"-but then we managed to turn him back with the glands of a megamiphadis." Kazar finished explaining.
Nick Fury sat silently by his desk, looking at Kazar with a bland expression. He quirked an eyebrow at the jungle kid, then looked past him at the rest of the Academy students; all whom stood up perfectly straight, like some kind of wall of teenage emotion and angst.
"So," Nick Fury said, addressing them all "you're telling me that the ambiguity of the virus is a poison from the Savage Lands, that had earlier been used on Spider-Man, and can only be cured by something else from the Savage Lands, correct?"
Amadeus, who stood closest to Kazar, nodded in affirmation. "And that might also explain why Spidey was affected by the gas more than others." he added. "He could have a bit of residue poison still in him, or maybe his body recognized it somehow and built on it. Either way, I'll have to run tests..." the teen trailed off in thought. Powerman nudged him from behind to snap him back into attention.
Nick shook his head, "But you have no evidence to this." he pointed out. "You're basing it all on theory. And frankly, I don't think I can have my agents going on a goose-chase through a prehistoric jungle based on nothing but a gut-feeling."
Nova pushed his way forward from the group to address Fury, "Well, how many times has your gut-feeling saved your life?" he demanded. "Or Captain America? Even Spidey's survived on gut-instinct, if you remember. Besides, you don't have to send your agents. Let us go." he gestured to himself and his teammates. "Kazar grew up in the Savage Lands, he can be our guide. Come on, you've trained us for this kind of thing."
"It's not like your letting us do anything else anyway." Agent Venom piped up from the back of the group. A mumble of bitter agreement rumbled through the teens. Nick Fury looked them all over, seeing nothing but stubborn determination. He didn't like the idea of leaving a group of teenagers in the middle of a jungle full of dinosaurs - the dinosaurs didn't do anything to deserve that.
But they did have a point.
"What have we got to lose?" Dagger added. "Your scientists are stumped, even Tony Stark is running around in circles. I mean, yeah, all we have is this lead. But at least it's something. What's the harm in just checking it out?"
Fury was quiet as he thought over the situation. It wasn't a completely foolish theory to be honest, and it did give the teens something to do. But he wasn't going to send them into the Savage Lands with no supervision. Yes, they weren't exactly fourth-graders, but kids are kids. As powerful as they were, he didn't like the idea of sending them out on their own.
Sighing, Fury leaned back in his chair. "Okay," he said, and immediately the teens erupted in cheers. Grumbling under his breath and loathing the headache he'd have later, Nick shouted "Quiet!" silencing them all off abruptly. "I have conditions." the students withheld a sigh, but it was still something. They all held their tongue and listened. "First," Nick said, "Not all of you are going."
"What?"
"You can't be serious!"
"Come on!"
"Are you kidding me?"
"What the heck man!"
Fury silenced them with a glare. "The Savage Lands are still dangerous, and with a bigger group you're more likely to be noticed and attacked. This should be an in-and-out mission. Large numbers are not required. And if you disagree, than you can automatically count yourself out of this mission." the teens wisely remained quiet. Satisfied with their silence, Fury continued, "I'll be choosing who goes and who stays, based on who is more accustomed to the Savage Land terrain - not just personal preference. For now, all of you head back to your dorms. Classes will be continuing tomorrow, any arguments will be ignored and dished with detention." with that, the Director waved them out of his office.
The students all shuffled out and filed back in the hall. Right as the door slid closed, Agent Venom punched the closest wall in frustration. "Man, this is so unfair!" he growled. "I hate grown-ups. Why they gotta be like that!?"
"It does seem that we always get the short-end of the stick." Amadeus huffily agreed, already knowing full and well that he wouldn't be going on this mission. His armor was equipped for crooks and villains, not quicksand and dinosaurs.
Despite that though, he really wanted to go! What good could he do here at the Academy? He already hit a wall with his research, despite the fact that everyone thought he was still onto something. At this point, all he was doing was repeating failed experiments! Or as Dagger put it "running around in circles. It was certainly growing tiresome watching himself fail in the same amazing way over and over and over again.
But, he also knew Nick Fury was right. A small group would be faster than a large one, and argue as he might, Amadeus knew he couldn't do much to help once in the Savage Lands. Too many factors could go wrong; his suit could malfunction due to sudden harsh environment; he could get caught in quicksand and damage his internal software (with nothing to fix it with either); his armor was a bit flashy and could cause unwanted attention; he could lose his suit; he could get eaten by a dinosaur! Each scenario ended the same: he being either deadweight or simply dead.
