Lightforge, Cannoneer, and Gray Guardian stood together on a street, all tired from fighting all morning. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem; it just meant that it was time for them to take a break and not get into any fights for a while. That plan didn’t look likely at the moment, as the trio was staring down at least half a dozen figures as they emerged from the shadows. Hammerfist’s gang.
They looked out for blood, but they were hesitant, and with good reason. It was one thing for a back alley fight to spill out onto the street. But if they openly attacked in the streets, then the heroes could send out a distress signal that would call every cape in close proximity. And given the state of the streets, that was almost always a death sentence.
Almost. But it wasn’t a normal day, was it? The streets were flooded with crime and heroes would be roving around in gangs of their own to pummel them. With everyone so active, what were the odds that an army was waiting for them? Everyone here had played when this was a game, and they’d all seen distress calls go unanswered. And there were three tired heroes just waiting for them.
Lightforge could see the calculations running through the criminals at the same time that he was working on the same problem. Both sides reached the same conclusion, and Lightforge didn’t bother trying to be subtle.
“RUN!”
They took off down the street at the same time that the gang came running forward after them. They were outnumbered and their enemies were fresh, so it was the only option. Staying there would mean certain death. And so they sprinted away as fast as their legs would carry them.
They hadn’t even run half a block when several blurs went streaking past them. Within the space of a single breath, they were surrounded. A speedster stood in front of them, flanked on either side by summoned creatures. On the left was a brilliant bird whose feathers shone in every color of the rainbow. It wasn’t hard to pick out the varied hues; the bird’s wingspan was at least twelve feet. Every surface of the bird was angular, hard, and especially sharp. So much as looking felt dangerous.
The other was less spectacular, but just as dangerous. It was a bear. Just a bear. Just a ten foot tall bear with midnight black fur and eyes that radiated blood red light.
Together, the three made for a very effective wall. All the same, the trio didn’t dare stop. They didn’t have so much of a lead that they could afford to even slow down. Cannoneer fumbled with his weapon and nearly fell as he fired a grenade while in mid-stride. The taser grenade jumped up into the air and flew over the villains where it couldn’t be sent back at the heroes.
Or at least that was the idea. The bird shot up into the air and swatted the device out of the air, dropping it back right on top of the running trio. Gray Guardian dove and tackled Lightforge, but the man was too big so he only stumbled. The barrier went up around them, but Cannoneer was left on the outside. The weapon specialist shot through the settings on his bazooka and aimed down at the ground.
This time the weapon launched an explosion of force that dragged the hero up and away from the grenade. The explosion of electrical energy lanced out in all directions, and the heroes were saved from the worst of it. But that didn’t really matter, because they’d still lost. They’d been forced to stop running.
The group of villains encircled them, eyes full of malice and ready to deliver the finishing blows. The worst part of the whole affair was that they were smart. Tired or not, they’d seen the group take down their strongest member. They knew not to take them lightly. The three heroes stood back to back, trying to keep their eyes on everything at once. Lightforge spoke quietly to his companions.
“Cannoneer, please tell me you have a plan.”
“I called for help, but I haven’t heard a response.”
“A distress call? I don’t have high hopes there.”
“No, something a little more direct.”
“Sure. Well, we don’t all have to die. You can fly away with your bazooka, can’t you?”
“I could, but I’m not a dick.”
Gray Guardian scoffed and said, “That’s nice, but let’s see what we can do to actually survive this.”
They laid a hand on either of their companions, and a surge of energy ran through them. Lightforge saw a blinking icon appear in his vision, notifying him that he’d received a buff to his attack power. Interesting choice. His first thought would have been a defensive or speed buff to help them get away.
He took another look at the gang around him and decided that he agreed with Gray’s decision. They weren’t going to get through this by running. Their only choice was to fight and hope that they could survive. He summoned his hammer, his shield was still on his arm. He watched as his AP bar dropped distressingly low; he had been exerting himself a lot today, and he hadn’t kept much in reserve.
His mind flew through the options available to him. His energy was low and his attacks weren’t overly powerful to begin with. He didn’t have any items that would help in this situation either. He realized that he’d been missing a big part of what made gadgeteers powerful: the ability to prepare. And he was suddenly very upset with himself for not building himself a bunch of bombs or teleporters for just such an occasion as this.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Too late for any of that, but it would be the first order of business once he got back to his shop. He still had three charges left to his revival pod, so this wasn’t the end, regardless of how the fight went. While that was comforting, he also really didn’t want to die.
He locked eyes with a villain directly in front of him. The villain was covered in blue scales and their face was that of a lizard. In fact, everything about him was very lizard-like, from the scales to the claws to the tail. Everything except for the flaming mohawk that he sported on top of his head. Of course, “flaming” really wasn’t the right word for it. It wasn’t on fire, the mohawk itself was made of fire.
