Post by Stardrifter on Dec 6, 2011 0:40:56 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter001
Strange Bedfellows
Superman soars over Metropolis. With no other clues besides east, he goes slowly and watches for any signs of Parasite. Not that he could go very fast if he wanted to. He can feel his strength returning, but he's still not 100%. His X-ray vision is finally back, just fuzzy.
He can't get over how strange it feels. He hasn't been so weak in years. He was 15 when he first started flying. Thirteen when his powers first started developing. Even though he spent more of his life without super powers than with, they've become second nature. He realizes how much he'd started to take them for granted.
Superman is shaken out of his thoughts by a purple speck in the distance. Upon closer inspection he sees it's Parasite. He's not going much faster than him, which seems to indicate he's losing his strength over time. Good. Now just to make sure Parasite doesn't get his hands on him.
As Parasite barrels toward him, Superman waits until the last minute to dive straight down. It leaves Parasite momentarily confused, giving Superman time to grab a large flagpole from the side of a building. It's heavier than he expected, but not by much. Parasite turns toward him just in time to get smacked in the face and sent flying.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to keep my personal space," Superman quips while bringing the flagpole back at the ready for another strike. "Why don't we talk about this?"
"No talk!" Parasite screams while flying toward him again. "Feed!"
Superman dodges gracefully. At about the same power level, his one advantage is having more experience with his powers. After taking him through a number of loops and twists, Superman turns and lets loose with his heat vision. It's not enough to seriously injure Parasite, but it's enough to surprise him and bring him to a stop. Superman can see the rage boiling up inside his opponent. Animal instinct is taking back over.
"Crush you!"
Parasite charges yet again. As Superman continues to evade, Parasite flies to a nearby rooftop in frustration. He pounds his feet on the roof like a child throwing a tantrum. His prey hovering above him, as if gloating, Parasite rips a chunk of bricks from the roof entrance and hurls them at Superman. The aim is poor, and the bricks go soaring past Superman and hit a nearby office building.
Even with his weakened hearing, Superman can hear the screams. The bricks hit between levels, causing the floor to collapse and a man sitting by the wall to fall out of the hole. Racing against time and cursing his slowness, Superman dives to catch the man. He reaches him at the last moment, placing him gently on the ground. "Are you o..."
The air is knocked from his lungs as Parasite slams into his back. Sitting on Superman's back, he wraps his hands around his neck and feeds. This time, adrenaline and anger are enough to keep Superman going long enough to slam his head backwards into Parasite's nose. The shock and pain is distracts Parasite momentarily, allowing Superman to get out from under him and run.
"Ha ha ha! Run! You pansy!" Parasite mocks as Superman speeds away. "I got enough! I'll be back for you once I've dealt with my first priority."
***
After Parasite left, Morgan Edge didn't waste any time. He had his surviving men take care of the women, cleaned up any trace he'd been there last night, and left. His helicopter no longer an option, he was forced to take the streets. Riding in an unassuming black SUV, his men were on alert for anything suspicious.
Inwardly he cursed the Electrocutioner. Edge hired him to help deal with threats like this. As the number of super powered individuals grew, the need for special protection was more and more prevalent. Still, this was the first time Edge had ever come under attack by a super. Even for a man who has done the things he's done, with all the power he has, it frightened him.
The drive to his safe house downtown is a harrowing one. Every new corner holds untold danger. Every sudden movement, every flash of purple, brings chills to his heart. It's all Edge can do to maintain his bravado in front of his men.
"What was that?" the guard from the roof finally breaks the silence to ask. "What the hell was it?"
"I don't know, Frank," Edge says quietly, staring out the window.
"It was fucking freaky. All shriveled and purple," Frank rambles, looking to comfort himself by filling the silence. He grips his gun with white knuckled hands. Sweat runs from his close cropped black hair down to his stubble. "Do you think it was human?"
"I DON'T KNOW FRANK!" Edge yells, his anger getting the better if him. Frank and his men look at him with a sense of pity. For the first time since reaching the top in the criminal underworld, his men are seeing him vulnerable. If he makes it through this ordeal alive, he may have more trouble restoring his reputation than anything else.
The rest of the drive is uneventful. The SUV enters a nondescript building. To all on the outside it appears nothing more than a closed down car shop. Once inside, the driver pulls up and puts it in park. He presses a button on the visor and the floor gives way, lowering the SUV and all it's occupants down on a secret elevator. Once it reaches the bottom, the SUV drives off the elevator so it can return to the top, hiding any evidence of the underground safe house. When Edge commissioned it's creation, some in his employ thought it overly complex and a waste of money. He'd make a point to say, "I told you so," if they were still alive.