"Yeah." Nova sighed, almost sounding like he was agreeing with Amadeus' internal reasoning. "And we got class tomorrow too. Ugh."
"Anyone else feel like the universe is conspiring against us?" Power-Man asked. Everyone else raised their hand in agreement.
"Don't know why you're complaining though." Nova grumbled. "You're most likely to get to go on the mission because of your 'invulnerable' skin and whatnot; you and Kazar and pretty much guaranteed."
Powerman scowled at the crude statement and crossed his arms stoutly, "Well, excuse me for being more durable then you, Nova." he snapped hotly.
"Oh really!" the human rocket retorted, hovering in front of the bigger teen. "Well how about I-"
Iron Fist smoothly stepped between the two fuming comrades, and pushed them apart from each other. "Let's all just cool down." he suggested. "A rift between friends can cause the best team to crumble. If we can't physically help our friends, then the least we can do is keep it together for them until they get back."
"Yeah, and that'll be a little hard if we're too busy biting each other's neck offs." Cloak grimly agreed. "Come on guys, arguing is the last thing we need right now."
Nova and Powerman shuffled shamefully. "Your right." Powerman said. "We can't afford to be fighting right now. Sorry Nova."
"No, I started it." Nova admitted woefully. "I'm sorry." he held out a hand. Powerman took it and shook it firmly. Once they let go, the students remained silent in the hall for a moment or two. Before soon, Dagger sighed and started walking down the hall. Cloak followed after her, then gradually everyone else did too. They didn't talk as they journeyed back into the dorms. A place they were spending more and more time in.
Inside, blankets and spare suits littered the ground messily. A few forgotten plates of food were placed here and there, and random teenage trinkets poke out of hidey holes. A pair of headphones under a blanket, a book or two in the corner, even a football by Agent Venom's bunk.
Each teen, shoulders weighed down and eye tired, found their respected bunk and slumped in it. Amadeus reverted his armor back into a backpack and left it leaning against his cot as he lay down in the messy pile of blankets he called a bed.
Being a kid sucked. Being a kid genius sucked even more. Being a kid genius who was also a superhero was the suckiest of them all. Here his team was looking up to him to show every adult in the triskelion that, even though he was a kid, he could still contribute; and the Infected were depending on him to find a cure for their situation. If he was being honest with himself, he really wasn't doing too good of a job for either.
Amadeus almost couldn't believe it. That a brain as big as his (in a metaphorical sense) couldn't solve a problem. He was used to being able to solve any problems - that involved numbers and formulas of course. This sudden feel of uselessness was new and weird...he didn't like it in the slightest. His experiments were going nowhere but in the trash and he was completely stumped when it came to figuring this virus out - he really was running in circles. All he could do now was wait for essence of some creature from the Savage Lands, if he wanted to even think about getting back in the game. What was a Megamiphadis anyway? Amadeus has never heard of an animal like that before.
Besides, once the antidote to that poison Kazar mentioned was found, it was unlikely that Amadeus would be getting any of it. It would all probably be going to Tony, Bruce, Sam, Connors, and - ugh - Octavius. He could always sneak it away, with the help of Cloak or someone, but if he was caught then any trust the adults had in him before would be ultimately crushed. It was a suck-fest all around.
Groaning softly, Amadeus flung an arm up and over his eyes in a odd, yet comfortable, position.
This here...this was nice. Just relaxing on his bed. Not thinking, not worrying or fretting; just soothing tensed muscles and forgetting about the worries that became his life.
Unfortunately though, tranquility was a comfort lacking in his life, as his wrist communicator beeped, reminding him that it he was on tonight's patrol group. Around the room he could hear the communicators of the rest of the scheduled patrol group beep in synchronization, accompanied a few seconds later by small groans of displeasure and the rustling of blankets.
Groaning again, Amadeus moved the arm over his eyes and heaved from his bunk so that he was sitting upright. Kazar and Dagger were already up and getting ready to go, so Amadeus did too. He got to his feet and slid his "backpack" over his shoulder once more.
For a minute he didn't activate it though, and just thought about the feel of the bag on his back. The comfortable and nice pressure it put on his shoulders. And, for a moment, he remembered what it was like to be a normal kid, going to a normal school, doing normal kid things.
