Crystal

*****Hi dear readers. I hope you guys are loving the series so far. To be honest with you, I'm happy this arc is being finished. Why? Because like I said before, I really didn't like doing the whole 'conflicting family issues' cliché. In almost every story depicting heroes, there's a nasty situation between siblings, parents, uncles, aunts (not really), but you get the idea. So, the Superior Six are going to stay retired (including Sorceress). As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to insert them into the chapter. Anyways, I'm looking forward to your comments and constructive criticism. It always helps! –DM23*****

Heroes/Heroines mentioned

Commander Shinobay – Force fields, Eye vision

Osprey – Bird-like abilities

Ghost – Invisibility, Intangibility

Zipper – Enhanced Speed

Shell – Bulletproof, Enhanced strength

Jasper – Pyrokinetic, Flight (Temporarily Suspended)

Dark Matter – Dark Matter Manipulation

Crystal – Cryokinetic, Hydrokinetic

Hyper – Flight, Hyperbeams

Cherry – Teleporter, Martial artist

Dot – Cat-like abilities

Dr. Walton – Multitasking

Villains/Villainesses mentioned:

Dictator Jones - Mind control

Asphalt - Concrete-like skin, Enhanced Physical Abilities

C4 - Ninja, Explosives

One-Eye - Sniper, Intangibility

Acrobat - Echolocation, Flight

Dr. Genie - Mad scientist specializing in splicing

Ruthless - Enhanced strength, Martial artist

Mistress - Telekinetic, Flight

Giggles – Invisibility

Dr. Genie's Experiments

Pterror - Monster, Flight

Skinny – humanoid figure with new abilities

The alarm woke the heroes up way ahead of schedule. In Dark Matter and Crystal's room, all the heroes, besides Hyper, were up on their feet when they realized this the maximum alarm. Zipper raced over to Hyper's ultraviolet lamp and cranked it up as high as it could go. As expected, Hyper jumped up and, upon hearing the alarm, raced with Zipper back to her room to get a clean uniform. In fifteen minutes, all heroes and heroines had converged to the Meeting Room, where the Commander was marking locations on the table's map app.

"I'm putting off today's daily meeting until later," he informed. "Right now, things are getting disastrous across the country. I'm marking locations for your convenience so that you guys can choose an area and put a stop to all these villainous actions."

"So I'll be getting my powers back?" Jasper asked hopefully.

"No, you'll be helping Dr. Walton attend to any patients that needs to be taken care of," Commander Shinobay replied, dashing Jasper's hopes. "Zipper, you will also be joining Dr. Walton in bringing those patients in. When the rest of you are finished with the area you're defending, get a quick rest and head over to the United Nations so you can help with security during their international meeting."

"Yes sir!" everyone replied before choosing a place to defend.

The Commander knew something was up, he just couldn't place his finger on what it was.

*****

With the location of Asphalt's attack being in Atlanta, Georgia, Shell arrived in no time to put a stop to his crimes. As he looked for the latest area where the villain had attacked, there was no mistaking what Asphalt had done. He had ripped the street split in half, made pillars of earth rise of the ground to fall on people and cars, and even made some of the buildings fall against each other.

Hearing frightened screams down the street, he raced in that direction where he came upon a bunch of people running in terror from Asphalt as he made the street crack open behind them. Grabbing a nearby car, Shell leapt to a roof, staying out of Asphalt's line of sight. When the villain drew near his position, Shell leapt off the roof and slammed the car on top of Asphalt.

Instead of being pinned underneath the car like Shell had expected, Asphalt's body went through the car, and was restricted from attacking. Before he could make a move, Shell climbed on the car and gave the villain a good right hook straight to his cheeks. With his face defenseless, Asphalt could only grunt in pain as he unwantedly received blows from the hero.

Surprisingly, he split the car in half when he had mustered enough strength. Before he could retaliate, Shell jumped off the car and put a little bit of distance between them.

"What's the meaning of this random attack?" Shell demanded. "You're not near any banks or casinos, so this is definitely not like you."

"I just wanted to exercise a bit," Asphalt shrugged. "I feel like I'm getting . . . fat."

"Then hit a treadmill," Shell suggested.

"Tried," Asphalt replied. "I broke it."

"Then how about you go take a run in the country where you won't be a bother to anyone," Shell tried a second time.

