Hero Base

Prime tapped his other arm repeatedly to avoid giving into the towering inferno of rage. To him, the bolt that Quick passed through his chest was less painful than his betrayal. He stood up to him, the ideal of justice and peace in the world. The fact that Aqua survived didn't help soothe his burning anger.

If I knew beforehand, I would have exterminated every cell of hers. 


He kept Aqua's status a secret because there would be too many questions. Brainwashing was already used as an excuse. The other heroes were muttering and speculating about the recent news. They get silent when Prime entered the room to talk to Grant.

"This has been an unbelievable day."

"I know. I'm so sorry", Grant apologized.

Prime scanned around. "Where is Marks?"

"I don't know. He said he was taking some leave, but he heard about Quick and wants to help...in his own way. He's going undercover to see what he can find. He said he will contact us first."

"Of course, he would do that. Listen! I know that Quick's betrayal is still a shock to everyone. It hurts to see my friend has been brainwashed again. I want us all to capture him alive so he can go through proper treatment", he announced to all the present heroes and staff.

One collar and Reader and Amy can deal with him.

"There's also the matter of the Bioengineers and Project Squared. There wasn't much we could find out except they tried to create a superior clone to take me out. We don't know if there are more clones hiding elsewhere so keep your eyes peeled. As for Alex and his group, capture them alive. If they resist, use any means necessary."

"Is there any information about Alex's cohort besides Exodus and Shrink?", he asked the staff members.

"We tried, sir. There is no information about that person. We checked articles, the govt's database, and our own and nothing was found."

It must be Brooke then, he assumed in his mind. He internally exhaled before speaking.

"We can't change the past, but we can change the future. Reader, I want you with me. Blazekat, you will be joining me as well. The rest of you will keep a lookout for the others."

"Understand!", the metal armored ninja affirmed. As they walked, the mind reader chatted with Blaze and Prime telepathically through their headsets.


                                                                        "Ready to finish it, Blaze?"

                                   "I can't wait to burn their corpses. The smell is so delightful."

                          "Prime, I have sent some guards to Marks' place. It was hard to find, but we will                                                                                             see if he's there."

                                           "Good. Once you have proof, you know what to do."

—

The guards were scoping out The Marksman's house from a safe distance. The leader of the squadron was notified by Reader who's watching on a separate feed.

"Eyes on the target?"

The leader had a visual of Marks and his girlfriend sleeping on the couch. They saw it's real since their bodies were moving up and down in a normal way.

"We have eyes. They are sleeping and haven't made a move. We will update you when things change."

"Any chance to send a man closer to the house?"

"We are not going to try that", he responded without hesitation.

"Why the hell not? At the end of the day, he's just a human with no powers."

"More like a monster. It would be suicide to send one of my men over."

"What about the woman?"

"We tried and-

The camera feed blacked out.

"Hey! Are you there?!"

There was almost a ten second delay before he heard a screech of a blade.

Painful groans and sounds of daggers hitting flesh. Blood hitting the blades of grass. Bodies thudding to the ground. At the end of it all, a crackling noise of static.

                                        "Prime, something's wrong", Reader relayed to Prime.

                                                                             "On my way."

Prime flew to the location in question. The soldiers were all left alive, but barely breathing. He flew quickly to the door. As soon as he as he turned the knob.....


Click.


The basement underneath the house activated a bomb. The explosion hit the open gas oven.

Boom! Fwoosh!

Prime was dumbfounded as little was left of the mansion. A funnel of black smoke traveled up to the sky.

He was a little burnt from the blast, but his self-healing kicked in. He narrowed his eyes as this confirmed his suspicion: Marks was working with Quick and Alex as well. He flew up to see where Marks could have gone. He re-inspected the scene, but no trace was left of him to find. He was extra careful with hiding his tracks. His fists trembled as he imagined what he would do to him.

---

At an undisclosed location, Marks and Denise were watching all of this occur. He dumped a smoking belt that helped them get away in time.

"I wanted to experiment more with this, but now he knows", he told Denise.

"Well, it was about time."

They locked lips as if it would be the last time doing so. He walked her up to the wall while grabbing her black hair. She wrapped a leg around his waist until they broke the kiss. Their eyes stared at each other.

"What do we do now?", she asked.

"I'm going to contact Quick and see what we're going to do next. We need to be careful."

