Chapter 14: An Explosive Celebration

Giant Moth threatens to ruin the Fourth of July for everyone, but thankfully, the Looks Don't Matter trio is there to stop him.

Before we all could see it coming, Independence Day was upon us. And what better way to spend it than by renting the penthouse in one of the tallest hotels in New York, and watching from the balcony as the fireworks were launched off the top of the newly-rebuilt World Trade Center? Just hours before the darkened skies were scheduled to light up in patriotic colors, I was busying myself lounging on the living room couch, positioned just below a large octagonal skylight as I watched a stand-up routine on the TV, featuring an all too familiar red-haired man.

"So about a year ago, I was passing through a parking garage by a beach in Florida. I saw this fine young woman in a bikini, loading beach equipment into the back of her car, and y'know what I said? 'Damn girl, you're packing a lot in that trunk! Heyo!'" the comedian quipped, followed by a couple of snares and a cymbal-crash.

The unamused audience remained dead silent.

"Really? This train-wreck again?" I grumbled.

It was then that Tequila entered the room with a rather thick pizza box, which looked noticeably damp and squishy, no thanks to all the grease from its contents. She was clad in a cropped, de-sleeved flannel shirt that happened to contain the colors of the American flag, alongside some khaki mini-shorts that showed off her fantastic legs.

"I'm back, dearie!" she called out, setting the pizza on the coffee table and cuddling up next to me on the couch. "Sorry if it makes a bit of a mess, but I guess it serves me right for ordering meat-lovers, huh?"

"Oh, here's a good one! So one evening I invited this chick over for dinner, but before she showed up, I asked, 'Hey, is there anything you can't or won't eat?' And she said, 'Oh, I'm a Livertarian,' and I was like, 'Er, I was asking about your diet, not your political views' and then she said, 'No, I mean the only part of the animal I eat is the liver.'" the comedian explained, garnering the same response.

"Dude, the laws have changed. You can get a new job now." Tequila scowled. "Honestly, how the f**k this guy keeps getting gigs is beyond me."

"You said it," I replied. "Now where'd you get dinner from?"

"There was a food court next door to the hotel that's said to be extremely delicious. Like a nacho bar with made-to-order chips, or an all-American diner that somehow knows how to make turkey burgers juicy, or hell, even the vegan restaurant is said to be good. But as for me, I just chose the pizza joint. Apparently their deep-dish is even better than what you can get in Chicago," Tequila explained.

"Sounds good. Now let's dig in before it drips all over the table," I said, sitting up and opening the box.

"Heh, well I'm sure that's not the only thing dripping," Tequila remarked, smirking seductively as she nudged my arm. "Say Jasper, did I ever tell you how dashing you look when you're hungry?"

"And something tells me we'll both still be hungry even after we finish this pizza," I sultrily replied.

Before things could escalate any further, a news alert abruptly popped up during the comedy routine, accompanied by a jingle.

"Breaking news tonight, folks! A masked criminal armed with a jetpack and a laser rifle has been sighted hovering around the World Trade Center, effectively halting tonight's Fourth of July festivities!" the reporter announced. "Everyone on the ground has been safely evacuated, but there are still dozens of people trapped inside the skyscrapers!"

The camera then cut to a man who I could immediately recognize as Giant Moth, who busied himself cackling fiendishly as he fired his laser all around him, destroying the nearby cars and ground in the process.

"Ooh! A reporter! Step aside, chump!"

Right after saying that, he quickly flew over and knocked the reporter high into the air with a momentum-charged uppercut, before flying after him and knocking him back into the ground with an elbow to the gut. Tequila and I winced as he then finished the reporter off with a laser blast, eliciting a scream of unbridled agony, before miraculously catching the microphone in his hand as it fell from the sky.

"Listen up, you 'Looks Don't Matter' twerps! Y'all better come out and face me soon, lest I decide to slice up these here skyscrapers, most likely killing everyone inside in the process!" Giant Moth threatened. "And don't take too long! 'Cause I've got 90,000,000 smackers ridin' on this... not to mention a very itchy trigger-finger! Now prepare to be fricasseed... or served al pastor in the Mexican's case!"

All it took was one concentrated blast to the camera to cut off the broadcast, leaving nothing but static on the screen.

"Ugh, this gringo's murderous and he's racist." Tequila rolled her eyes with a huff. "If I had a Jamaican dollar for every time someone called me Mexican, I'd be able to turn Africa into a first-world continent."

"You'd think the rest of that goon squad would've given up after their boss was arrested," Xavier commented, having entered the room without Tequila or I knowing.

"Yeah, but regardless, we'd better get out there and stop him," I replied. "I'm sure we don't want to see the World Trade Center get destroyed twice in our lifetimes."

"We weren't even born when that happened," Tequila responded with half-shut eyes.

"Damn it, you ruined the moment!"

"Anywho... suit up time?"

"Suit up time," Xavier and I replied in unison.

With that, we entered one of the two bedrooms included in the penthouse and opened the suitcase that contained our combat armor, as well as our tweaked contacts and earpieces. For once in his life, Xavier took off that damn lab-coat and went into the restroom to change, while Tequila and I resorted to using the other two bathrooms in the suite. After we were all suited up, we stepped out onto the balcony, which was surrounded by walls instead of railings, allowing us to stand on top. As soon as we stepped outside, I switched my contacts to infra-red mode so I could see everything better.

"Now the quickest route to Giant Moth's destination is that way." Xavier pointed to our left. "Let's hope nobody here's afraid of heights."

