pretty agile for someone so big," Curt Connors thinks to himself as he looks over the situation. "I've got to lead those Vikings away from that guard."
"Why don't you men leave that man alone and fight me, or maybe you would like to tell your captain how you lost his axe."
"I hope this works." Curt Connors starts spinning the axe faster and faster until it is blazing like a buzzsaw. "Come on, or are you Vikings afraid to attack someone who can defend himself," Curt says, trying to make the word 'Vikings' sound as much like an insult as he can.
"We fear nothing!" one of the Vikings bellows as he and his comrade both charge Connors. "But you'll know fear when we!"
The warrior never gets to finish his sentence. In a blur of motion, Connors literally runs several circles around the Vikings, the spinning axe sawing through the pier with a high-pitched whine. In the next instant, the wood splinters under the weight of the Vikings and they drop into the river below.
Union pauses briefly to consider the scene, watching the other flying strangers scatter to deal with individual threats. "Deal with the leader, and the problem will die...hopefully..." Union's hesitation is barely visible before he vectors towards the Viking Woman. He then stops short as two things happen at once: The winged man vanishes and reappears before the woman yelling at her to end the raid; and Adrian hears what sounds like yells and screams coming from the row of warehouses whose blaze drew his attention originally.
"There are workers trapped in those warehouses! Either they need to get out or those fires need to be doused. I hope the winged guy can end this, because those people can't wait!"
Union's flight path changes the bare minimum required to turn his initial rush into a rapid circuit over the warehouses, and scanning the skyline and ground for a water tower and hydrants....
Sure enough, there is a large water tower nearby. Union rips the tower open by magnetically removing several rivets, sending the flood of water rushing down and towards the warehouses. A second magnetic attack pops open a nearby fire hydrant, sending another gout of water into the burning buildings. The effort is crude, but it is dousing enough of the flame for several people to run for safety. The fire is, however, far from extinguished.
Emerald sets the driver down far enough away from the rig to be in any danger if it does explode. He turns and sees the fire, still raging out of control. Desperately Rick looks for some way to put more water on the fire. After a second of thought he gestures towards the river, and a gigantic deep ladle forms over the water.
"That helped, but not enough..." Union looks over the buildings in mid flight, seeing some trapped workers escape. "What I need is a really big quantity of water...Great Scott!"
The huge green ladle coming from the bandana masked boy is enough to get Union to completely stop and gape. "If he's going to do that, I have to get at any people still in those buildings before the Deluge hits," Union picks up speed from the local EM fields and hurls himself into one of the still-burning buildings. "I just hope I can get them out of there...."
Union races into the flames as the ladle full of water approaches. He finds a half dozen people, coughing and frightened, crammed against (of all things) a fire door. Two men are struggling to open the door, but to no avail. The addition of Union's enhanced strength to the task, however, proves to be more than the lock can stand. In short order, all six people are safely outside and Union is racing upstairs.
Meanwhile, the giant green ladle begins to pour water.
Just as water begins to pour through the damaged roof, Union grabs a woman, probably a secretary, and smashes through a second-story window leading out of the office in which she was trapped. Flying down to the street with her, Union and Emerald notice the arrival of the fire trucks and squad cars.
Seeing the professionals have arrived Rick pours the last of the water over the now empty building, then looks around to see if he can offer help in another way. The ladle dips into the river once more, and a slight smile cracks Rick's face as he dumps the water onto the longship, hoping to send the ship under.
As the new ladle-full of water is heading towards the ship, the cruel-faced blonde man who had nearly blasted Aegis from the sky lets a slight smile of his own play across his face.
"Such magic pales before the might of Loki!" he chortles and, with a gesture, the water in the ladle simply vanishes!
Darkangel staggers to his feet, drawing a hand across his mouth to wipe at the black ichor that slowly trickles from it. He stands and a smile comes across his face as his eyes lock upon the form of the redbeareded man before him.
"Alright Red.... You wanna play God? Lets see how yah do against.... An Angel!", Sam yells as he readies himself for the God of thunder's next charge. Absently he thinks to himself, *I always thought Thor would be a blonde.... oh well.*
"I do not play god, mortal!" Thor roars, a huge hand shooting out to grab Darkangel's right arm. "I am a god! Asgard's mightiest warrior!"
The world spins violently as Thor swings Darkangel as easily as child would swing a toy, slamming the white-skinned hero into the deck, crushing timber and bone alike. The zone of darkness vanishes, along with the inky bonds around Amora. Thor hurls the unconscious Darkangel nearly thirty yards out and into the East River. Floating for a few seconds, he sinks into the muck of the East River.
Aegis's bold plan fails spectacularly. The Vikings attempt to scatter as she charges, but she still manages to clothes line two of them. Unfortunately for her, both of them grapple her in the process, one holding each arm, dragging her down under their sudden, surprisingly great weight. Two others leap into the fray from behind. Aegis catches a powerful knee in the lower back and what feels like a club to the head. Spots well up before her eyes.
Aegis cries out in pain, "uarrhh," her body spasms and then goes limp in the hands of the two Vikings holding her arms. Aegis figures they pretty much have her on the ropes and if she doesn't feign unconsciousness now at this rate she'll be unconsciousness for real soon enough and then totally at their mercy.
*With any luck they'll fall for it and either throw me overboard or in with the rest of the prisoners.* She continued to pretend to be unconscious and waited for an opening.
"Ha!" a Viking grunts. "These humans hath no stomach for battle. Leave her. We must secureth loot in the other hold."
The two Vikings holding Aegis's arms let her fall to the floor, and the group turns and leaves through a door that leads towards the center of the dragonship.
| Top |
© 1999 Mark L. Chance et al
|
|