Battle of the Risen

[Yin]

Battle of the Risen

“It’s where?”

An austere, stern voice filled a void of silence between it and the ears receiving it. The victim squirmed as best he could as his back was pressed up against the rugged brick wall, and his feet dangling helplessly above the ground. Beads of sweat dripped from the pores of his skin as anxiety took an extreme toll on his current situation. With every chance he took a breathe of air in hopes to keep himself alive as he stared into the iridescent emerald green eyes of this “hero.”

“…God…it’s…”

As he gained strength in right leg it came upward with intentions of striking his capture in his genital area. His vocals vibrated more then what they should have as a loud, gruesome scream came from him. As he peered down to see what had struck him an arrow had been casually entered through his flesh, bone, and marrow. Apparently this one knew what he was doing, the villain thought, if he could even be considered a hero with the way the situation was unfolding. His words were cold, and put chills up his spine. This one was apathetic, and cared not what happened to him. If he died, then he died. There was always someone else to replace him. It was almost as if he was the decider of his fate.

Before he even had a chance to open his mouth to answer the question in full he felt himself rise in the air even more as his body was flung across the room in an arc-like motion with gravity catching him and slamming him back down onto the other side of the sewer. His face scrapped against the cement pulling up flesh and giving the blood on the inside a gateway to escape. He mustered up whatever strength was left to place both hands flat on the ground and turn his upper torso a little so his head was facing him. Fear enveloped him in full as the man who called himself Alpha Sentry had his bow cocked, and arrow in place. This was the final chapter of his book, and he realized it as he shut his eyes, asking the Lord for forgiveness of his sins.

As he awaited his fate, the man could feel the temperature rise by a noticeable degree. Was he in Hell? If so, he imagined that it would be more then one of Paragon City’s sewers. But he couldn’t be. Alpha Sentry was still on the other side of the sewer, but had also taken notice of the rising temperatures.

“What are you DOING?! YOU FREAK! –cough- I HOPE YOU BURN IN HEEL---“

His entire face sloshed downwards and dripped onto the cement, bubbling in a twisted concoction of flesh and blood. Alpha Sentry jumped backwards, baffled, as he covered his nose region with his arm looking around to see what had just caused this man’s entire face to literally melt off of his bones. As the temperatures continued to rise to an estimated 97 degrees a silhouetted crept slowly around the tunnel that casted a green tinge on the walls as the silhouette gradually got closer. Colors of red, orange, and yellow flickered vigorously against the walls and walkways of the sewer giving everything a very Hell-ish tinge that put a little intimidation in the back of Alpha’s mind as he slowly crept backwards towards the exit that was 900 feet away from his current location.

The rattling of chains became more distinct as the temperatures reached an estimated 105 degrees which aroused the sewage and caused it to start boiling. The aroma was horrid, and twisted and turned the inside of Alpha’s stomach to no end, and he had a strong stomach. Just before he turned to make a dash for it, a man of obvious Egyptian descent came into his line of sight. Crimson markings ran down his face which met with the iridescent life of fire emitting from the corners of his eyes. Chains contorted from around his neck, across his chest, and around his shoulders, and a noticeable black skull sat between his upper and lower torso. Vigorous flames warped and swirled around his masculine, cut figure that left no signs of scorching or burning among his flesh, an obvious indication of why the temperature was rising. As he slowly approached Alpha, a vile, sinister smirk crept upon his lips as the flames around his figure was pulled towards his right hand forming a sword crafted from fire.

“…running…is not an option.”

[Yin]

Alpha Sentry ran. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as his muscles tensed and anxiety got caught between his Adam’s apple and articulators. A knot formed in the center of his stomach as he reached for his right side and grabbed his communicator.

