Chapter 05-03

The door burst inward as Alex and Obsidian rushed into the room. The Coin-man, surprised but not caught off guard turned sharply in a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree rotation and threw out his arms. A blast of invisible energy issued from his outstretched hands but was not aimed that the duo. Instead it slammed the door shut with a loud crash.

The man followed this move up by throwing a had full of coins in the air. With a sweeping motion of his arm the coins shot across the room and wedged themselves into the seams of the two doors. They began to melt, and the liquid metal ran down forming a pseudo lock on the double doors trapping everyone in the room together.

“Welcome!” The Coin-man said. He paused and looked deeply at both Alex and Obsidian. There was a blue flash around the edge of the Coin-man’s eyes. Alex assumed that this was to scan them, “Aether and Obsidian.” He said confirming Alex’s suspicions.

“Fancy meeting another bridger. I was wondering when I would get some competition.” Alex said. He clenched his fists. Player or not this man was at least working with the Goldys if not more.

“Bridger?” The Coin-man said with a cold laugh, “I’m no bridger.”

“That’s not possible.” Alex said forcefully.

“The powers that dictate what is possible have shifted. But alas I am not her for a philosophical debate with you.” The Coin-man took a calculated step forward.

“Who are you?” Alex asked. He took a few steps to his right to put himself in between the Coin-man and the man who was chained up in the chair.

“I am Kymos.” The Coin-man said with pride.

“Well, Kymos what you are doing here is wrong. We are going to stop you.” Alex said glancing for a split-second back at the man in the chair.

“Who are you to judge right from wrong?” Kymos said with an amused chuckle.

“I am a hero!” Alex said firmly planting his foot a step forward to drive his point. Kymos began laughing loudly.

“You are a joke.” He said between laughs, “I don’t know if you have noticed but heroes are not welcome in my city.”

Kymos turned and stepped away from Alex and Obsidian. With two fingers he motioned towards them. The strong arms moved in from the side where they had been silently observing the interaction each and every one of them ready to jump into the fight.

Instinctively Alex moved to keep himself between the man in the chair and the incoming enemies. From the state of the man’s face they had already given him quiet the beating. As far as Alex was concerned, they would not lay another hand on the man in the chair.

A moment of doubt entered his mind about how he had spent his Power Points. If he would have spent more in his Super-Strength then he would have an offensive skill, but the Flash Heal Skill was likely going to come in handy. He pushed the doubt out of his mind and clenched his fists. Glancing over he saw that Obsidian was ready for combat.

“Divide and conquer.” Alex said nodding towards the four men who were each making various shows of force like cracking their knuckles as they moved in.

“Got it.” Obsidian said tensing up sharply.

Alex went for the two men to his right while Obsidian rocketed out towards the two men on their left. Alex focused energy into his Super-Strength power and began to throw a punch. The quick jab at the closest of the two men landed soundly in the strong-arm’s chest. He let out a breath, but he stood his ground. With a nasty grin the strong-arm grabbed Alex’s arm and twisted sharply.

Alex moved with the twist until they were at an awkward angle and he slammed his foot down onto the man’s foot. The attack did little damage, but the suddenness of it broke the strong arm’s concentration enough for Alex to get free of his grip.

In a sharp twisting motion Alex threw himself over the strong-arm and wrapped his arm around his opponent’s neck. He pulled the strong-arm down into a bent over position while he used his body to leap up and kicked the second strong-arm in the head. The recipient took the full brunt of the attack to the side of his face and stumbled for a moment. Unfortunately, he was still able to maintain his footing.

Shifting his weight Alex was able to slam the head locked strong-arm face down into the ground. Rolling off to the side Alex looked over at the man in amazement as he moaned and started to push himself up off of the ground. With a half spin Alex kicked the strong-arm in the head. His attention divided he was far too focused on the strong-arm that he had just taken down. Stars filled his vision as he took a solid blow to the back of his head.

Alex lost his balance. He fell face first over the unconscious strong-arm on the floor. When he landed on the floor, he immediately turned over so that he did not have his back to the attacker. With his vision still blurry and doubled he still clearly saw the boot heading for his face. There wasn’t enough time for him to roll out of the way, so he threw up his arm and caught the foot. With an influx of energy in his motion he threw the strong-arm back away from him.

