5.16

The small group of heroes stood together as a unit. A mix of awe and fear raced through all of their minds. Some were certain they were going to die that very night.

The Trash Queen hadn’t said anything else atop her colossal golem, nor had it moved. It stood there, unmoving, and eerily silent.

“So what do we do?” one asked.

“We need to make sure people are safe, that everyone has left the area,” said Hunter. He scanned the area and saw that people were still scattered. Some had frozen in fear as they too looked up at the massive creature that stood before them.

“Who cares, we need to make sure we’re safe too,” said one. The hero backed away from the group and ran off into the night.

“I’m with that one. There’s no way we can do anything against that.” A few others murmured in agreement and split off from the group. The group of twenty had whittled down to ten.

“Cowards, the lot of you,” said one.

“Hey, its okay. This is a crazy situation. Its better to be alive and help another day,” said Hunter.

An ear-splitting crack roared through the sky. Hunter snapped around and was amazed to see what looked like a giant bipedal, golden robot.

It was a little blocky in design but that didn’t take away from its intimidating presence. The robot landed and upon its head were two antennae. Electricity arced between the two golden appendages.

“Trash Queen, you are finished. I will put an end to you.” The mouth moved as the smooth, metallic voice boomed through the night.

“Ah, finally an opponent who looks to be worthy. Are you sure you want to die? I’ll give you one chance now to back down.” The Trash Queen laughed.

The golden titan shifted into a battle-ready stance and gestured to “come here” with one of its hands.

“Name’s Gadgeteer. I never back down. You should’ve backed down. Let’s end this now.”

“Very well.” The trash golem reached within its body and pulled out a construction crane.

“We need to get out of here. This is gonna get way too dangerous,” said Silas. Hunter knew his friend was right.

Some civilians were still stunned into inaction. Frustration grew within Hunter, and he broke off and ran toward one.

“Oi! You need to get out of here. What are you doing?” The middle-aged man stood in awestruck silence. Hunter waved his arm in front of the man. Still, there was no response. Anger flashed through Hunter now and he slapped the man.

The man startled into action. He pulled his head away from the two giants and looked at Hunter.

“We’re all gonna die.” The man’s voice was oddly calm, like he had accepted this as fact.

“Not if you do exactly as I say and follow me out of here. Jimena, Silas, everyone else, try and snap these people out of it. We need to get out of here.” Hunter felt a glimmer of relief as he saw his two friends had already begun doing the same.

Most of the group had now followed Hunter’s lead and were rounding up as many people as they could. Unfortunately, a few people snapped into a bout of confusion and would run off in a random direction. Whereas the majority seemed all too glad to follow the lead of someone wanting to get them away.

A monumental clang smashed through the air and Hunter and a few of the others afforded a quick glance.

The golden robot had swung an arm in at the golem and the golem had perfectly blocked the attack with the crane. The impact caused the golden robot to stumble a little and even the trash golem gave a little under the impact. The Trash Queen stood perfectly atop her creation, unphased.

“This is insane,” said Silas. “I never thought I’d see Gadgeteer’s giant robot in person. She’s rarely used it. And here it is, fighting a monster just as big.”

The golden robot ducked under a swing, the crane barely passing over the top of the metallic body. It thrust forward a fist and landed a blow against the trash golem. The golem stumbled back and crashed into a building. The building crumbled slightly under the added immense weight.

“Good hit!” called out one of the heroes.

“Yeah, maybe we can still win this,” called another.

Hunter scanned the area and saw that most of the civilians had now been guided away from the area. Silas and Jimena were waiting for him near the next alleyway that they had to go down.

Hunter made his way over to them and stopped when he heard a noise. It sounded like crying.

“Gimme a sec.” Hunter waited until he heard the noise again and darted off to the right. He found hunched over, sitting on the ground, a child was next to a body that lay on the ground.

“Mummy, mummy get up.” The little rabbit looked up at Hunter. Fear and sadness adorned their face.

Hunter ducked down and had a quick look. He checked for a pulse but could feel nothing.

“Is she okay?” the child asked.

“I’m afraid she’s not. But if you come with me, I’ll make sure that you are. Okay?” Hunter offered out his hand and the child lifted their arms, wanting to be carried.

Hunter scooped up the child and ran back toward his teammates. Just as he left the spot, a chunk of a building flew and crashed into the area.

“That was close,” said Silas.

“Come on, we need to go,” said Jimena.

The three of them ran down the alleyway. The child nestled its head into Hunter’s shoulder.

Not too far ahead, Hunter could see the hall that was being used for the evacuation hub. A few police and other heroes stood around the hall, looking like the last line of defence.

“We made it,” said Silas.

“We did good,” said Jimena.

They ran toward the hall. A hero dressed in bright oranges and pinks waved them in. They stepped into the hall and breathed a sigh of relief as they surveyed the chaotic scene around them.