'That? ' What the heck does that mean?
"Watch it, Ben. I think he is going to use that classified weapon they also took."
I raised my fist, pushing my guilt and the memory of hurting Emily's dad. Right now, I need to hurt Atlas, beat him to a pulp, so everyone can live. I took a deep breath, ready for him to pull out any weapons that could hurt me. Instead, Atlas pulled out small metal boxes from his pocket. You know the ones they use for pencil cases.
"I've been dying to test it out, but no one was strong enough. Thank god you're here, eh?" Atlas said in a joking tone, but I didn't laugh.
He pulled something out of the metal box. I blinked rapidly, making sure my eyes were working correctly. In Atlas' hand was a syringe, it contained some kind of gold liquid. And when I say gold, I'm not saying the color was bright yellow, I mean it gold, gold. And it was freaking glowing. He threw the metal case, making it shatter to the wall. I snorted, dramatic, much?
"You should feel privileged, you'll be the first opponent I test this one, first you'll see, then you'll die!" Atlas declares, aiming the syringe at his neck.
"Ben, what are you doing standing there for!? Stop him!"
I mentally slap myself, that's right, what the heck was I doing!? I moved, but it was too late, Atlas already stabbed himself in the neck, the liquid drained as it went inside his bloodstream. Atlas removed it, sighing before suddenly he became still as a statue. He was perfectly still, not a hint of movement whatsoever.
"Oh crud, did he kill himself by accident!?" I took a step back, more than horrified at what just happened.
"No, this is-!"
His chest started moving up and down, his breathing became loud. Honestly, he looked like he was having a heart attack. But Atlas's tank top was suddenly torn to shreds, not by me, but by his muscles expanding. I looked on with horror as veins larger than my finger appeared all over Atlas's body. Not only that, his skin began to darken, and his brown hair started to change into grey. His eyes became extremely bloodshot, his muscles grew even more.
At this point, he probably grew two feet and his muscles look like they were about to break from his skin. Atlas bloodshot crazed eyes look at me like I was fresh meat. His transformation is complete, what stood over me was a completely different man from earlier. He looked more of a demon than a human.
"Yes, this power..." His voice changed, too, appearing to be deeper and booming.
A sadistic grin appeared before he vanished from his eyes.
"What the f-" I felt someone punch me on the jaw, and I didn't just feel it, it HURT.
I stumbled, before collapsing on the floor. My brain was in a daze, and my vision was all wobbly. My brain managed to recover once I saw a red liquid drop to the ground. With a shaking hand, I touched my lip before looking at it, it was blood.
"MOVE!"
My Mind's Eye told me that a large silhouette was on top of me, ready to deliver two hammer fists aimed at my back. I pushed myself out of the way just in time as Atlas' fists crashed to the ground, creating a shockwave. I flew over him as I glared. He removes his hands from the crater he made before raising a brow, seemingly interested in my flight ability.
"Very interesting. What are you?" Putting a hand over his chin and then shrugging.
"I suppose it doesn't matter, you should give up. The Emperor Serum was estimated to give the user strength fifty times their base strength, I'm invincible at this state!.
My heart dropped. While I wasn't good with math, I knew that was a lot. And I don't think he was bluffing. His punches barely felt anything, but now he was making me bleed. No, Ben, it doesn't matter, it shouldn't matter if he grew a hundred times stronger or even a thousand, you can't fail.
I ignored him, clenching my fist. "Even if we can't deactivate the bomb, you could send it to space so nobody gets hurt, but you have to beat Atlas first. You got eleven minutes left, give 'em hell, kid."
I roared as I charged at him, tackling his huge body to the wall, which made him grunt. He swung his fist, which I dodged. Still, Atlas was far faster than a few seconds ago. I jumped back to avoid a haymaker before speeding up to deliver another punch in the face once more. I smiled a little after that clean hit, but Atlas grabbed my wrist and swung me to the wall. My head connected to the concrete wall, and once again, my vision blurred as the world exploded in pain again.