"Get everything up and running!" Edge barks as they all exit the vehicle. The men rush around, turning on generators and activating computers. "We need to get..."
As they lights come on they illuminate a lone man sitting on Edge's $20,000 couch. He's dressed in a finely tailored suit, but seems out of place in it. His light brown/gray hair is combed neatly to the side. A brand new pair of horn-rimmed glasses adorn his face.
"Who the fuck are you!?" Frank screams as he raises his weapon. The other men follow suit quickly, covering the man from all angles.
"I'm a businessman," the man says. The slight quiver in his voice betrays his nonchalant manner. "Much like yourself, Mr. Edge."
"How did you find this place?" Edge asks, moving behind Frank.
"It wasn't hard," the man smiles. "I have a way with computers. I heard you were in trouble. A man such as yourself would have a place like this to fall back to. It was easy to follow the dummy companies and off shore accounts you used to purchase this real estate. All leading back to you."
"And what is it you want with me?"
"To offer my services. For a modest fee. And those of my...associate."
A slight nod of the man's head and the direction of his gaze turns their attention behind them. Edge turns in time to see a large shape, at least 7 feet tall, coming straight toward him. It knocks him out of the way and attacks Frank, knocking him to the ground. His other men turn, but before they can react, the shape fires at both of them. They fall to the ground.
Edge lifts himself off the floor and sees what attacked them. A robot. Large and armed to the teeth with a number of familiar, and unfamiliar, weapons. Green eyes stare down at him from a face that's looks like a metal skeleton. For the second time today, Edge is sure he's about to die. Then the robot speaks.
"Suitably impressed I hope?"
"Not to worry about your men, Edge," the man says as he rises up from the couch to stand next to the robot. "I had Metallo use non-lethal rounds for this demonstration."
"Metallo?" Edge asks, rising to his feet slowly, still not sure what to think. He quickly looks at his men, not wanting to take his eyes off Metallo for long, and sees them moving and groaning.
"The name for my...pet." The creepy smile on the man's face gives Edge the shivers. "From what I understand, the creature that is after you can kill a man with just a touch. What I offer you is a bodyguard who is no man."
It only takes a second for everything to click in Edge's mind. "So what is your idea of a modest fee, Mr...?"
"Henshaw. Hank Henshaw."
***
"Yes Mayor, I understand how you feel," Lex says on the phone in his office, trying his best to calm the man on the other end. "I have my people doing everything they can to combat the situation. I'm afraid some in the police force just aren't comfortable dealing with an outside influence in this matter."
There's a knock on the window behind him. Lex turns to see Superman hovering outside. He doesn't look good. Lex quickly pushes a button on his desk that causes a section of the window to slide down, letting his friend inside.
"Well I would certainly appreciate that, sir. Anything you could do to smooth relations with the MPD would make things proceed much easier and help get this creature off the streets even faster." Lex nods to Superman as he plops down in the chair across from him. "All right sir. Thank you very much. You too."
Lex hangs up the phone and walks over to the bar along the wall of his office. "The mayor just called me, asking for my help directly in this Parasite matter." Lex takes out two glasses and pours some brandy into each one. "It seems he feels my company is better suited to handle things than his own police department. Can't say I blame him." He walks over and hands Superman a glass. "I know it doesn't affect you, but you look like you could use it."
Superman looks at the glass and smiles weakly. "Right now it might. He only got his hands on me for a second, but I feel like crap." He knocks back the glass and takes a good size gulp.
"Do you know where he is now?"
"No idea. Wherever Edge is I imagine." Another gulp and his glass is empty. "I just can't fight this thing head on. I tried keeping him at a distance, using my powers and objects to keep him back, but I turned my back for a second to save someone and that's all it took. I need something that will keep him from touching me. Like a suit. But it has to be strong enough to withstand my powers, or at least the level of my powers he has."
Lex nurses his drink and thinks to himself. "Makes sense."
"Do you have anything?" Superman runs his hands through his hair and rubs his eyes, trying to wake himself up a bit.
"Let's go find out."
The pair head down to the laboratory to find Dr. Irons. When they arrive they find him in his office asleep. His head is on his desk on top of a number of jumbled notes. Clutched in his hand is a cold cup of coffee.
"Dr. Irons?" Lex says gently, not wanting to startle him. "Dr. Irons? John!"