“Bone Squad, this is Alpha. I need assi—“

Alpha threw the communicator down, shaking his hand vigorously, and came to an unexpected stop. It was as red as a newly crafted horse shoe with globules of light sparking from the center of it. He shook his head and continued on with his escape. For the second time in his life, he was scared, and understood that he couldn’t handle this on his own. Not after what he had seen. As he approached the escape ladder that led to Kings Row, and began to scale upwards his head turned to find a river of fire charge around the corner. He became engulfed in hues of red, orange, and yellow as its approach became more near. One last act of strength shot through his arms and legs as he jumped through the sewer hole and onto the asphalt of Kings Row. As his right foot came from out of the sewer, flames licked the soles of his foot causing him to pull it up faster. As he threw the plate back over the manhole he fell to the ground, exhausted. Alpha removed his mask exposing the lower region of his face so he could inhale oxygen properly.

“SSHHREEE!”

Alpha jumped back and onto his feet as the manhole that once covered the sewer was now on top of a column of flames that had shot up from the ground. With his communicator dismantled, and the Bone Squad having no knowledge of his current location, he was on his own for now until someone of greater power and strength happened to pass, and the odds weren’t going to play in his favor. He reached back behind him, fishing around in his quiver and grasped three arrows. He inserted them into the bow in their respective areas, pulled back, and fired. He trotted backwards a little and covered his mouth as a sea of cool mist swamped the area where the column of flames was coming from. The mist ascended in the area of the column and started to wear down the vigorous fires. Unfortunately for him, those were his only carbon dioxide arrows left. The others were used this afternoon to help extinguish a fire caused by the Hellions.

His chest rose and fell more than what it should as he stared at the starving flames that had been robbed of their key ingredient: oxygen. The manhole plate was no more. The temperature was intense enough to melt it from what he could tell by the droplets of liquid metal scattered across the area.

Ten minutes had passed before anything else had occurred, but he stayed armed, ready, and focused. This was a situation not to be taken lightly. For some reason, he was being hunted, and it was obvious that this person wanted him dead. Again. A stench entered his nasal cavity that provoked his attention elsewhere. A few feet away, a car began to tilt to a noticeable angle. A flat tire would have been a logical reasoning if it weren’t for the fact that the rubber from the tires were puddles beneath the car. Alpha jerked his body around to another circle of attention as ashes from paper snowed down onto the ground coming from the direction of a mailbox. He quirked his brow beneath his mask as the mailbox’s right front leg bent and sloshed to the side with the rest of the mailbox in tow. It popped and twisted into an assortment of shapes and bubbling concoctions that met with the sidewalk and slurped down the sewer drain.

Alpha came to the conclusion that this was the act of the one after him, and his display of might and potency was enough to kick Alpha’s adrenaline back into the soles of his feet to continue another long escape back to Bone Squad headquarters. As he ran in the opposite direction of the chaos he could feel the ground tremble beneath him with chips of asphalt jumping and scattering uncontrollably against the street. Cracks weeded through the asphalt as well, separating the ground and making it unstable. Before his eyes a wall of fire, heat, and smoke channeled up through the ground and evaporating oxygen at an abnormal rate. Panicking to some degree he ran in the opposite direction only to have the same thing happen again. He made a dash for it to his left, hopped on top of a car, and flung himself towards an adjacent avenue. As soon as his soles made contact with the ground, another wall shot up licking the front of his body with heat and flames that chewed through his jacket and Kevlar.

“DAMN!”

He had one final stretch of adrenaline and strength as his mind pumped these elements through his body as if he had taken in large quantities of creatine. His entire perception and view on reality seemed to have retarded themselves as every ounce of his will and perseverance rushed through his veins. The muscles in his arms, chest, thighs, and calves pushed themselves to an acme they had never reached. As he halted all action and mustered up every last bit of his soul into the pit of his stomach, he jumped towards the last open area. As Alpha flew through the air, and as gravity pulled him closer and closer to a promised escape, a fist mauled with fire struck his jawbone; throwing it entirely out of place and causing him to fly backwards at an astonishing rapid speed. His back slammed into the side of a car. The force thrown at him caused his body to dent the car with enough force to bend it in half and implode the windows to send glass shattering and scattering across the street like a colony of ants.

As Alpha opened his eyes to attempt to concentrate, a sinister face came into his line of sight which marked the peak of his anxiety.

“Lights. Out.”

