Triumph - Protectors of Central Illinois University, the city of Stevenson, and beyond!
Dragonfly, aka Aaron Majesky - winged martial arts master; The Adept, aka Rick Pennington - master of mystical movement; Cazmonster, aka Caz Greenbaum, super-strong cyber-werewolf; The Gray Robe, aka Sydney Koenig - Druidic mistress of the Earth; The American Attitude, aka Barry Stills - Hyper-sensory, skateboarding streetfighter; Bill Brown (no alias), super-strong urban defender; Magma, aka Jan Graylin, lava blasting demolisher; and Transcender, aka “Dorado” Estevez, controller of time and space.
Dragonfly watched, hoping that their plan would work. He’d been unsure at first, but once he realized Transcender was awake, and that he’d used his powers over space-time to slow the area around the cage in which Transcender and the other two junior members of Triumph were tied up, he felt a surge of confidence.
Suddenly, a sinkhole opened up beneath the cage surrounding the young heroes, and all three chairs dropped. In the chamber below, dug very quickly and very quietly by The Gray Robe using her earth manipulation powers, Cazmonster caught the chairs and begin snapping the young members’ bindings. On his skateboard, the American Attitude popped out of the hole, but was momentarily caught in Dorado’s time-trap. Dorado dropped the trap a second later, allowing the full charge to blow through the cage a millisecond later. Fortunately for The Attitude, the charge was a pulse, not continuous flow; by the time his skateboard slammed the cage door open, it was safe.
Unfortunately, the ninja were already reacting. Bullets started to fly, and three tore into the Attitude before he even knew they were coming. Two were to the arm, and were blocked by the kevlar sewn into his leather jacket, but one bounce off one of the cage’s bars and into his neck.
Aaron had problems of his own to worry about. He closed distance with Ie to avoid being shot at, but that meant being close to an expert ninja now armed with the best sword Dragonfly had ever held. He barely managed to dodge the first slice, which would have been across the neck. However, that left him open to attack from behind. The ninja who had retrieved the sword still stood there, and cracked Dragonfly across the back with his own sword. This weapon, while not as good, as still quite sharp, and served to destroy one of Dragonfly’s wings. Now grounded, Aaron slipped quickly out of the straps and let the useless and slightly cumbersome wings drop.
Cazmonster was next to burst into the cage, and the bars shattered against his onslaught. Four ninja approached him, their weapons at the ready. “For me?” Caz growled. “Guys, you shouldn’t have!” he said, plucking one of the sharpened steel blades from a dumbfounded warrior in black. He then snapped the blade off and used it as a toothpick. The other two ninja disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The gunmen on the catwalk above knew better than to try to attack Cazmonster with guns. They disappeared stealthily onto the roof of the building. They paused only briefly in the moonlight to determine the quickest way out of the area, not noticing The Gray Robe hovering behind them. She’d excavated the tunnel from the outside, to better guide the dirt she was pulling out, and when the action started, she flew up into the air to enter from the roof. Syd grinned at her unsuspecting foes, and dropped a large slab of rock on top of them.
Inside, Aaron was momentarily distracted as a massive stone slab fell through the cheap roofing, through the catwalk, and onto the concrete floor of the building. He swung around with his appropriated sword just in time. His own sword, a gift from his old friend and mentor Tanaka, swung round in the hands of his enemy. The blades clanked loudly, and Aaron knew that this sword couldn’t stand another hit like that. Not from that blade.
“Jan! Get to the Attitude! Stop the bleeding!” Aaron shouted as Magma flew out from the sinkhole the Gray Robe had created. She arched sideways and swooped to her fallen team-mate. Jan took a moment to review her friend’s injuries. It looked like only a graze, but unfortunately, it seemed to have cut some major blood vessels. The blood was already spread out on the floor around the American Attitude. Jan heated her hand and hesitated slightly. If she screwed this up, it might kill him. But if she got it right, it could save his life. With only another moment’s hesitation, she let droplets of lava pour from her fingers onto Barry’s bleeding neck wound.