Dr. Irons jumps up, notes stuck to his face. "What? What? What is it?"
"Doctor, perhaps you should go home?" Lex asks sternly, trying not to laugh as Superman does behind him.
"I'm...I'm fine. I...there's just so much work to do." Dr. Irons pulls the notes from his face and shuffles them around in a half-hazard attempt to clean his desk. "Is there something you two needed? Did you catch Parasite?"
"I'm afraid not, Doctor," Superman frowns. "We actually came to consult with you about that. I faced him again but despite my attempts to keep him at bay, he still managed to touch me and take some of my energy. I need a suit or something that can keep him from touching me, but be strong enough to withstand a battle with him and my powers."
"A suit..." Dr. Irons says to himself, his gaze focusing on nothing as he becomes lost in thought. "I may have something! Come with me!"
***
It doesn't take long for Parasite to find Edge again. He's become more proficient with his various vision abilities and is able to ferret out the safe house in no time. Frustrated from the last failed attempt and realizing there's a time limit, he wastes no time. Flying straight into the building, he crashes down through the floor and into the safe house below. Once inside, he sees Edge cowering behind a couch and tosses it aside.
"I have you!" Parasite roars in triumph. "Now you'll pay!" Parasite grabs his head between his hands. He tries to feed but nothing happens. The smile on Edge's face is even more confusing.
"Not very observant, are you?" Metallo uppercuts Parasite, sending him flying back through the ceiling and into the building above. He tears the fake flesh from his face and jumps through the hole to follow his foe. "I told...my master...this plan was stupid. I mean, how did you not notice Edge was suddenly 7 feet tall?" Metallo walks over the Parasite, now on his hands and knees, and kicks him in the ribs. It sends Parasite out through the wall of the building. "I guess the lesson is: always bet on stupidity."
Metallo starts to follow Parasite, only to be knocked back as a purple blur rams into him. The two go flying through the other side of the building and land in the middle of the street. Pedestrians run in all directions, trying to avoid the chaos. A brave or crazy few stay behind and start filming on their cell phones.
"WHERE IS HE?" Parasite bellows. His anger grabs hold of him and he starts pounding on Metallo. The blows don't seem to do any discernible damage. After a few hits, Metallo pushes the palm of his hand into Parasite's face. A hole opens up in his palm, firing a rocket point blank. The explosion sends Parasite flying.
"He's with...my master..." Metallo chokes on the words, his programming forcing the choice of words. "You'll just have to settle for me."
Parasite starts to stand up but is immediately bombarded with high caliber gunfire from Metallo's wrist mounted guns. Parasite shields his face with his arms. He's still powerful enough that they do not injure him, but they hurt like hell. Braving the pain, he reaches down and pulls a large chunk of the street up and shields himself. Then he uses it as a weapon, throwing it at Metallo and knocking him back. Continuing his advantage, he leaps at his enemy. He lands on top of the chunk fist first, punching all the way through and sending debris flying.
Another barrage of punches land on Metallo, pushing him further down into the street. His once clean and shiny body is now scuffed and dented slightly. Sitting up, Metallo headbutts Parasite in the nose, and then kicks him off. He begins firing his guns again, but Parasite strafes to the side and avoids the gunfire. He ducks around the corner of an apartment building. Metallo ceases his gunfire and launches another rocket from the palm of his hand. It explodes into the corner of the building and takes a large chunk out. Large enough that the building begins to collapse.
The building comes crashing down onto the street. Debris and rubble are everywhere. A dust cloud covers the area, making it hard to see. Metallo switches to infrared. He can see the heat signatures of the dead and dying amongst the rubble. He also sees Parasite emerging. He flies into the air and heads straight toward Metallo.
Metallo braces for impact, digging his feet into the ground, and when they collide he keeps his footing, his feet ripping up concrete as Parasite pushes him back almost a block. The two continue to trade blows. Finally they grab each others arms and grapple. Neither side gains any advantage. Parasite notices a strange glow coming from Metallo's mouth just before it opens to emit a blast of fire into his face.
"RAAAARGH!" Parasite screams, clutching his face.
"That's right, freak," Metallo laughs, a cold hollow sound. "I'm breathing fire here!"
Metallo grabs a stunned Parasite by the throat and raises his fist to strike when he notices a shadow looming over them. He looks up in time to watch as a minivan lands on both of them. They both recover and fight their way out from under the wreckage to see a figure hovering above them. His entire body is covered in a skin tight metal, with only his eyes visible through a small visor.
"It's time to end this," Superman declares.
-to be concluded-