But then the moment left and he was struck back to reality. Shaking his head at the thought, Amadeus gripped the straps and pushed outward, activating the backpacks systems. The bag hummed, then lept and expanded over his body and he became Iron Spider once more.
Amadeus has been considered a genius ever since before his preteens; his favorite pastime involved solving complicated, college-worthy math equations. He was kidding himself; he's never been a "normal" kid, even before he became Iron Spider.
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"Iron Spider, on your right!" Dagger called as she threw several pointed beams of light at the masked crooks assaulting her. Amadeus whirled around and blocked the strike of a crowbar from another goon with his arm, before shooting his assailant away.
Nearby, Kazar was knocking and kicking his own crooks. There were about 9 criminals in all; all dressed in black clothes and cheap, plastic animal masks. Amadeus was fighting 2 of the crooks, one with an ape mask, and another with an alligator. Kazar had 3 bad guys on him; a horse, a cat, and a mouse. Dagger was being circled by 4 goons; a tiger, a dog, a monkey, and a zebra.
When they first stumbled upon the held-up jewelry store, it seemed like the typically robbery - only with a larger number of idiots attempting to make way with the diamonds. But, turned out it was more of a hostage-thing. They were targeting the wife and daughter of some rich delegate, and was holding up the entire store as they tried to make their escape (probably hoping to break away with said diamonds while they were at it). Well, until Iron Spider, Dagger, and Kazar got involved, that is.
The goons were easy enough to fight. It was the small crowd of hostages being held in the corner that made it more challenging. They didn't want any civilians getting hurt, which was proving to be a tad hard as the goons were certainly not taking their hostages safety into account. Such bad manners. The stores security guards had been overwhelmed earlier, and now lay unconscious on the ground. Another thing they were trying to avoid: stepping on knocked-out guards.
Iron Spider was ashamed to say that he might've accidentally stepped on the fingers of more than one security guard.
"Dagger, one of them is trying to get away." Kazar shouted as he shook a crook off his back.
"On it!" she replied, immediately spotting the attempting-to-flee robber. He was hurriedly making his way toward the back exit, with a bag of jewelry clutched in his hand. Dagger punched the crook in front of her in the nose with enough force to hear a crack, knock him down forcefully, before spinning and throwing a light dagger at the escaping offender. The dagger caught the guy in the sleeve of his shirt, causing him to drop the bag. Several more daggers followed afterward, pinning the guy to the wall, like a big in a case.
She turned back around, in time to find another crook already swinging her bat in a wide arc toward the heroes head. Dagger lunged forward, performing a tuck and roll on the ground, and stopping a few paces behind the guy. Only this one wasn't a guy, but a girl. Dagger could spot the long ponytail from behind the zebra mask, not only that, but the slim figure and belly shirt was a dead give-away.
Planting her foot firmly, Dagger launched herself upward with a dagger growing in each hand and swiped at the felon. Zebra managed to dodge the first strike, and retaliated with a strong swing of her bat. Dagger managed to hit Zebra the second time around, but while trying to roll away from the other's attack, she didn't move fast enough and the bat whacked her on the shoulder. Grunting from the impact, she sidestepped another swing and knocked Zebra out with a punch to her temple.
There was another sound from behind, and Dagger withheld a groan. She turned to fight her next attacker, but was surprised when a repulsor beam hit into the guy, and sent him hitting into the window instead. Dagger gave Iron Spider a grateful smile and a thumbs up. Iron Spider returned the gesture and the two joined Kazar, who just finished off the last of his crooks.
"Well, that was fun." Kazar huffed, watching the last one fall.
"Yeah," Dagger grimaced, rubbing her hit shoulder. "fun."
"You okay?" Iron Spider asked, noticing the rubbing.
Dagger shrugged, and winced as she moved her shoulder. "I'll be fine." she assured. "Probably just bruised. I've had worst."
Outside, police cars were flashing red and blue. Officers held their perimeter around the building, still unaware that the bad guys have been taken down. Iron Spider stepped past the unconscious crooks and approached the quivering hostages. "Okay guys, police are outside. Mind telling them what happened in here? Yeah? Kay? We good?" he asked.
They all stared back at him wide-eyed. Iron Spider cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Okaay, uh...we'll just go then." dealing with the civilians was awkward. Maybe it was because they were in shock or just in awe, but they sure liked staring.