"Where's the fun in that?" Asphalt asked. "I love seeing the fear on people's faces when they see me."

"I don't have fear, I have disgust," Shell retorted.

"Actually, my primary job is to keep you here," Asphalt revealed, "and I'll do anything to make that happen."

He made a chunk of the pavement rise into his hands and threw it at Shell. Thankful for the distance, Shell jumped to the side and raced towards Asphalt. The villain suddenly made the ground open up right where Shell was going to step, catching the hero off guard as he fell into the newly made crevice. However, he didn't fall completely as he was able to get his hands on the crevice's edge. With menacing laughter, Asphalt made the crevice start closing on the hero, forcing him push against both sides of the crevice so that he wouldn't be crushed.

"Now, it's time for a little revenge," Asphalt said, standing over Shell.

Drawing back his foot, Asphalt kick Shell hard in the face, making him cry out in pain. He repeatedly slammed his foot against his face until it looked like Shell's face was going to fall apart.

"Any last words before I send you to hell?" Asphalt asked as he watched Shell's arms wobble.

"Take your best shot," Shell spat.

"With pleasure," Asphalt smiled.

Once again, he drew his foot back to kick Shell with his maximum strength. Unexpectedly, this time, instead of taking it, Shell used his strength to push him up high enough to catch Asphalt's foot before it hit him. With both of his hands occupied, he descended in the crevice, pulling Asphalt down with him.

As he expected, Asphalt latched onto the ledge to keep from falling, giving Shell the opportunity to climb up his back and out of the crevice. And before the villain could follow suit, Shell kicked him hard in the face, sending the villain down into his own crevice.

"Shell to Commander, Asphalt is taken care of," Shell called in.

"Good job, Shell," the Commander replied. "Give me a status report."

"Streets are heavily damaged, a few building torn down, and Asphalt is in a hole," Shell informed. "I suggest that some construction workers come and fill the hole Asphalt's in or else we'll see him again faster than we like."

"Noted, I'll relay the message to the right people to get it done," Commander Shinobay agreed.

"One last thing," Shell remembered. "Asphalt said that his primary mission was to keep me busy."

"So there is something going on," Commander Shinobay muttered more to himself than to Shell. "Thanks Shell, get back to the nearest tower and rest up for a moment so you'll be ready for when the United Nations hold their meeting."

*****

Up in Chicago, Illinois, in The Alise Chicago, One-Eye was busy putting bullets in every officer that came within his vision. With his sniper rifle, he was hitting officers from miles away, prompting the city to send out a massive hunt to bring him down. However, that was only bringing them into his line of sight even more, giving him the chance to practice at making difficult shots.

That all stopped when Cherry teleported into the same room he was in. He automatically turned intangible to keep himself from harm but (as she remembered Ghost going up against Olivia during the military's attack against Pollen), Cherry pulled out a taser and shocked him with it. He instantly twitched uncontrollably and writhed around on the floor, trying to move away from Cherry, but she wasn't letting him go that easily.

The moment his twitching stopped, One-Eye pulled out two pistols before Cherry could shock him again, firing in her direction wherever she teleported. With her backing away from him, One-Eye was able to take his sniper and intangibly sink through the floor to the room underneath them. Quickly, he set up his sniper, as Cherry teleported in the room a second later, and fired.

She teleported again, this time coming closer to him, but One-Eye wasn't going to be caught off guard this time. As soon as she came closer, he kicked the taser out her hand and across the room. Knowing she was going for it, One-Eye turned to where the taser landed as Cherry teleported there to get it and fired at her.

He missed.

Just a little bit more to the left and the bullet would have gone through her skull. Being that close with death sparked Cherry's survival skills and she teleported out of the room. One-Eye knew what was about to happen and he immediately went to the kitchen, grabbing the sharp knives and cleavers for later use. As he turned around, he saw Cherry touching his sniper.

"Don't do it," One-Eye demanded. She smirked in response before she teleported with his sniper. When she came back, she had her grenade launcher in her hands. "Bitch."

"What, you have weapons," Cherry grinned.

"It's not a fair fight," One-Eye growled.

"You have guns . . . and knives," Cherry replied, taking a look at One-Eye's new inventory. "I just have one grenade launcher. If you can't make do with what you got then that's your fault."