Atlas threw me in the air, though I recovered, shaking my head. He jumped, trying to catch me. I was too nimble in the air, though, and he missed me by a mile. I used his mistake by tackling him to the floor this time. The impact caused large chunks of concrete to fly everywhere. While I was on top of him and he was dazed, I pummeled his face. I managed to land four clean hits before he started to block. I cocked back my fist further to hopefully break his guard.
That turned out to be a mistake because while I wound up, Atlas took this opportunity to grab me by the shirt and pulled my face towards his hard head, it landed. That hurt a lot, forcing me to fly away as I clutched my bloody nose. I charged again, but he intercepted me by throwing a jab while I was about to throw a haymaker. He landed a bit more jabs before using his palm to shove to the floor. I coughed, but I was far from done.
I got up to charge at him, but he dodged my punch swiftly, grabbing my arm that I used to try to punch him with. Then, using another hand, he slammed his fist on my elbow, and what followed was a loud snap.
"AHH!" I screamed in pain.
Looking in horror at my arm that was bent the wrong way. Unfortunately, I didn't get much time to stare as Atlas kicked me away. I skidded to the ground, clutching my arm while tears stung my eyes.
"Kid!!"
I grit my teeth, forcing myself to get up somewhat. One knee was on the floor, and my dominant arm was broken. Atlas was breathing heavily, his eyes never leaving me. But it grew wider as he watched my arm bend back to a normal position, and not even a few seconds passed, I was able to move it again. Atlas's face turns into a grimace as he clicks his tongue in frustration.
While I was glad, I had a healing factor fast enough to repair a broken arm in seconds, I wasn't looking forward to getting myself hurt. And even then, I could feel a phantom pain in my once broken arm. Even if my wounds can heal fast, that doesn't mean it will be impossible to knock me out or make me pass out from the pain. I've got to end this quickly. I got back to my feet, and so did Atlas. I moved for another charge before Gavin stopped.
"Charging in recklessly won't get you anywhere. From what I've seen, you're a bit stronger, but your speed is the key to victory."
I wiped the blood on my mouth. "I don't know, he seems to know how to intercept me."
"Because you're charging in like an idiot, you don't even know how to throw a punch. Atlas is a very experienced hand-to-hand fighter and a tactical veteran as well. It's his skills that allow him to close the gap from your physical dominance."
I was a little annoyed by how much compliment he gave to the guy who broke my arm not even a minute ago. But Gavin is right, his skill gap compared to mine is like underground to space, it's not even a contest. He was a soldier that probably been in countless battles, while I was just some kid who had never been in a fight.
"What do I do then!?" I jumped away as Atlas started to throw large pieces of concrete at me.
"Try to sike him out. Don't just charge in one direction and also use that lightning punch power or whatever! You only have nine minutes left!"
My heart pounded, it was loud enough to probably be heard in a rock concert. Only nine minutes? I've got to end this fast, quick! Though I think I know what to do. I tried to replicate the warmth on my hands from when I hit him hard.
I focused as I easily dodged the rocks flung in my way, a spark of red electricity wrapped around my hand before it started to cover my whole arms. I turned to Atlas, who looked worried and raised his arms for defence. I yelled as I rushed at him. Once I was just a few metres away, I shifted to another direction, and it paid off. Atlas threw a jab to intercept me, I could see his eyes wide as I disappeared from view. Before he could pull his hand away, I rushed at him, delivering a blow to his back.
Atlas shouts in pain and stumbles. His back was smoking from the hit, which left a burn mark on his back. Atlas growled and tried to roundhouse kick me as payback, but I pulled back before charging at him once again. Atlas cocks back his fist, expecting me to charge in once again, but I adjusted my angle to fly over him, my legs ended up touching the wall behind him. I use my leg to push myself off.