[Yin]

Alpha promised himself he would not die in a manner like this. Before he knew it, the being’s fist collided with the car as if a bull had just rammed its horns into it. The car became further dented and scrapped with the hood jutting upwards creating a fixed, twisted point. The windshield fell all the way through the car, and it began to leak gasoline and oil due to busted pipes and cables. As the being pulled his fist away he saw no signs of Alpha Sentry and questioned his strength. He couldn’t have knocked him back seeing how Alpha had his back slouched up against the car, and his attack was sent in a downward arc. As the fiery being stood there baffled he felt three sharp pains enter through his back. His reaction was intense as he bent over in an ocean of pain while throwing his arms behind him and removing the objects from his flesh. As he pulled his arms forward in his fist were three arrows dripping Egyptian blood all over the ground. He snarled loudly, and at the same times his eyes flared up as he turned around to see Alpha Sentry kneeling on the ground with bow cocked and a fistful of arrows between fingers and bow string.

“Fool. Teleportation will only get you but so far when facing a god.”

He threw down the arrows in his fist, jumped up into the air, performed a dual flip, and made contact with the ground. Upon contact he combusted into a full conflagration of flames with a sword crafting itself in his grasp. With a sinister smirk widening upon his lips he crept towards Alpha with strides marked with omnipotence and authority.

“…this is not my ending. I may be beaten and battered when finished, but we will meet again. This I promise you.”

Alpha said as he drew in his target with the precision of an eagle. His fingers moved away from the palm of his hand releasing a flock of arrows that rained down upon the god. With the arrows ahead of him, Alpha shifted from his knelt position and jumped into a dive roll which folded out into a sprint behind his arrows. As the god moved his sword through the air to parry each and every single arrow, Alpha grabbed the center of his bow with both hands and slid across the oily asphalt like a baseball player. As he came within distance of the god, all of his strength was channeled through his chest into his arms as he swung the bow upwards hitting his enemy’s chin. The force knocked the god off of his feet and threw his jawbone out of place. The crack and pop upon contact assured this. As he fell and landed hard on his back, Alpha Sentry removed four arrows from his quiver. *Thwap* *Thwap* *Thwap* *Thwap* The god’s body convulsed violently as all four arrows hit the four major joints of his body. Both shoulders and both knees laid temporarily paralyzed as arrows jutted from the centers of each joint. Looking into his eyes, Alpha Sentry saw nothing but a blank stare. The fire that existed in his eyes was no more as well as the fiery aura that was once present around his figure. Perfect.

Alpha Sentry knew this wasn’t the end, but it was enough time for him to get back to Bone Squad headquarters in one piece. As he began to run he pulled himself into an ethereal portal and exited out of the other end. Teleportation was definitely the fastest method, but it always took so much out of him. He could feel his endurance beginning to drop as he repeated the action and ended up further away from his hunter. As he continued to run he convinced himself that there was a possibly that this “god” could pop up at any minute now, and him having no endurance what so ever wouldn’t work in his favor. This had to have been the most intense battle he’s had in a while, and he was soloing it. His stubbornness always led him to such nights. A true vigilante type.

As he pulled himself into a murky alleyway full of shadows and darkness that cloaked him well enough to keep him hidden, he took a moment to catch his breath, and sat his back up against the wall slowly sliding down it to sit. He reached back into his quiver to check the status of his arsenal. He was running low, but if things turned for the worst he always had his street combat skills to help him. Even though they were nothing equal to Charon or Azure Specter, they sufficed, and had gotten him out of a couple of iffy situations. As he regained his composure and strength he picked himself up and continued to escape to Bone Squad headquarters. As he exited the alleyway and stepped back into moonlight a sound from behind startled him. He turned around with his bow cocked and arrows ready only to find a random cat waltzing across a dumpster fishing for something to eat. He shook his head and placed his arrows back into the quiver. He heard something again, but paid it no attention as he continued to escape home. As he started he heard the cat make a noise he had never heard before. Turning around again, Alpha came face to face with what would mark the end of his existence for a second time as a fully ignited vehicle closed in on him.