Lightforge took a few deep breaths to prepare himself, and then he charged. The lizard man’s eyes went wide for a moment, but he recovered and raised his claws to unleash a torrent of fire at the approaching hero.
The flames met a glowing blue shield of hardened light. The heat wrapped around the obstruction, but the shield did its job and kept its owner safe from the attack. Lightforge swung the shield away, scattering the final embers of the fire and clearing the way for his hammer. He roared as he brought the hammer up to swing with all his might.
There was a blur and something crashed into his side. He went tumbling to the ground alongside the enemy speedster, one of the few with the speed to react in time. Lightforge forced himself not to lose concentration; the last thing he needed was to lose either of his weapons.
He rolled across the pavement and came to his feet almost immediately, but the moment of surprise had been spent. Every villain in the circle was on guard and now they were advancing. Apparently his wild idea to punch a quick hole in the lines was a little bit too optimistic. After all, the whole point of a gang is that they’re allowed to work together too.
Lightforge scrambled across the ground back to his friends. There they were, trapped like rats and his only idea had just failed spectacularly. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that there was only one way for this encounter to end.
With the trio’s deaths. The numbers were simply too much against them. But just because they were going to die didn’t mean that they had to be the only ones. That was what truly held the villains back. The first ones to jump into the fray would be the most likely to join the heroes in death. But there wasn’t exactly space for them to pull back and come up with a plan.
In those extra moments of hesitation, something unexpected happened. Cannoneer dropped his weapon and put his hands into the air. The clatter of metal on pavement drew all eyes to him, and the hands made all of those eyes stick. He casually looked around the circle of villains and was remarkably calm about the whole situation.
“Alright, alright. You’ve got us dead to rights. Who gets the honors?”
The villains shifted and lowered their weapons by just a hair. They shared confused looks and pointed glances darted around the circle before one of the gang members was volunteered to speak for them.
“What are you talking about? You’re just going to lay down and die?”
“I was just asking which of you lucky thugs gets to kill us and claim the XP.”
“We’re all a team, we can share.”
“Oh, ok. You must all be from the same Alliance. Except that no one here is level 10, so we can’t join Alliances yet.”
“We know that!”
“Of course, of course. So this must be a Mission where you got to officially form a Party to take on the task?”
“What are you talking about? There aren’t any missions left anymore, are there?”
“Really? Oh right, it must have slipped my mind for a minute there. Well, if you’re not from an Alliance, and you’re not in a Party, then only the person who gets the kills will gain any experience. Who’s it gonna be?”
This time the spokesman faltered and more glances were exchanged. Lightforge held his breath as he saw everyone around him start weighing the odds in their heads and coming to conclusions. Their stances shifted as they started to look more at each other than the trapped heroes.
The tension was running high, and there was hope. Hope that lasted until the fire lizard man shook his head and pointed around the circle.
“Don’t even think about it, you idiots. If we turn on each other now, then we’re screwed. Let’s fight it out, and whoever gains the XP buys the first round tonight.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re strong enough to have a good shot. What about the rest of us?”
“You’ll have to wait. As long as we have this gang, we have a way to all gain XP. But as soon as we start fighting each other, we’re back to every man for themselves. Would you prefer that?”
More darting glances and arguments rumbled under the surface, but the villains quickly settled back into their positions and glared at the heroes. The lizard smirked as he watched his companions fall in line.
“Nice try, hero. Too bad, really. All you managed was to stall your own death by a few moments. Are you satisfied?”
Cannoneer smirked and finally lowered his hands.
“I am, actually. Sometimes a little bit of time is all you need.”
The scaled man sneered and turned slightly to turn at one of his companions. That turn saved him, as an arrow sprouted from his shoulder instead of his chest. He howled in pain and turned to see a figure standing on a rooftop. An archer who Lightforge found more than a little familiar.
Windshot. And he wasn’t alone. Sunbird floated beside him, along with two more heroes that Lightforge vaguely recognized but couldn’t name. And Sunbird was living up to her namesake, with energy crackling so brightly between her fingers that it lit up the area around her even in the sunny sky.
Cannoneer looked at the villains and nodded towards the new heroes.
“Now it’s an even fight. So far you’ve shown yourselves to be pretty smart. Now prove it and make the right choice.”
It didn’t take long. In less than a minute the villains had slipped away back into the shadows and departed. The heroes watched them go; they wouldn’t fight if they didn’t have to. It was too much of a risk. But on both sides they could feel what had really happened. The confrontation had ended, but the conflict was still ongoing. And this was just the start of something bigger.