Iron Spider, Kazar, and Dagger went to make their leave out the back door (they avoided interactions with the police, mostly to get out of a long explanation of how they beat the crooks - it got old the first 15 times). As they left, Dagger noticed the quivering robber still pinned to the wall. She sighed and knocked him out with a blunt light dagger, then willed the others nailing him down to disappear. The crook slumped to the ground. "Let's go," she told the other two, as they had stopped to see what she was doing.
Once back outside and high up on a building, they stopped to take a breather from their latest robbery. That'd be the third one that night- crooks were really trying their luck today. Ever since they started going on patrols again, the crime rates had dropped exceedingly. Gangs and robbers seemed to be getting that message that even though something happened with their resident heroes, said heroes weren't going to stop putting them back in their place.
But, there were still days when petty thieves or a few crooks decided to push their luck and score something. Well, they'll be scoring nothing but a jail-cell tonight. The three heroes sat on the building ledge, legs dangling over the side, and simply stared out at the city. The sun has long since gone down, and left the city to bask in its self-made glow.
The city, in all its bright and loud glory, soothed Amadeus's nerves and the adrenaline from the fight began to wear off. His foot hurt a little from when he stepped on it wrong, slightly rolling the ankle. But it would've been worse without the suit on, so he didn't complain about.
Besides, judging by the grimace on Dagger's face and the way she was rubbing that shoulder, Amadeus guessed that she'd have a decent colored bruise tomorrow. "You sure you're okay?" he asked her one more time.
Dagger stopped the rubbing, finding that she had been caught in the act, and casually folded her arms. "I'll be alright. It just hurts a little." she said, withholding the urge to shrug. "That's what I get for letting the guy hit me with a bat." at the worried look of Kazar, and the concerned tilt of Amadeus head, she added, "I'll probably have Dr. Connors look at it so make sure the guy didn't dislocate or break anything, but I'm sure it'll just bruise. Don't worry about it."
"Okay, if you're sure." Amadeus replied. "Though, I could scan it for you if you want. I'm thinking of updating my scanners to do a deeper level inspection. You know, to help assess wounds when a medic's not around. I think it'd be helpful. And if it is bad, then I could have, like, tabs of information I could store in my database to walk us through how to deal with the wound till a pro can get to it. But that'd also mean I have to come up with some way to store on-hand medical supplies, which I actually already have a few idea for-" Amadeus paused when he realized he was now rambling. He blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly, as Dagger and Kazar were smirking at him in amusement.
"I think I'll be okay." Dagger reassured him with a serious nod, but her eyes were still bright and she added a smile at the end so he figured she was just teasing him.
Amadeus coughed into his fist, "Yeah, okay." he mumbled and decided to avoid eye-contact with either of them. Man, sometimes he hated how carried away he could get when in conversation. Especially if it's about a project or new technology that he found fascinating. He's had riveting conversations with Connors a few times, but the scientist was a lot busier now; and with Amadeu's fellow science nerd currently a blood-thirsty beast, his science talks have turned few and far between - unless he counted when he talked to himself, which he didn't want to count as an actual conversation (especially because he tended to argue with himself out loud, and sounded like a complete looney when he did).
Pushing all of that aside, Amadeus looked at the time in his helmet visor. "It's getting late guys." he announced. "Let's do one more sweep here, then we'll head back to the Triskelion."
The other two nodded, "Maybe we should split up to cover more ground." Kazar suggested. "The area IS kind of big."
Dagger nodded with Kazar in agreement.
"Sounds fine with me." Amadeus said. "I'll take the South side."
"I got North." Dagger called.
Kazar shrugged, "Well, then I got West."
"We'll do East together on our way back to the Academy." Dagger said. The boys nodded, and the three got up to perform their tasks.
With a small wave, they all split ways. Dagger jumped onto the the next building and made her way across the rooftops, Kazar moved in a similar manner. Whereas, Amadeus jumped of the building, free-falling for a moment or two, before he brought his suit to life and flew through the buildings.
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Kazar ran from rooftop to rooftop, jumping across alleyways when the buildings split, and propelling himself off of fire escapes and poles when they were too far away. He jumped over generators and climbed up and over walls, dodging water containers and avoiding satellite dishes.
