Tuesday, June 25, 2013

GZ Legends 53: Fallen Heroes

            
While the heroic friends took on the underground bunker of Professor Zombie, the Strykeforce Guard took the stolen artifacts back to the Museum. It took little effort to have them back in their secured exhibits and locked down.  Doctor Vampire saw to the lockdown of the Hearse himself.

            “You know I can’t be held here once my master calls.” The Hearse growled through its grill.

            “Until then, some portion of the universe will be safe.” Doctor Vampire checked the security settings for tampering and then walked away without another word.

            Each member of the team searched for problems in the Museum’s security network. None could be found. The team met out in front of the Museum once their work was done.

            “I can’t figure out how this was done. It’s like they just bypassed all the security measures. Like none of them were there in the first place.” Doctor Vampire said.

            “Uh oh.” Dreamseer said with a finger to her temple.

            “What is it?” Traveler asked.

            “Your security measures are a joke.” The man in the top hat, Stormy Knight stood a few yards away. He had appeared without triggering anything but Dreamseer’s telepathy. He held his cane with its silver skull tightly in a white-gloved fist. The eyes of the skull glowed an eerie green. “But I haven’t come for your trinkets this time, Doctor Vampire. I’ve come for you.”

            “Well that was a mistake!” Lonestar drew his sword and sent his white falcon into the air.

            As Lonestar and his falcon moved to attack, Kyte joined them, reaching out with his shadow tendrils to ensnare Stormy.

            “Is that so?” Stormy, parried Lonestar’s sword by way of the magical cane. A green blast from the cane’s glowing eyes, knocked Lonestar backwards. With fluid grace, Stormy instantly switched targets and swatted Kyte right out of the air with a loud ‘CRACK’. Kyte hit the ground with a heavy thud and didn’t move. The cane had hit him across the forehead. Lonestar’s white falcon dived in, but Stormy gestured with one hand and sealed the bird in a mystical sphere of power.

            With no invitation necessary, Dr. Vampire, Traveler and Dreamseer acted with team coordination to press further attack. Dreamseer, used her power to reach out to Stormy’s mind. The result was disastrous, as he gave her enough mental feedback to shatter the minds of giants. Dr. Vampire flew in with a fist aimed for Stormy’s leering face. Stormy responded by catching that arm between his own arm and the cane. He flipped the Vampire hero through the air while simultaneously kicking Traveler in the face. The kick came with a burst of mystical power that knocked Traveler out. Dr. Vampire hit the ground roughly, but jumped back to his feet with no quarter taken. Stormy blocked a hail of punches and flying kicks with sneering laughter. After that, he quickly struck the Doctor across the jaw with the skull head on the cane. As Doctor Vampire’s head jerked one direction, the cane came back with vengeance from the other. Stormy mercilessly struck his target back and forth. After a fifth vicious and bloody strike, Doctor Vampire’s body hit the ground.

           
Stormy Knight stood victorious over the bodies of the Strykeforce Guard.

            “I said I wanted you, and I get what I want.” Stormy cast a spell that sent their unconscious bodies to a place known only to him. “You won’t be keeping your promise to help those pitiful fools on Earth. You will help me instead.”

            Then, with a tap of his cane, Jonathon “Stormy” Knight vanished on another mission.

            In Miami, Florida, the team of Calibur 5 had been helping set the city right again after the whole mess with the Tiara of the Mind. They kept Ricci’s mansion after her death at the hands of the Mayor. They rearranged some things to taste, but mostly enjoyed the lavish comfort of her great house. Zacheriah Ace, Lawrence Jackdaw, Stagefright, and Gypsy were all very proud of their teammate, Nightfall. They knew that she would find out what was behind the imbalances on Earth. Then they planned to rejoin her and the other heroes to help in the fight.

            “From what I understand, Professor Zombie has been taken into custody.” Zachariah said as they all sat in the living room for a meeting.

            “Excellent! Does he know who’s behind the blocking of the sun?” Stagefright asked.

            “Currently he’s unconscious, but Nightfall thinks she can still get something out of him.”

            “Since when does unconscious stop her?” Gypsy asked with a smirk.

            “The being called Nyhtwulf scrambled the man’s brainwaves.”

            “Oh. Well, at least he deserved it.” Gypsy shrugged.

            “Speaking of deserving,” Stormy Knight appeared in the middle of the room.

            The first to respond to an enemy in their midst was Lawrence. He needed to get to his feet in order for his high speed reflexes to be useful. He jumped up, reaching for his blasters, but an uppercut with the cane tossed him over the back of the chair he had been sitting in. Lawrence hit the wall behind the chair with a crash.

            Stormy’s immediate follow up move was a hard kick that slammed Stagefright’s face into the ornate frame of the fireplace mantel.

            “Next?” Stormy taunted.

            Gypsy generated a spell blast meant to throw Stormy out the window. Stormy Knight gestured without even looking and reversed the magic back to its source. Gypsy slammed into a wall and collapsed to the floor.

           
As a hand to hand combatant, Zachariah was far better than Doctor Vampire. Every move came from years of tactical training. Even Stormy could only barely evade the surgical combat prowess of the Calibur 5 leader. The two men met with a flurry of strikes that would kill a lesser man on contact. Each one was parried with blinding speed and replaced by another and another. Zachariah could feel himself moving through Stormy’s defenses. He could feel the strain he put on his opponent. Finally, after several long seconds of a masterful display, Zachariah put a hand at Stormy Knight’s throat.  Suddenly, arcs of electricity jolted over the master soldier’s body and landed him at Stormy’s feet.


            Stormy took several deep breaths. “Where the physical fails, magic will suffice. You were a fool to think I’d fight fair, Zachariah Ace.”

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