Irritated, he threw the knives and cleaver at her, not wanting to give her the chance to use the grenade launcher against him. She quickly teleported to the side, loading the launcher to have it ready when she was ready to fire. The problem was that One-Eye was throwing the knives at her in a clockwise rotation to so that he could retrieve the knives while also making sure she wouldn't be able to fire.

She did get her chance, though. At one point, One-Eye didn't grab a cleaver quick enough, giving Cherry the moment she was waiting for. She fired a grenade at him, forcing him to turn intangible at the last second and the grenade passed through his body. It blew up the wall behind him, as well as part of the floor he was standing on.

Falling to the room below him, he didn't even bother running around the furniture as he raced to find a hiding spot before deciding to hide underneath the counter. A moment later, he heard Cherry teleport into the room and reloaded his pistols.

Jumping out from his hiding spot, he fired as her with both pistols. Instead of teleporting back to a safer distance as he expected, Cherry teleported behind him and hit him upside the head with the grenade launcher. As he turned intangible again, she shocked him with the taser before he could escape.

"Make it more challenging for me next time, okay?" Cherry requested as she leaned against the counter.

"What . . . are you . . . talking . . . about?" One-Eye panted. "My job . . . was just . . . to keep . . . you busy."

"What do you mean, 'keep me busy'?" Cherry asked.

"This fight . . . wasn't about how . . . difficult I could . . . make it," One-Eye breathed heavily. "It was about . . . how long . . . I could make it. And I think . . . I did . . . a pretty damn good job."

He started laughing at her, prompting her to step on his chest and make him start coughing in pain.

"Cherry to Commander, One-Eye is defeated," Cherry reported. "We fought in The Alise building, so I think we should get some workers to come repair the bill and send our apologies to the owner of the building."

"Thanks Cherry, make sure to get a quick rest before you head to the United Nations," Commander Shinobay replied.

"One more thing," Cherry said quickly. "One-Eye said that our match was a timed fight. I think their prolonging our matches on purpose."

"Yeah, Asphalt told Shell that he was going keep him busy," the Commander said thoughtfully. "I'll relay a message to the other heroes to finish their fight as fast as possible."

*****

A streak of light trailed behind Hyper as she entered Detroit's airspace. It wasn't hard to locate the reason why she chose the area to defend: Mistress was wreaking havoc in the downtown streets. Cars were flying all over the place as Mistress kicked them into buildings or sending them high in the sky. Changing her flight direction, the heroine slowed the descent of a van with a complete family inside. As she, and the van, landed safely on the ground, the surrounding crowd cheered as they saw the heroine arrived.

"Mistress, I'm not going to bother asking what the hell you think you're doing," Hyper crossed her arms. "If you just surrender now, then it'll be easier for both of us."

"What's the matter? Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?" Mistress taunted.

"No, I'm just tired of beating your ass," Hyper snickered.

"I won't be the one losing today," Mistress declared.

Mistress flew up in the air, taking two cars with her, and Hyper immediately followed after her. Using one car as a shield, Mistress had the other one fly straight for Hyper. She flew underneath the car and fired at Mistress, but the beam hit the car. The other car came back at her and slammed into her from behind, making her fall in the sky.

With her back screaming in pain, the heroine twisted her body and flew back up to Mistress, firing beams from under the villainess. The attacking car came back for her, but this time, she planted her feet on in, effectually hiding herself from Mistress' view.

Mistress wasn't fooled however, and made the car plummet to the ground with Hyper underneath. A moment later, Hyper flew from underneath the car, firing multiple beams at Mistress. The villainess used the car shield to protect her, but she could tell the attacks were wearing the car down.

Hyper could tell it was wearing down as well and, with a burst of energy, she doubled her speed and busted through the car, kicking Mistress in the abdomen and sending her down to the top of a building. Mistress landed on her side, but she was back on her feet as Hyper drew closer and closer to her.

Using her telekinetic powers, she grabbed hold of Hyper's body and squeezed it. Grimacing, Hyper struggled against the hold, not making a sound like Mistress wanted her to. To escape, Hyper drew in sunlight to increase her power, which made a ball of light appear around her. Next, she fired a larger hyperbeam than usual, forcing Mistress to jump out the way and unintentionally releasing the heroine from her hold.

Landing, Hyper rushed at Mistress and tackled her to the ground. Before she could recover, Hyper slammed her elbow against Mistress' head. It barely did any damage as Mistress sent Hyper flying, but Hyper didn't relent and fired a plethora of hyperbeams at the villainess.

