Fusion

20. The Fall

"When things get crazy. We'll be there." Violet says to me before she gives me a light kiss.

"Uh, yeah, no. I want you away from the firefight, Violet." I reply back to her, obviously not wanting her to get hurt. I hug her tightly and let go seconds later, almost convinced not to go alone. But I have to.

I then turn to leave the small building us rebels are in and go out to confront Purge. Thoughts swirl in my head of my own death, and the deaths of others I love. I push them back and take off my hat. I turn around and hand the hat to Violet.

"Hold onto this until I come back. And I will come back." She grabs it and clenches it close to her chest. Rush and Ravager walk over.

"Hey, Pete. Hey, Finn." I greet them both, hoping it's not the last time I see them.

"Don't die out there." Finn gives me a hug. "I just got my brother back, it'd be a shame to lose him so quickly."

Rush opens his arms up and smiles. "Bring it in, man." We hug and he wishes me the best of luck. "If anything goes crazy, and I mean even the slightest bit of action, and you need help, I got you. Now go teach Purge a lesson he won't forget."

After saying my goodbyes to just about everyone, I exit the building and walk outside into the frigid air. I look at Purge's building a couple dozen blocks away when a sudden unnatural, cold, breeze comes upon me. I turn around to see Subzero. He grins and looks at me.

"Subzero. Never thought you'd tear up when I go off to war." I say to him, smiling back.

"Don't push it, kid. Oh, and its Cryogen now." He replies and leans against the wall of the building.

"Cryogen? That's nerdier than Subzero. Is Cryogen another character from Mortal Kombat?" I reply sarcastically.

"Haha, you get all the laughs....." His face turns a slight shade of serious. "I've been thinking. And if I turn over a new leaf, per se, I'm a new man. And a new man needs a new name."

"Ah, I see." I cross my arms and lean on the wall, beside him. "Don't you need a new costume as well?"

"No way. I stick with the black all of my days." He smiles and leans off the wall. "Good luck, dude. When you need help, because I know you will, I'll tag along on your suicide mission."

"Sure thing, Cryo." I smile and walk off, happy he decided to become one of the good guys.

"See! It's catchy!" He says as I keep walking, shaking my head.

It's time to fight Purge. Will I live? Don't know. Will I beat him? There's no other option. But what if I don't live? Then the others have to fight him. He'll slaughter them like animals. Repelling my thoughts isn't easy and they begin to take hold of me. I worry if I can't beat him. I sneak through the alleyways and rooftops, slowly making my way to the building a few blocks away, which is stacked with security. I get close enough to the building that I'm on a rooftop that overlooks the security at the bottom. I gaze at the building, looking it up and down, searching for an entrance that doesn't lead to a painful death. The building is tall indeed. When the city wasn't taken over by a power-hungry madman I never actually got to see it...except that time I teleported above it and almost died. I cringe at the thought. I was so unskilled then. But I hope I have the power to stop Purge.

The building, or what I should call a tower, has large amounts of soldiers on the ground, patrolling. The walls have been coated with the Anti-Powers alloy so I don't think I'll be able to get in that way. Purge has obviously been renovating it because the building is actually twice as tall as I remember and at the top, there is a room that I can tell outlooks the whole city. It looks like a penthouse of sorts. The glass windows lean forward and out towards the city. They're transparent so if I can at least get high enough to look through the glass I can teleport in and not alert anyone. And it is at this time I wish I could turn invisible. But I can't. So I do the next best thing.