She touched his chest and could feel his heart racing. Her gentle touch calmed his beating heart.

"Why don't we celebrate? We are bad guys now. It was about time you came over to my side of things", she smirked.

He smiled as they disrobed while going into the shower..... Broken shower tiles, thrown around clothes, and the couple resting on the bed in bathrobes. They couldn't stop kissing each other's faces. They calmed down to get serious. 

Marks sent a text to Quick and waited for his response.

------------

The next day, Alex woke up feeling lighter than air, even with Brooke on him. He gently traced her face to wake her up. Brooke woke up with a yawn. She sat up and kissed Alex on the lips.

"Good morning, morena."

"Morning, mi hombre. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. You?"

"Same."

Alex rubbed his eyes as he got up from the couch. He stretched his body and a groan escaped his lips.

"Big stretch!", she joked.

Alex chuckled. He checked his right hand and it's still a little weak. He offers his left hand and she took it... only for him to scoop her onto his left shoulder.

"What is this for?", she laughed.

"Practice."

Brooke happily smiled as he meant their eventual wedding day. "Am I too heavy or-?

"Don't answer that question. It's a trap", Quickness warned Alex.

"Best to be quiet", Shrink added.

"I wouldn't change a thing about you", Alex replied to her question.

Brooke shifted herself down and locked her legs around his waist. Her brown eyes softened with the love she had for him. A wet tender kiss before she slid off of him.

"Good answer!", Aqua cheered.

Quick handed them some snacks to eat and they discussed what Marks had told him.

"Are they safe?", Alex asked.

"Yep. He also has a safehouse just like Exodus."

"I didn't know his lover was an assassin. How did they even meet?", Exodus asked.

"I have no idea. No one really knows her true identity except for him. I'm just going to leave it at that."

"Now I'm curious", the aquatic woman was tapping her chin.

"He never talks much so you won't get a lot out of him. Secrecy might as well be his middle name."

"The Secret Marksman?", Shink badly joked.

Everyone laughed except for Exodus who groaned.

"How are we still friends?"

Afterwards, they played a card game to relieve their stress before going over the plan again. With Exodus' help, Alex returned to the Org of Villains so he could update Gizmo.

He used his senses to avoid a concentrated EMP blast, disabling the device with quick accuracy.

"Alright! That's what I like to see! What brings you here?", as his feet were on the table.

"I don't have time to catch up, but a quick summary. Aqua's alive and Quickness and Marks are helping us with the plan to defeat Prime."

The Level 5 Technopath's feet dropped to the floor. "She's more remarkable than I thought. It's good that they are on your side too."

"Me too. I also need more nanobots."

"You used them all up? I gave you plenty to use", Gizmo raised his eyebrows.

"I need to repair my right hand and...I had to save a life."

Gizmo knew that Alex would have mentioned if something happened to his team first. It couldn't be them. "Whose life?"

"It was for the last clone of Prime", he admitted.

He gripped the ends of the table. "Explain yourself."

Alex told him the gist of what happened. In the meantime, Gizmo used the nanobots to speed up the recovery of his right hand. The bones were properly repaired and connected. Alex wiggled his fingers and lightly stretched his hand without any pain.

"At least you got what you needed. Do we have to worry about him?"

"No", Alex assured with confidence.

"Fine. It's not my problem until it is", he sighed.

The level 5 technopath handed him another vial of nanobots with a bag of random bolts, coins, and screws. "Go hit that son of a bitch for me."

"I will."

"Bye, Alex!", Cama spoke out which startled the two. Cama made himself visible on a wall and leapt onto Alex's shoulder. He almost fell down, but he caught him. Arma was at the doorframe, happy to see him.

"You have gotten really good at hiding", he complimented.

"I sure have!"

Alex and Gizmo feared if he heard their conversation about KP. "How long were you there?"

"Not long. I did hear Gizmo cuss."

Gizmo and Alex were relieved that they didn't hear that part of the conversation. It wasn't the right time to tell them.

"Just don't repeat what I said. Your father would be upset with me", he sighed while squeezing his eyes shut.

"I promise."

Arma rolled up to Alex and stood up to hug his leg. "Please be safe", she pleaded. He picked her up and hugged them both.

"I will make sure of it this time. I'm ready now."

The children felt more confident about the outcome as they let him go.