Mistress automatically made the rooftop cover her to block the beams, then sent a part of the roof straight for Hyper. Instead of going around it, Hyper built up enough speed and burst through the rooftop piece and planted another kick in her stomach and the villainess went skidding across the floor.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be losing today," Hyper reminded her.

"This battle isn't over, not by a longshot," Mistress replied as she stood up.

Telekinetically, Mistress made the rooftop pieces attack Hyper, forcing her to blast the rocks to pieces. Of course, she couldn't defend herself from all of them. Some were getting on her legs, some on her arms, but most were attacking her back when she working on a few others.

And then, she surprised Mistress by firing a hyperbeam right at her. The beam was too fast to dodge and Mistress was hit off the building. The rocks immediately dropped with no one to control them and Hyper flew after Mistress. Instead of slowing her descent, Mistress made a part of the building break off and sent them straight at Hyper. The heroine blasted the pieces at bits and also hit Mistress with a couple of beams as well.

The moment she landed on the ground, Mistress made a small crater in the street, which absorbed most of the impact from her landing. As she climbed out the crater, Hyper flew past her, striking the villainess from her blindside, sending her rolling a couple of feet. The crowd suddenly knew the battle was over and cheered for their heroine's victory.

"Hyper to Commander Shinobay," Hyper called in. "Mistress has been taken care of and Detroit is safe."

"Good job, Hyper," Commander Shinobay replied. "What's the damage in Detroit?"

"A building is partially missing a rooftop, a small crater is in the street," Hyper shrugged to herself. "It's just the usual destruction caused by Mistress."

"Did she say anything about extending your fight?" the Commander asked.

"Not really," Hyper answered. "Actually, earlier in our fight, she said that the battle wasn't over by a longshot. Is there a problem with the duration of our fights?"

"Yeah, we still have to provide security for the United Nations conference," Commander Shinobay replied.

"Right, I'll be right over," Hyper said.

"Get some rest first, then make your way over there," the Commander ordered.

*****

It was Seattle, Washington where Osprey had chosen to defend. Like he was taught, first he landed on a building in the downtown area and, using his enhanced vision, looked around to see where his opponent was. Patiently, he waited for the villain to reveal himself, but he couldn't spot the villain. Suddenly, he heard a gust of wind behind him and was hit from behind. Getting over his surprise, Osprey maneuvered his body to where he was right side up and flew straight up to his opponent.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Acrobat grinned, happy that his ambush was successful. In his hand was a bat he had stolen. "That's what happens when you come late to the game."

"If that's how you're going to play, then I don't have anything to worry about," Osprey replied. "I was surprised, but that attack barely hurt. You're not going soft on me, are you?"

"You know that hurt," Acrobat said. "I put my whole weight behind that swing."

"Right, if that's the case then let me show you how it's really done," Osprey replied.

He ran at Acrobat, who swung the bat for Osprey's face. Ducking, Osprey rose and drove his fist straight into Acrobat's unprotected face, twice before the villain could move. Seeing the bat was no longer useful, Acrobat discarded it and flew at Osprey, kicking at the hero as he blocked the attack. Dropping low, Acrobat did a sweep kick, knocking Osprey off his feet and pounced on him. Grabbing his neck, Acrobat began to choke to keep him from screeching.

That stopped when Osprey grabbed his face and head-butted the villain.

Dazed, Acrobat slid off him, giving the hero a chance to catch his breath. As Acrobat shook the dazed feeling off, and Osprey caught his breath, both opponents took a stance, ready to get the real battle started. They ran at each other, and Osprey got on the inside first as he smashed his shoulder right in Acrobat's chest.

They both fell to the ground as Osprey climbed on top this time. Again, he hit Acrobat's face as hard as possible before the villain could respond. Acrobat did respond as he deflected a few hits with his arm, but Osprey continued striking him repetitively, knowing Acrobat's arm wasn't going to hold out long enough.

And it didn't. When Acrobat's arm move, Osprey struck again, but this time, Acrobat shifted to the side and wrapped his arm around Osprey's attacking arm. With him unable to attack, Acrobat rolled to the side, putting Osprey beneath him. Leaping into the air, Acrobat came back down feet first, planting his feet straight into Osprey's guts. The villain then kicked Osprey into a corner and delivered one of his own solid punches to Osprey's face.