With my palms open, I grabbed his shoulders and increased the red electricity output, which wrapped around Atlas' form. He screamed in anguish. For nearly ten seconds, we stood there, me letting out as much energy as I could, while Atlas's screams filled the room. I was beginning to feel bad. Until I remember that he was about to nuke a city, and so I continued.
Suddenly, though, before I could react Atlas pushed himself back to the wall, squeezing me, which forced me to let go. The red electricity disappeared after the impact, before I even thought of getting away, Atlas furiously let out a barrage of punches at my body. Pain wrapped my body as I was helplessly pummeled by this evil Captain America.
I used the red electricity, this time wrapping it around my whole body, which made Atlas stop his punches because he was now getting shocked. I used this opportunity to make the electricity travel to my palm before shoving Atlas, which sent him flying into the air. I collapsed to my knees, my lungs on fire, while my whole body felt like it weighed twenty tons. Atlas was hurt badly, with numerous bruises and burns covering his body, but he still wouldn't go down.
My god, how long will this guy get knocked out!? Atlas pants, looking at me furiously, but made no move to strike. He must be tired as I am, if not more.
"Six minutes left!"
Dang, seriously!? It's a stalemate between us; right now we're both battered and barely moving. I don't think I could win with how much time we have left. If there was more time, I would most likely win. Wait, that gives me an idea.
"Atlas, listen."
"What!?" He says angrily.
He looked pissed but seemingly still listening.
"We have about six minutes remaining until the nuke launches and detonates at Toronto."
"What's your point!?"
"I won't leave until I stop you, and I don't think you could beat me, even if you could, by that time, the nuke will vaporize this place, including you."
"..." Atlas was silent, no longer angrily glaring at me, instead looking at the ground, thinking.
"Let me take care of the bomb, I'll send it to a place where nobody gets hurt. You could escape and run or whatever, I don't care, let me stop the nuke, please."
Atlas was still silent.
"Come, what's the point of nuking the city in the first place? Whatever the reason, surely it isn't worth your life-"
I was cut off when Atlas started to chuckle.
"Not worth my life?" Atlas repeats in a mocking tone, then he follows it up with full-blown laughter.
It wasn't even one full of mockery or to insult my words, like it was genuine laughter. My god, he's deranged. His laughter dies down before opening his mouth to speak.
"Tell me why do you think I went through with all this?" Atlas gestures to the pulverized room around us.
I didn't respond, only thinking about what he just said. Why did he go through all this? I can't imagine he's doing it for fun, it's got to be something important, like to rebel against the system or get revenge.
"For glory, of course."
I blink before my head shakes slowly in disbelief. "What..?"
Atlas smirks at my reaction. What the heck did he just say? I must've heard wrong.
"You heard me correctly, I'm doing this because I want to cement my name in history. You see..."
He circles me, his bloodshot eyes never leaving my form. It feels like I was a sheep with a wolf ready to jump on me.
"When I was a child, I always knew that I wanted to become important, to leave a legacy for the whole world. I wanted to be remembered and read by countless generations after I die."
Atlas stops momentarily, his face briefly turning a more sombre look.
"So I joined the military at a young age and worked harder than anyone else. Imagine my excitement when I was one of the few to be selected for the Super Soldier Trials and one of the few to survive. I accomplish great deeds all for the sake of glory."
Atlas' face turned to a scowl before a mad grin crept up his face. I was still standing, rooted in my spot, still in disbelief at his confession.
"It wasn't enough for me, I will always be in the shadow of that Man and his group. I created my organization, and I waited, waited for an opportunity to do something that would cement my name in history! Then HE came to me..."
"He?" Gavin repeats, intrigued.
"HE offered me a deal I can't refuse, and with his help, I stormed into Creatio to steal the Nuke and the Emperor Serum. After taking the bomb, I knew what I wanted to do, I wanted to destroy Toronto, the place I grew up in!" He said with an utter glee that made my stomach twist.