"Tell hermana that we wish her well", the armadillo girl told him.

"I will. We will see each other again soon."

Alex "communicated" with Exodus who opened a return portal to the safe house. He walked through it and she closed it.

"Everything went well?", she asked.

"It did. Arma and Cama wish you well", he told Brooke.

"Awww. I can't wait to see them again."

"We will."

He wore the light armor set again while carrying the case of heavy armor on his back. "Everyone knows what they have to do?"

"Yes. Let's go", as Shrink readied his ray gun. Quick picked up Aqua in the container and placed her on his back.

Exodus opened a portal on the floor to Detroit, Michigan where a large amount of metal was available for Alex to use. He checked the surroundings first. There were local crime fighters and police looking for any sign of them. No sign of Prime nearby.

Alex disrupted all their communication devices and Quick ran through at top speed to knock out the crime fighters and cops with a flurry of controlled punches. He checked the area and gave a thumbs up. The whole team came out. The cameras picked up their activity and alerted the authorities.

Alex motioned with his hand and shielded everyone with stacked cars. Quick saw a lake behind them and he quickly dumped Aqua into it to finish her recovery process.


Aqua drew strength from the lake using anger and love as her fuel. New legs sprout out as she tapped into her original purpose, but with control over the homicidal urges.


Quick rubbed his hands and stored all the charges into his body. He maintained his distance from the group to avoid shocking anyone. Meanwhile, Alex and the others secured a building for preparations.

At the same time, Blazekat, Reader, and Prime were notified at the base and they head their way to finish this. More heroes with different powers and abilities joined them as they hopped into their prepped jets to leave.

"All remaining heroes will stay behind to protect the base. We don't know their end goal."

Prime got there first to end this. He ignored the unconscious guards with his enhanced vision and found a building was blocked off. He flew through the metal wall to attack....but no one was there. He heard a quick sound that spat out two small objects that enlarge. Two gravity grenades detonated and twice the pressure was released on him!

Prime fell to his knees, but it was just the beginning. Two portals opened up quickly with one spitting an acid grenade at his face. A combination of lightning and fireworks blasted him from the second one.


Fwoosh!


Parts of his face and muscles twitched, melted, and burned from the barrage. Cartilage and bones exposed to the cold air. Bolts shot off like bullets into the exposed cartilage of Prime! The hero turned his face from the onslaught as he clenched his teeth. His eyes looked everywhere for them. He found an open portal and flew through it. 

He could see nothing but darkness as went under. His unhealed face stiffened from the icy, cold water of Lake Erie. He then got spun around by hands he couldn't see.


Hand, arm, elbow, shoulder, neck, chest, legs, knees, face.


His blood spills out from the large cuts all over his body. He tried to fly up but kept getting spun around for more cuts.

He then saw the attacker: Aqua's true form. It scared him a bit that the usually cheerful woman could be a complete monster. Only her vengeful white eyes were seen as he got sliced.

Prime used all of his strength to fly at her, but he got pushed back onto dry land. He coughed up water and blood as his healing factor finally kicked in. Unknown to him, his blood was seeping through a small portal that closed.


Another one opened up and a car was thrown at him. He punched through it, but another grenade was thrown. A thunderous scream muffled his hearing considerably. He tried to get his hearing back, but he got hit by a bolt of built-up static electricity that lit up his nervous system. Quick accelerated his mind to proper orientation before running off.

"COME OUT AND FIGHT ME, VILLAINS!", he yelled with all of his fury.

A water whip grabbed him by the foot and tightened to cut it off, but he chopped it. A portal opened up and multiple small objects were flying at high speeds. Prime put his arms up in a guard to protect his exposed areas. He was going to rush through the portal, but his instincts halted him as it closed early. A metal bolt was cut in half where the top part was missing.

A giant bolt fell above him so he punched through it, but another one appeared that struck his exposed leg to the ground. He threw the heavy bolt off of him. His healing factor tried to kick in, but he got hit by a lightning flurry of punches. More of his blood spilled onto the sand. His eyes adjusted to punch the Yellow Blur, but a portal opened and closed. His right hand was cut off as Quick disappeared.

"You bast-

Several portals opened up simultaneously all around him. Missiles and pyrokinetic blasts shot out! The bombardment of explosions and intense heat almost overwhelmed him. He blocked to protect himself and he's breathing heavily. Not just from the pain, but also from anger. The barrage suddenly stopped. He was going to take a breath, but the jets of heroes were seen that alarmed him.