The strong-arm hit the ground with a sickening snap as his arm broke. Alex scrambled to his feet as the strong-arm yelled in pain. He paced for a minute looking down at the two defeated men reaching up to touch the back of his own head. A spot of blood had formed where his head had hit the ground and it was very sore to the touch.

The strong-arm with a broken arm attempted to get up off of the ground. He leaned on the wall for support as he started to make his way towards Alex.

Fists held high Alex punched the man in the face. The strong-arm was in too much pain to make a calculated dodge and ended up moving straight into the line of the attack. He remained on his feet and attempted an attack of his own. Alex grabbed the strong-arm’s arm and kneed him sharply in the gut. With a final punch Alex struck his attacker in the eye. The man stumbled back and hit the wall. He slid down and landed in a heap on the ground falling into unconsciousness.

Alex took a moment to breathe looking around to find his sidekick. He was not happy with the scene that he found. There was one strong-arm on the ground crumpled up against the wall. It looked to Alex as if she had used her commonly used tackle that she frequented. Obsidian was on the ground on her back with her arms up protecting her face. The other strong-arm was on top of her pinning her down with his legs. He was repeatedly attacking her with strong punches as she had done to her own sister. Comparing the two scenes in his mind Alex could see the difference between the attack that was currently happening versus the sibling squabble that he had seen.

Alex let out a loud yell like a madman as he took off in a run across the room towards the fight. He rammed his shoulder into the man knocking him off of Obsidian. He hadn’t been quick enough. With the attacker gone Alex could see that she was not moving. She was breathing, but that was it nothing more.

Alex took a deep breath and stood up from Obsidian’s body. He grabbed the collar of the man’s shirt and pulled him up from the ground. The strong-arm gained his footing and lifted his fists into a defensive stance. Alex reared his head back and as hard as he could he smashed his forehead into the strong-arm’s.

He straightened the man back up. Alex looked him up and down rage from what he had done to Obsidian flowing through his body. He threw a sharp right hook across the man’s face sending him spinning on the spot. The strong-arm grabbed the wall in order to remain on his feet.

The strong-arm attempted to turn back around, but the moment he was facing Alex a foot stomped down onto his chest. Alex caught himself on the wall as the strong-arm started to slide down to the floor. When it became clear that he was going to get up again Alex grabbed his head and slammed his knee into his face.

The strong-arm was finally done for.

Alex ran across the room ignoring everything but Obsidian. He dropped down beside her and touched her head. She had not made to move, but she was breathing and very clearly alive. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his health serums. The red liquid vanished in an instant hiss when he repressed the device to the side of her neck and pressed the button.

Carefully Alex pulled her to the side laying her on the ground behind the man tied to the chair. He removed one of the energy serums from his pocket and injected the yellow liquid into his side. He could feel the resurgence of energy in his body. He wasn’t full, but it was something. His will would regenerate the energy over time, but without food and sleep it would take much longer.

“Are you done cleaning up your friend?” Kymos asked. He had been standing at a bank of computers but was turning to look at Alex now that he stood tall.

“You will pay for what you’ve done here.” Alex said with renewed strength. If anything, Alex was loyal, and he had become close with Obsidian. He would not stand idly by while one of his friends was hurt.

“You don’t even know. You have no idea what you are fighting for.” Kymos said shaking his head. He scratched his forehead absently while looking up at Alex.

“I fight for the people of this city. I fight for the people of this world.” Alex said instinctively.

“The people,” Kymos said with a small chuckle, “If that is what you fight for than you will die.”

“If my death will protect the innocent then so be it.” Alex said clenching his fists.

“Innocent. You’re clueless.” He said beginning to pace while he shook his head, “Don’t you see? Don’t you get it? Can’t you smell it?”

“What are you monologuing about?” Alex asked sarcastically.

“There is change in the air. The world, something is different. I feel in my bones that this new world will help those who help themselves.” Kymos said clenching his fists dramatically.

“Why do you say that?” Alex asked curiously. There was a change in the world, a big one, that affected the people who weren’t from the world, trapping them there.

“I wish that I could say that you shall see, but you die here and now.” He said.

Kymos held up his hand opening his fist. Four, one-inch diameter coins rose into the air and shot like bullets at Alex. It would not have been so bad, but these coins were on fire.