I felt sick, my stomach bubbled, but I didn't throw up.
"Can you see it, a great tragedy caused by ME, ATLAS. My name will forever be remembered until time ends! And if I die accomplishing this, it is a small price to pay!"
Atlas laughs joyfully. It was sick, each word that came out of his mouth grossed me out. And that laugh, like killing thousands of people, was nothing more than a silly joke. I clenched my fist and my eyes felt hot, like really hot. But I didn't care.
I wanted to shut his mouth. I wanted him to regret his actions.
"You, you're going to blow up an entire city with people on it. For glory?"
Atlas snorts. "Haven't you been listening? Yeah, that's exactly why I'm doing it. Still, I don't mind living again for tomorrow, to commit another tragedy like this."
He cracks his knuckles. "Let's end this quickly, yeah?"
That was all he said before charging at me. I made no move to dodge, I was too much in shock that a person would willingly cause this much pain for this kind of goal. And that pisses me off.
"Ben, move!" Gavin screamed.
But I didn't move; the heat in my eyes reached its peak. I roared at Atlas before I felt something shoot out from my eyes. First, I noticed my vision was red, but I could still see clearly. My Mind's Eye view showed me shooting two beams of light out of my eyes, which travelled so fast that not even Atlas was able to react to it. Atlas cried out in pain as the crimson beams hit him in the chest, pushing him back, but also scorching his chest.
The heat on my eyes vanished, which instantly made my view of the world return to normal. Atlas took two steps back from shock in pain, feeling his third-degree burned chest, he spat out blood and looked at me with a fierce expression.
"What...the hell, are you!?"
He tried to run at me again, only for my eyes to feel hot once more, once again hitting him with two red beams, but this time using his arms to block the blast. I deactivated my laser eye ability, which I guess I have now. Before Atlas could recover from the attack, I used my electrified fist to hit him in his burned chest. Atlas yelled, delivering a nasty right hook to my jaw. It hurt a lot, but I was too pissed to care.
I hit him with the laser eyes again in the shoulder before I shoved him, making him crash into the wall again. I was tired, so goddamn tired, but it's not over yet. I let myself a breather for a few seconds before I charged in. Atlas tried to throw a haymaker as I was about to come, but another shot of my laser eyes stunned him. I shoved him by the wall again, which created more cracks. I wasn't done, though, I continued to punch him wildly.
He tried to block, though each time, he was brutally shocked by the red electricity on my fist. And every time, he managed to land a counterattack, I kept going.
"You. Think. You're. Going. To. Leave. A. Legacy!" I grabbed his arm before throwing him to the ceiling. I allowed gravity to do the work, and he fell ten feet in the air.
He coughed out blood and struggled to get up. He was nearing his limit.
"No, you're going to fail today, the only thing you'll be remembered for is being beaten by ME!"
I roared, allowing the red electricity wrapped around my body before I shot to the air, flying before I dropped down directly to Atlas. I cocked my arm before delivering a haymaker punch that landed on his face. The result created a massive shockwave, which flung Atlas' broken body deeper on the ground. I panted heavily, watching his body slump to the floor unmoving. My rage faded, replaced by fear and regret.
"Oh, god, did I-"
"No, He'S sTIll, alIVe." Gavin's broken voice came out of the SEE Goggles.
Speaking of the device, thanks to my laser eyes, it created two large melted holes where my eyes are. That means I won. All that's left is to-
" bEn, you Got tO-!" Gavin tried to say, but his words quickly cut off, as I watched in horror as the rocket from the other room started to shake.
The bottom of the rocket had fire coming out of it, and soon, the rocket started to float in the air, leaving smoke in its wake. Oh crap, I was too late!
"What do I do!?" I screamed to Gavin.