"Don't come any closer!", as he tapped his earpiece. No response as they kept coming closer.

As the heroes were about to land, all their jets forcefully ejected them. The metal of the jets groaned as they angled towards the hero. Laser beams fired at Prime!


Prime flew around to avoid getting hit and crashed through all the jets to end Alex's control over them. The head of a jet flipped forward and hit him in the back with a power suppressive beam.


The bloodied and battered "hero" fell to the ground, but Blazekat caught him in time. He squeezed the triggers of his twin flamethrowers to slow down their fall. Reader fired a laser gun to stop what's left of the jet from re-firing. The heroes heard marching boots and clanking heavy tanks of the National Guard heading their way.


A pulse then went off, rendering all their artillery weapons useless. The National Guard was confused as none of their weapons are working. They then saw the carnage and a damaged Prime.

"Everyone, lend me your power!"

All the heroes and the Guard lent their energy to a glowing Prime. He healed from all the damage inflicted while his right hand regenerated. He could finally hear again as the noises were no longer muffled. He hid the fact that he's still in pain from their assault.

"Where are they?!", Blazekat asked.

"I don't know where they are."

Reader used his power and the group wasn't there. An unknown call on his phone alarmed him. His hand trembled before answering it.

"Come to this location.....", Alex's calm voice commanded him.

"Damn it! They aren't here! They are at Pier 41, Warehouse 3 in California."

He tried to call the police, but there was no signal to call out. Not even for anyone in that area.

"It's that Exodus woman. What if that is a trick and they are still here?", Blazekat asked.

"Not a trick, Blazekat. Prime, let's finish what we started", Alex adjusted the volume from afar so they could hear him. The call dropped.

"It will take too much time to arrange transportation. Let's fly", Prime commanded.

Reader took out a board that lifted him off the ground. His boots magnetically locked on. The thrusters turned on and he went over 160 mph. Blazekat turned on his flamethrower and manipulated the fire to act as a jetpack. Prime followed behind the duo.

                                                                         "Where's Amy?"

                                         "She stayed back at Dr. Lin's cabin just in case."

                        "Let her know where we will meet. I will contact the other heroes."

Their earpieces turned back on.

"If you wanted reinforcements, that won't be possible", Marks stated matter-of-factly.

"What?!"

Kunai, throwing daggers, and knives were plunged into different limbs, but none of the local heroes were killed. The trio was stunned.

"Oh and this all happened during your assault, Prime. You will pay for what you did", the Marksman promised with a threat.

Prime's eyes narrowed. He will make the human pay as well once he's done.

"Let me have him once you're done", Blazkat begged.

"Let's pick up the pace", as he grabbed onto Reader and Blazekat's shoulders and flew at a quicker but safe enough speed.

Meanwhile....


Marks was hiding out with Denise from a secure location. She saw that he's concerned with what he did and touched his cheek.

"They will understand in time. We did our part and now we have to wait."

"That's what I hate the most. I can't do anything more for them."

"You did enough. We just have to believe in them", she lifted him by the chin to look into his eyes.

The hero sighed and held her close for comfort.

---

The trio of heroes showed up at a pier with several warehouses in the vicinity. The one they stopped before was several stories high. Prime couldn't see inside the building which made him more cautious. He also saw the water close by meaning Aqua could be anywhere.


Reader went to Amy's location to give her back-up while Prime and Blaze approached the backdoor of the building. The pyromaniac pushed a button twice and his heart rate accelerated twice the normal rate. A wicked smile awaited his next fight.

Amy took out a device and pushed the button. A pulse was sent out to wipe out other electronics and to sever Alex's control over it. They thought that he would only have his metal powers to rely on.

"Nice try."

Hearing his voice threw them off. Before they could think about what to do, Reader and Amy fall through a portal and the same happened to Blazekat. Prime found himself alone so he cautiously opened the door. He found the warehouse had multiple rooms and levels that he couldn't see through. He thought about helping the others during their fight, but who knows what traps they had set up for him? He decided to wait outside patiently.

Act 3 is over To Be Continued in Act 4 (The Final Act)

****We are getting close to the end! Thanks for your support! We are going to see the battles that lead up to the final one!