Chapter Thirty Four

Hero's Call: Chapter Thirty Four

“What are you doing here, Captain?” Pulsar demanded, not entirely as incredulous as he sounded. “And how did you do that. I thought your powers failed a long time ago.”

Captain Amazing shrugged. “Nothing a little will power can’t overcome, I guess. You kids okay?”

They all nodded as they formed a half circle around him. Not a single one of them expected to see Captain Amazing joining them, especially not with such a grand entrance like the one he’d just made. It buoyed their confidence now that the old Hero was going to be fighting by their side.

“Have we found Xander,” Captain Amazing asked them, “or, more importantly, Destructo?”

Before any of them could answer, a booming voice cut through the eerie quiet of the warehouse.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my old nemesis.” Destructo’s voice echoed off the bare walls. The small group of Heroes turned their eyes upward. Destructo was slowly descending into the room on a polished metallic platform that wasn’t connected to anything. In front of him was a small set of controls that clearly operated the free motion platform. Kneeling on the platform next to him, bound and gagged, was Xander. One of his eyes was bruised and swollen and a stream of blood was running down the side of his face. Despite his condition, he was alert, terror and relief welling in his eyes when he saw Captain Amazing and the others.

“I must admit,” Destructo continued, “that I did not expect to see you here tonight, Captain. Just like old times, eh, friend?”

The platform set down gently on the concrete floor of the warehouse, but Destructo didn’t step off of it. He was bedecked in full regalia. His uniform was vibrant in the dim light of the warehouse. The emblem on his chest seemed to glow faintly with a sickening light. His dark eyes peered out from the opening in his helmet that acted as a psionic deterrent. Compared to Captain Amazing, Destructo didn’t look like he’d aged a single day since he was put away.

“Why don’t you step over here,” Amazing said hatefully, “and I’ll show you how good of a friend I think you.”

Destructo clucked his tongue. “Such violence,” he said comically. “You should think better of speaking to the man who will be emperor of the world in less than twenty minutes.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Pulsar blurted out. “Just give up and hand over the control to the nanobots. This doesn’t have to get any more violent.”

Destructo considered Pulsar with an empty curiosity.

“And what do you call yourself, young Hero,” he asked, his voice tinted with amusement.

“Pulsar,” replied Pulsar confidently.

“Hmm…” Destructo mused. “I like it. It’s unfortunate that your career should come to such an abrupt end.”

“Leave them out of this,” Amazing cut in. “This is between you and me, and we both know it. So why don’t you step off that little go kart of yours and we’ll deal with this like real men, huh?”

Destructo narrowed his eyes at Captain Amazing. There was a long moment of silence in which he appeared to be considering the proposition.

“Fine,” he said finally. “We’ll settle this the old fashioned way. Time, it appears, has not been kind to you. I wonder if your advanced age has affected your old strength. Do you really think you can stand against me? You’re an old man.”

Captain Amazing shrugged. “Then this should be easy for you.”

Destructo stepped off his platform and left Xander alone.

“See to Xander, you three,” Amazing instructed them without taking his eyes off Destructo. “Do not get involved with this fight in any way. If he somehow manages to take me down, you’ll get your chance. You are not to step in unless I’m dead, do you understand?”

“Yes,” the three young Heroes answered in unison.

With a speed no one thought possible at his age, Captain Amazing closed the distance between himself and Destructo. Landing a massive right hook on Destructo’s chin, the Villain soared through the air and landed with a dull thud twenty yards away. Captain Amazing zipped after him, flying low to the ground instead of walking or running. His mind was bent on pressing his advantage.

Pulsar, Cobalt, and Marvelous Maiden tore their eyes away from the clash between two titans, and quickly set to work free Xander from his restraints. Marvelous Maiden wrapped her arms around his neck when he was free, and Xander sputtered a little from the pressure she hadn’t realized she was putting on him.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said, releasing him. “You must have been so scared.”

“What happened?” Pulsar demanded, not letting Xander reply to Maiden.

“Raven sold me out,” he told them. “I barely got a foot in the door before Destructo ambushed me. She must have been keeping closer tabs on me than I expected, must have seen me go to you guys about Destructo and got here before I did.”

Pulsar nodded. He took some solace in the fact that Raven was lying unconscious somewhere else in the warehouse.

“So how can we stop this?” Cobalt asked.

Xander stood and rubbed his wrists. “Destructo’s control room is at the back of the warehouse. The main control is on him, but I think there’s an override sequence that can be initiated at one of the panels in the control room. Since Number 1 �"”

“Who?” asked Pulsar, cutting Xander off.

“The giant robot that was turned into a shish kabob with his own arm over there,” Xander pointed to the lifeless form of Number 1 and Cobalt beamed with pride. “Since he’s taken out, and I assume someone has dealt with the henchers since they’re nowhere in sight, there’s nothing standing in our way. We can use Captain Amazing’s distraction as an opportunity to get into the control room and shut down Destructo’s whole operation.”