It was strange to him. This world of concrete and noise and bright lights. Back in the Savage Lands, thing were so different - and a lot quieter. When he first arrived in New York, his senses had been ambushed with the horrid sounds,the fast movement of New Yorkers, and the smell - ugh, the smell was absolutely atrocious. How could anyone live here? How did they manage this battle of the senses? It seemed less like an area for living, and more like a war-zone.
But, as he spent more time here, he realized that the two were very different, but also very similar. Every noise had a story, every smell led him somewhere, every sight was informing. There was no quicksand to avoid, but the concrete could prove just as fatal (especially when plummeting several stories down toward it). The smells were equivalent to swamp gas and poisonous plants, telling him what is dangerous and what is safe (note - be wary of most hotdogs.). And, as Spider-Man snarkily pointed out before, the New Yorkers WERE like the dinosaurs - all different sizes, but they could be as mean and nasty as an angry T-Rex. Some even had large fangs and claws - that one was quite disturbing actually.
But all in all, Spider-Man was right. This concrete jungle was sort of like the Savage Lands, in a weird, crazy, different-but-still-dangerous kind of way. And each day Kazar stayed, he got more attuned to this place. He was able to navigate the streets with only mild difficulty, he could move along the rooftops quite well, he could even manage angry New Yorkers without having wound up fighting them to the death - which was a nice change from some dinosaurs.
So far, the streets he was scouring seemed pretty low-key. While the streets themselves still seemed pretty full, the crowds had thinned some, so it didn't look as cluttered. All alleyways seemed clear and free of danger, and there didn't seem to be any purse-snatchers hiding in the shadows. It seemed like the days dash of crime was over.
"Better check one more time anyway," Kazar muttered under his breath. He'd hate to miss something. Altering his track a little, Kazar moved in a wide loop so that he could do one more sweep of the surrounding area.
Everything still seemed fine. The remaining crowds walked under the glare of the light's, a light murmur coming off of them as some talked with others as they moved. The hotdog stand he passed earlier was being packed up for the night; a few corner stores were closing up as well, while a few others were still open. But nothing out of the ordinary.
Feeling content that he could meet back up with his patrol group knowing his section to scout was secure, Kazar smiled and took a deep breath of air to soothe his muscles. Though that was a mistake, as he coughed roughly from New York oder he just inhaled. That hadn't been a good idea.
With his nose wrinkled in disgust, Kazar shook his head, as if to shake the smell away, and began his trek across the buildings. His patrol for the night was nearly done.
Continuing his way of travel, he turned to the direction of the main Bugle building, where he'd meet with Dagger and Iron Spider to scour the East side, before they'd all head back together.
But, a third of the way there, Kazar heard something. It was small. So small, he almost thought he didn't even hear it. But then he heard it again. A small scrape, like a nail dragging against brick. Something was behind him, watching him from the shadows. He froze for just a second, before relaxing again. He knew when he was being stalked, and if he wanted to get the jump on his hunter, then he'd need to let them think he didn't know he was there.
Besides, the this stalker knew Kazar knew he was there, then they'd likely to do something unexpected.
Without a hitch, Kazar jumped onto the next building, not pausing or changing his pace. If the hunter could keep up with him before, there should be no problem now. He continued on like this for a few more buildings, acting calm and at ease as he got closer to his destination. But, during one jump, there was a noise from the alleyway, and Kazar used this as an excuse to stop abruptly and whirl around, as if startled by the noise.
Sure enough, he barely saw the fleeting shadow of a person duck behind a water tower. Acting as if he didn't see it, Kazar played his part and peered down into the alleyway to find the source of the noise from earlier. It was just a stray dog rummaging through a few trash cans.
Shrugging the noise off, Kazar continued his trek through New York. Now that he was completely aware of his pursuer, it was easier to discern small things that gave them away. The slight, almost barely distinguishable patter of feet, an occasional flash of their shadowed body out of the corner of his eyes, and, occasionally, the tiny sound of a nail scratching at the brick. Whoever this pursuer was, they were skilled, but not enough to fool Kazar.
The teen vaguely considered turning to confront his stalker. But then, figured he would wait till he was at the Bugle building for the assistance of Iron Spider and Dagger. Sure he wanted to face this threat head-on, but all advantage would lie with his foe. They're probably more accustomed to fighting in New York, and if they had the skills to sneak up on Kazar, then they must've been a bigger threat than any robber or purse snatcher.