Barry screamed in pain, then passed out again. The blood from his neck slowed to a trickle now that the skin had melted over it. Satisfied, Jan prepared to enter the fray, but just as she stood, she felt something sharp enter her shoulder. From behind her, a ninja had run his sword into her back. Jan cried out in agony, and tried to flail the blade loose from her shoulder. As she did, she saw her opponent fly past her, smashing into the concrete floor, unconscious. Feeling a warm hand on her shoulder near the would, she heard Bill’s voice.
“Jan, relax!” She stopped moving and tried to stand still despite the pain. “This is gonna hurt.” Before she had a chance to comment, Bill had pulled the blade free from her shoulder. She almost blacked out from the pain, but Bill guided her gently to the ground. He began to administer first aid.
As Cazmonster, the Gray Robe, and Transcender finished off the ninjas who had not managed to escape, Aaron was locked in a heated battle with their leader. This guy is frightening, Aaron thought. He had found he couldn’t lose his concentration, even for a second. He had a minor cut only his leg, and a deeper one on his abdomen; both would require stitches.
Aaron waited for an opening, and took every opportunity he could find, but he’d still not hit his opponent. With an sudden effort, something inside him sparked to life, and he managed to push through the ninja’s defenses and slice into his chest. Unfortunately for Aaron, his opponent took the opportunity to bring his own blade in from the side. The hit almost severed Aaron’s arm at the elbow. Dropping to his knees, he felt darkness washing over him. As the leader, the fake Ie Tanaka, went in for the kill, he felt something solid, like a ton of steel, hit his chest. A lung collapsed, and ribs shattered. The man flew back at great speed, slamming against the wall with a sickly splat, as Cazmonster stood protectively over Aaron. “You’re okay, Aaron. Look at me. Focus on me…” Aaron dimly heard Cazmonster’s voice as he blacked out.
*******************************
Aaron awoke hours later in an ICU. He could tell he’d undergone extensive surgery. The gash on his stomach was closed, the lesser wound on his leg tended, and his arm was in a sling. He was heavily sedated. Probably a good thing, he realized. Next to him, Syd and Caz (no monster) were discussing their mutual performances in an on-line video game. Syd was first to notice him awaken.
“Hey, DF! Welcome back!” she said, coming to his bedside and touching his good arm.
Aaron struggled to speak, his throat dry from his mouth hanging open after surgery. Caz poured him a cup of water from the bedside table. “Here you go, big guy,” he said, offering the cup. Aaron took hit and drank quickly, dropping the paper cup when he was done.
“How….Barry?” he managed to cough out.
“Barry’s gonna be fine. Jan too. I was able to help them along,” Syd said. Throughout her career, Syd was, on occasion, able to draw on the powers of the Earth to bring about supernatural healing, but it wasn’t a reliable ability. She’d been unable to help Aaron much, for example.
Aaron nodded. “Good. Was worried. How about Bill and Transcender? Are they…”
“They’re fine, Aaron. A few cuts and bruises. They’ll be fine. Hey, guess what. Brought you a trophy.” Caz moved to the closet and drew Dragonfly’s sword.
“You got it!” Aaron said, trying to sit up and then quickly falling back again. “I was afraid they’d gotten away with it.”
“No,” Caz said with a half-satisfied sigh, “though they did get away, for the most part. We got a couple of injured ones, but they both used a suicide pill before we could question them. Slippery bastards.”
Aaron chuckled slightly. Disappearing was a particular specialty of the ninja, taught with even more dedication than combat itself. Aaron held the hilt of the sword, his sword, in his hands. As much as he couldn’t help but wonder what mysteries lie in the code hidden there, right now was not the time. He handed the blade back to Caz.
“Take care of it for me, man,” Aaron said. “I think I need a nap.”
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