“Perfect,” Pulsar agreed. “Show us the way.”

Xander motioned for them to follow him, and they set off at a run toward the back of the warehouse. From behind them there came a loud crash of metal on metal. None of them turned to see what had caused the commotion, but it only took moments for them to find out.

“Not so fast, little Heroes,” Destructo announced. His platform went zipping by over their heads and set down in front of them, putting him directly in between them and the control room door. “I must ask you to refrain from entering my control room. It would be in your best interest.”

“Stuff it, Destructo,” Xander spat. “We’re putting a stop to your insanity.”

Czar Destructo shook his head slowly. “Betrayed by my own clone,” he said solemnly. “That’s why I get for using a foreign sample.”

The statement peaked Pulsar’s curiosity, but before he could speak Destructo pressed a button on the control panel of his personal transport. A concussive force erupted from the base of the platform and three all four of them backwards like a gale force wind. Marvelous Maiden, acting on pure instinct, pulled herself out of the spin she was in and managed to save both Cobalt and Xander from crashing painfully to the floor. Pulsar, being the furthest from Maiden, was not so lucky. He landed hard on the concrete and all the air in his lungs was forced out in a rush.

“Are you ok?” Cobalt asked, pulling Pulsar to his feet.

“Oh, yeah,” Pulsar answered, his voice hoarse. “I’m just dandy.”

He looked around the room, but didn’t see Captain Amazing anywhere. Destructo was still standing in front of the control room entrance. Marvelous Maiden and Xander were approaching.

“We don’t have much time left,” Pulsar said, more thinking out loud than anything. “If we don’t stop Destructo soon, nothing we’ve done tonight will mean anything. Cobalt, Maiden, you two need to distract him while I get Xander into the control room so we can shut this madness down. Do whatever you have to do, but get him away from that control room.”

They both nodded and turned away, ready to whatever they had to do to keep Destructo distracted. Pulsar heard them exchange a few quick words before Maiden slid her arms under Cobalt’s and lifted him into the air with her. She sped across the warehouse and released him, turning Cobalt into a human missile. Destructo was ready for them, though, and dodged out of the way on his transport just before Cobalt landed in the spot Destructo had been in seconds before. The concrete cracked and crumbled under the young Hero’s feet.

“Get ready to move,” he told Xander as Marvelous Maiden swooped in for a dive attack which missed by inches. He couldn’t help but notice how expertly his friends were slowly moving Destructo out of his way without making it obvious what they were trying to do. When they had managed to move Destructo far enough away, Pulsar turned to Xander. “Let’s move.”

They broke into a sprint, aimed directly at the door of the control room. Since he was the clone of a Villain, Xander had no trouble keeping pace with Pulsar, and it made Pulsar wonder exactly how tough Xander was despite how he acted. He had no idea what kind of power dwelled in Xander’s body, but he didn’t have time to focus on that. When they saved the world from total destruction, he’d explore the issue further. But it was too late, he’d let his mind wander too much. Maiden and Cobalt had lost control of the situation and Destructo was speeding toward he and Xander at an incredible rate. He’d be on top of them in seconds. They’d never make it.

“I’m through playing with you, children,” Destructo’s voice called out from behind them.

Pulsar didn’t turn around, but he could see a faint blue light growing in intensity in front of him. Instinctively he knew another one of Destructo’s weapons was powering up, and he would do well to make sure it missed him when it was finally fired. He just had to keep moving and get out of sight in the control room.

“Look out,” Xander called out. The clone had not, apparently, been thinking the same thing as Pulsar. He was still moving forward, but his eyes were turned back. At the last second just before Destructo’s weapon fired, he lunged sideways and knocked Pulsar off balance and out of the way. A blinding ball of electricity zapped out of the base of the platform and collided with Xander now instead of Pulsar. His body went rigid for a moment as it convulsed, and then crumbled to the floor lifelessly.

“No!” Captain Amazing called out from nowhere. He shot across the warehouse in a blur and tackled Destructo in mid-air. The pair tumble through the air and crashed through a window and out of the warehouse.

Pulsar pulled himself to his feet and ran to where Xander’s lifeless form lay. Marvelous Maiden and Cobalt joined him moments later. Xander failed to respond to Pulsar when he shook the clone calmly at first and then violently. When Pulsar realized Xander wasn’t breathing, his heart sank into his feet.

“Is he…” Maiden began, but Pulsar silenced her with a shake of his head. “No,” she gasped.

Pulsar knew she had her own personal reasons to be upset by Xander’s death, but both he and Cobalt knew the true implications. He was the only one of them that could have initiated the override sequence to stop Destructo’s plan. The only other option was getting Destructo to release the main controls, and he had disappeared out of the warehouse with Captain Amazing, maybe to never return.

That was it. They had failed.