But, as a twist of fate, his pursuer had other ideas. As Kazar drew closer to his destination, he noticed that he could no longer hear his stalker behind him. When he strained his ears, he couldn't even make out the patter of their feet. Every sense Kazar had suddenly sharpened to its extent as he realized he wasn't alone, but he couldn't see his offender.
There was a sudden thud behind him and Kazar barely managed to dodge the swipe of his attacker as something whisked past his head. Before the teen could retaliate, or even get a good look of who he was fighting, he was violently and unexpectedly tackled, and the two went tumbling off the building and down into the alleyway below. Kazar's instincts were pulsing with life and he immediately maneuvered his body so he landed briefly on his feet and broke the impact of the fall with a somersault across the ground, before rolling back on his feet and twisting to face his opponent.
Still hidden in the shadows, Kazar would barely make out the figure of his attacker. They had landed on their feet smoothly and now stood facing him with calm ease.
"Who are you?" Kazar demanded instantly. Did he know this person? Had he offended them? Were they an old enemy? Nothing about them seemed familiar, but then again, Kazar couldn't really see them that well at all.
His opponent said nothing. They simply lunged forward. Something flashed in the little light of the alleyway, and Kazar sidestepped the knife his attacker thrust at him. It was a long knife, sharp, but it too was hard to make out, even as Kazar's eyes adjusted to the lighting.
The hunter whirled around as Kazar sidestepped, and swung for the teens neck. Kazar grabbed the hunters wrist and pulled forward to knock him off balance, and then swung his free arm and slammed it into the hunter's face.
The opponent grunted and tore his arm from Kazar's grip and jumped back to briefly assess his target, before swiftly jumping back toward the teen. This person was fast, really fast. They swung with lightning speed, swiping at exposed skin aiming for Kazar's heart, throat, abdomen, or wrists with nerve-racking speed. Kazar unsheathed his own knives just in time, and managed to deflect and avoid any serious cuts.
But, as the fight wore on, he wasn't able to fend off each attack, and was aggressively slashed across the chest, leaving a long, jagged cut in its wake. Grunting and hissing from the sting, Kazar growled and lurched forward, smashing his knives into his opponents, locking both weapons together in an X and pushing against the offender in a battle of strength.
Kazar knew he was pretty strong, having grown climbing and swinging from trees, fending off dinosaurs, and trudging through every danger the Savage Lands had to offer. As skilled as his opponent was, he could tell they were lithe and not as built; Kazar held the advantage now.
Or so he though.
As he pushed, he was astonished to find the hunter matching his strength. Not just matching it, but exceeding it. Kazar felt the hunter push back forcefully and the jungle teen began to waver; they were a lot more powerful than he had anticipated.
But he wasn't going to give up that easy, and forced every muscle he could into dominating this threat. Still though, the hunter pushed back with more force, causing Kazar to stumble, and then suddenly lurching back so the teen was off balance, before sweeping his feet out from under him.
Landing roughly, the breath was knocked out of Kazar in a rush. He saw the hunter jump forward again, knife raised, and his hand shot out and grab the hunter wrist, halting the point of the knife a few inches from his heart. At closer look, was it even a knife? It looked weird; definitely not like any knife he's seen. The texture of it seemed all wrong.
But that was a minor thought, as the hunter pushed down and the knife cut down an inch. Kazar grunted from the force and pushed back with all his might. His muscles shook from the strain, but he manage to hold the weapon effectively in place.
The world held its breath for the next few minutes, watching in cold silence as the battle between Kazar and the hunter unfolded. With each minute, the teen's strength depleted and the knife ate away centimeter after centimeter from exposed flesh. Panic began to set in with Kazar as the tip almost touched skin. He needed a way out of this, or he was dead.
Thinking frantically, all Kazar could hope to save him from this was the knife protruding from the leather wrist gauntlets strapped to his lower arm. If he could just get this knife away....
Shouting, Kazar pushed the hunter wrist to the side so it wasn't over his heart, and let go with one hand. The knife surged down, and Kazar shouted again, this time in pain, as the blade plunged into his shoulder instead. But, even with the pain, Kazar thrust out the knife in his own gauntlet and the hunter shouted as well (the only sound they made the whole fight) and jumped back, pulling the knife free from Kazar's shoulder, and held their side as it gushed blood.
Kazar, once his shoulder was freed, scrambled away from the hunter and wearily got to his feet. The two stared at each other, both breathing heavy and both bleeding freely, but neither attacking. "Who...are you?" Kazar gasped again.