Before he could answer, I felt a shadow tower over me. Before I could react, I felt an explosion of pain in my face, sending me crashing to the wall. I lay there for a couple of moments groaning in pain. I forced my aching and tired body to get up to look at the person responsible for the attack. It was Atlas looking like a wild animal.
He was in bad shape, my attacks did a number on him. Atlas tried to take a step forward only for him to collapse to the floor face-first. Damn him, he made me waste precious time!
"Gavin, what do I do!?"
But only silence greeted me. I repeated Gavin's name a couple of times before I ripped the SEE goggles off. I wasn't surprised Gavin wasn't responding; it was damaged beyond repair. It was already looking bad during the fight with Atlas, creating cracks on the lens, but combined with my laser eyes and then the sudden punch with Atlas made it broke. But that means I had no way to communicate with him.
"Just my luck!" I angrily threw the goggles to the floor, shattering them.
What should I do?
What should I do?
What should I do?
What should I do?
I can't think! I look at the rocket, which has now vanished. It's probably in the sky on its route to Toronto. The thought of the city being destroyed made my body move without my input. I flew to the ceiling, ignoring the dust and dirt covering me, before I finally reached the surface. I could see the nuke heading directly to Toronto. Before I knew it, I started to chase it.
I was pushing myself to the utmost limit, but for some reason, I couldn't seem to immediately catch up! I was gaining distance, sure, though to me it takes far too long. What was going on? I shouldn't be this slow! I disregarded my thoughts, there was no time for any distractions. I had to catch up with it.
I can already see the outline of the city, and my ears caught a loud sound. It sounded like a louder and scarier version of an alarm clock. I quickly realized this was the emergency alarm to get people evacuated. Even with how far I am, I could see people scurrying to get to safety. People pushed each other, and some started to even brawl in public.
It was a disturbing sight to see. I remembered my history teacher saying most conflict is fueled by fear, and fear causes us to hurt others even when we don't mean to. All the more reasons to stop this thing from hitting Toronto. I was catching up, but it was getting near the city, just a kilometre away, and it's over for everyone. I roared as I willed my body to get even faster.
Just three hundredd meters more...Got it! I grabbed the bomb just before it hit a skyscraper. I adjusted it so it would be aiming upwards. I let a smile creep up my face, I did it! My eyes then shift to the bomb, it just so happened, I was facing the keypad, which shows me the timer.
10 Seconds
My heart dropped, remembering that it could self-detonate. I got through space, now! I flew into the air, but I found myself much slower than before. Not only that, the weight of the bomb is causing me to get slower.
9 Seconds
The biggest problem right now is that I can't tell how much distance I have to go for it to be not harmful to anyone and have enough time to escape the blast. If I only had my SEE goggles or Gavin.
8 Seconds
7 Seconds
Come on, body, faster!
6 Seconds
I don't think...I could make it to space and I don't know if this is enough distance for everybody to be safe.
5 Seconds
Wait, why should I even care? I don't know these people. Am I going to risk my life again? I mean, I'm tough, but I don't think I could survive a nuke to the face.
4 Seconds
I should let it go, I don't owe these people anything. Besides, this should be a good enough distance right? Maybe the radiation would affect only a few people. Haven't I done enough? I'm still a kid, why am I dealing with this?
I'm not some saviour, I'm not a hero. The only reason I'm doing this is so my family remains safe, and this should be enough where it won't affect them.
3 Seconds
Despite that, for some reason, I can't seem to let go of the rocket. Gritting my teeth as I continued to rise higher and higher in the air. And I find myself feeling unafraid. The threat of death looms over me, but I can't seem to be afraid of that fact.
2 Seconds
I feel glad that I managed to reach the rocket in time. I remembered the warm embrace of that woman before, the other scientist's appreciative smiles and grateful faces. It filled my heart with determination. I was determined enough not to let go and keep going.
1 Second
I guess I enjoy feeling like I am something more than just an outcast. Maybe dying while saving everyone isn't a bad way to go. I shut my eyes.
0
BOOM!