"After being knocked off the top of the MGM Grand? Not anymore," I replied. "Now c'mon, let's stop wasting our time!"

---

Without saying anything more, I dove off the porch and switched my suit to glider mode, slowing my descent as I "flew" towards our destination. I briefly looked back to see if my friends were gliding after me, which they were. It took a good ten minutes, but we eventually made it to a landing spot just yards away from the World Trade Center, each of us managing to land gracefully on our feet. Just ahead of us, Giant Moth was still continuing his psychotic rampage, though he thankfully hadn't touched the skyscrapers yet. Speaking of which, I took notice of the two nearest towers, which were relatively close in height; piles of equipment for tonight's firework show were on top of one of them.

"Okay good, he hasn't spotted us yet. How about we split up? Tequila, you go to the left tower and make your way onto the roof. And along the way, be sure to grab something reflective," I began. "Xavier and I will do the same at the tower to the right. If we split up, we can take turns distracting him so we can safely let all the hostages escape."

"Sounds like a plan." Tequila nodded and sprinted to our left.

"You know, your strategy planning skills just might rival mine after all," Xavier commented as we ran to the right.

"Thanks, bro," I replied.

---

Within the next while, Xavier and I managed to scale the tower from the inside, telling any person we came across to make their way downstairs and make a run for it as soon as Giant Moth turned away, while making sure to stay quiet while doing so. We eventually ended up on the roof, where all the fireworks were positioned. A brief call from Tequila via our earpieces acted as a way to let us know that she had accomplished her own task as well.

"Ugh, just when are those losers gonna show up?!" Giant Moth cried out, hovering between the buildings and not seeming to notice us. "I'd sure love to upgrade my blaster, but I'll need the prize money to afford it!"

Right on cue, Tequila grabbed a brick that was lying around and tossed it right at his head, capturing his attention.

"Face it, freak! GG's behind bars, so there's no more prize money! You can either surrender, or we can make you!" she threatened him.

Giant Moth said nothing in reply as he quickly flew towards her and started to shoot.

"Whoop! Holy s**t, he came fast!" Tequila called out, flipping and kart-wheeling away from the oncoming laser blasts. "Kinda' reminds me of someone, eh Jasper?"

"Really funny, Tequila," I grunted into my earpiece as I watched the people from my building quietly slip out and hurry to safety.

I kept watching the silent crowd run away, while simultaneously glancing over at the adjacent rooftop.

"Say hello to my little friend!" Giant Moth taunted.

"Scarface? Huh, your taste isn't too shabby." Tequila dodged another blast as she quipped back.

At that, Giant Moth charged up his blaster again.

"Okay... now!" I called out.

In response, Tequila pulled out what appeared to be a large shard from a mirror and held it in front of her. This managed to deflect an incoming shot from Giant moth, sending it right into his face. The resulting impact created a small explosion, disintegrating his gas mask and sending him reeling and spinning until he hovered just above the roof of the building that Xavier and I were standing on. Now we were able to make out the messy, heavily-matted hair on his head, with a headband present to keep it out of his face.

"Heh, I suppose there's more than one way to skin a moth." Xavier sneered.

We didn't hesitate to work together and deck him with a flurry of heated and/or electrified punches, disarming him in the process. We then simultaneously nailed him with spin-kicks, knocking him onto his stomach. While our foe was stunned, Xavier and I hurried over to the cluster of equipment, grabbing two fireworks and attaching one to each jet on Giant Moth's jetpack with some duct tape. We backed away just in time as he sprang back onto his feet and took off into the air, only while he tried to loop back around towards us, the fireworks ended up being lit by the flames from his jetpack and began to wreck his flying patterns. He could hardly control himself as he flew around haphazardly, occasionally bumping into one of the two buildings without causing much damage.

As Xavier and I watched the admittedly humorous spectacle, I also glanced downwards, watching as the last of the people evacuated themselves from the building that Tequila was on, showing that she had successfully done her job in keeping them safe.

"Okay, so if things go according to plan, then he'll crash into the fireworks and be defeated. It'll likely destroy a small portion of the building as well, but at least there'll be much less damage and no causalities this time," Xavier said. "And with that explosion taking place, we'll have no chance of using the stairs or elevators without getting hurt, so we'll have to jump again."

"Duly noted," I replied, grabbing Giant Moth's stolen gun.

I ended up putting the gun on the ground and gripping it from the sides with my feet so I could still glide normally. Xavier and I front-flipped off the roof and glided towards the ground just as the fireworks' fuses ran out, causing Giant Moth to be blown up in a bright, multicolored explosion, alongside the rest of the fireworks on the roof. Upon reaching the ground, I picked up his weapon in my hands as we approached the police that had arrived on the scene, with Tequila catching up with us along the way.

"He's been defeated, officer," I said. "And I'd suggest you destroy this thing so no one else can get their hands on it."

"Excellent work, folks," the cop replied, accepting the gun.

As we watched the cops drive off, my friends and I simply stood there, all the while soaking up the applause and adoration from the crowds of bystanders we'd rescued.

"Well surely this'll be a night to remember," Tequila said matter-of-factly. "Or more accurately an Independence Day to remember."

"You got that right," I replied. "Only downside is that our planned Fourth of July supper might be stone cold by now."

"Eh, it's fine. They usually have microwaves in hotel rooms," Xavier replied.

"Yeah, but if we use that, then the crust will lose its crunch," Tequila groaned. "Bah well, at least everyone can celebrate tonight in peace."