There was no reply.
The hunter's head cocked to the side though, and seemed to be looking at Kazar's knife - which was dripping with blood. The teen glared and tensed, preparing for another attack. Instead, the hunter did something with his hand so that something white sprayed over his wound, before wrapping his bloodied hand in the same substance. The hunter glared at Kazar for a moment, before jumping up and kicking up the wall to land on the teen.
Kazar dodged, and whirled around to fight back. Instead of really fighting though, the hunter latched onto Kazar's bloody wrist gauntlet, and tore it from his arm. With one of Kazar's weapons secured, the hunter flipped backward and away from the teen. Grunting as they landed, their hand flinching as it raised to press against the wound. With one last look, the hunter jumped high up in the air, grabbed one of the bars of a fire escape high above, and hoisted themselves up. They scurried up the fire escape, as if it were a jungle gym, quickly, and disappeared up and over the building a moment later. Gone just like that.
Kazar waited for several minutes, watching and waiting for the hunter to come back and attack. But they never did. Knowing the fight was over, Kazar sighed in relief, before groaning from the pain in his shoulder. With one hand up and pressing against the bleeding wound, Kazar managed to activate his communicator and called Iron Spider.
A voice came over the device a few seconds later. "Kazar, where've you been? Dagger and I are already at the Bugle building. What's keeping you?"
"I'm..." Kazar looked around the dark and dingy alley. "I'm - uh...in an alleyway." he mumbled. "I'm not sure where."
"What are you doing in an alleyway!?" Iron Spider demanded.
"Um...mostly bleeding out."
"WHAT!?"
"Yeah, I think someone just tried to kill me."
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, could you - uh, you know, come help me out."
"Y-yeah. Okay. Stay where you are. Dagger say's she'll call the Academy for a medical extraction, I'm gonna track your location."
"Okay. Please hurry. It is very dirty in this alleyway."
"Don't go anywhere."
"I have nowhere to go."
Iron Spider huffed and the connection broke. Suddenly exhausted, Kazar stumbled slightly. He tore a strip of the lower part of his pants and bound it tightly against his shoulder,using the leather cord around his neck to secure it in place. The dinosaur teeth decorating the cord dug slightly in his skin, but it was a minor discomfort.
Wearily, Kazar sat on the ground, waiting for Iron Spider to show up. The sound of repulsors filled the air a minute later.
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"You are a disappointment." the accented voice stated harshly.
The hunter stood erect and at attention at the screen before him. He didn't say anything to contradict the statement, but merely hung his head in shame. The wound in his side was still bleeding, having not yet received proper professional attention, his face hurt too - his nose was bleeding; but both wounds were momentarily forgotten.
"All you had to do vas get rid the jungle kid, vas it not?"
No reply.
"Vith all your training!"
No reply.
"How could you have failed."
"He got the jump on me." the hunter finally snapped, unable to help himself.
The voice sneered, "Yes, as I can see." indicating to the hunters wound. The hunter scowled, but didn't reply. The voice scoffed in disappointment.
"Get your vound cleaned then report back for more training immediately. Ve with ensure that this vill never happen again. Dismissed."
The hunter stiffly nodded and charged out of the room. His anger was bright and flaring, the wound in his side doing no good to help to his mood. All he had was one mission and he blew it. Not only that, but this wound hurt like crazy. He'd been in for an extra torturous session tonight - wound or no wound.
He may have failed this time. But next time...
"I promise you I won't fail a second time." he whispered dangerously. "Next time, I'll bring you his freaking head on a platter!"
DONE! Whoo-ee, what a chapter right?
This took forever to write. Ugh, I'm tired. But here it is! Hope you enjoyed it!
Also, for those of you who read my "Being There For You (One-Shot Book)", the chapter "Long Live the Queen" was adopted by Tahitiseabreeze, she/he will be continuing the story, she/he says to expect it posted on April 1. So, you guys should totally check it out.
Also, there's a USM one-shot called "One Step Behind" by Stormy1x2, which is REALLY good. If you haven't read it yet, then I highly recommend it! I took a quote out of it (at the authors consent) and posted it on my profile because I thought it was awesome and a really good thing to remember. You guys should check him/her and their stories out. They're great!
Well, that's all for me now. Tell me what you thought of the chapter down below. Night my melons! Kisses! (づ￣ ³￣)づ