“Got you!” Wind gushed over her body, driven out to sea as fist met against fist. A frown curled at her lips, Goku’s reaction times were impossible. “How do you always know?”
Goku danced back, mouth split in a wide grin as Anissa shook her numbed fingers. She sighed and returned to her practised stance. The Saiyan tapped at his chest and Pride’s shark-toothed maw took shape on his shoulder.
“These symbiotes help, but you’re also kind of slow…” Goku shook his head and pointed to the skies. “Are you sure you don’t want to fight in space? You’re much stronger outside the atmosphere.”
“I told you, I want to try and understand this ‘Ki’ you use,” Anissa shook her head and beckoned to her sparring partner. These past weeks on planet Sadala had seen real breakthroughs in her strength. “Down here is better for learning control, and all of Ultron’s ships would get in our way up there.”
“Fine,” Goku rolled his eyes at the mention of Krypton’s A.I. servant. The two of them butted heads on almost every topic, a comical rivalry that Anissa was convinced hid some kind of friendship. “But don’t blame me if you get hurt again…”
Anissa scowled and blitzed forward, her fists matched blow-for-blow. The Saiyan wasn’t wrong, she’d been inside the healing pods twice more since the return to her home universe. Viltrumites shared a commonality with Goku’s people, severe injury could lead to rapid gains if treated properly.
She lashed out with a supersonic kick, only to find her leg in Goku’s iron grasp. His eyes were unfocused, one hand on his ear. They stood for almost a minute, until she waved her hand in front of his eyes. He nodded his head and released Anissa from her awkward pose.
“Sorry, but I have to go,” Goku rose into the air, face set in grim lines. “That guy… Grand Regent Thragg? He’s finally made his move and Allen has sent out a distress signal.”
“Wait!” Anissa raced after her Saiyan friend, a test of her limits until they finally left the atmosphere. A Kryptonian rebreather slipped over her face and broadcast her word to Goku’s ears. “Thragg is too powerful for you to handle… you should send word to your Emperor or Empress, he can’t be defeated alone!”
“Come with me then, but I won’t let Allen die while we wait for May to come through the portal!” Goku reached out and took hold of her arm. A lurch of shadow consumed reality, replaced by a new set of stars as they exited the phantom zone. “Now let’s go, before it’s too late!”
----------------------------------------
“You can’t escape me, Eric!” Shaw’s voice echoed through the hall behind them, accompanied by the thunder of his footsteps. “That cat may be fast, but this game of leapfrog has only one ending!”
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Stormy sighed as he shifted the Mother/Son due forward, twenty metres at a time. His orders were to keep this boy and his family safe, but this boorish man was relentless. The world slowed further, the sounds of destruction from his Master’s assault stretched long and low.
Paws extended, he hooked a claw into each of his wards’ shirt-collars and covered them in his biofield. So much effort, all because his Master wished to battle this human on his own. Stormy weaved a path through the base, until he reached a window large enough for his burdens.
A flash of red vapourized the glass and he dragged the two human’s to the ground below. He tossed them to the muddy lawn and turned to face the building at their backs. Sound returned, the last remnants of gunfire and the astonished cries of the imprisoned.
An explosion ripped through the base, a line of destruction that rampaged toward their position. Sebastian Shaw leapt from the shattered remnants of his own fortress, eyes unconcerned by the destruction his display had caused.
‘This human is persistent…’
Stormy’s eyes cast red over the grass, focused on the soil under his enemy’s feet. Tremendous heat turned the mud to vapour, a column of brackish steam that replaced Shaw’s footing.
“Is he dead?” Eric edged closer as Stormy stood at the mouth of the newly formed thermal vent. His eyes continued to pour heat downward, a tunnel to the depth of the Earth. “What… who are you?”
“His name is Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All…” the cheerful voice of his Master called Stormy’s attention from Shaw’s descent. He bounded forward, into Dan’s arms, eyes half closed as he took in the scratches. “But you can call him Stormy, all of our friends and family do!”
“Who are you… that cat…” Eric’s mother placed a hand on her son’s shoulders and pulled him close to her side. “What happened to all the soldiers?”
Dan took a final glance around the camp and its perimeter. No German allied forces remained, just the prisoners that found themselves suddenly freed. His feet touched the ground a few metres from the wary Mother, most of his focus on the young Eric.
“I plan on going by Superman on this world, but you can call me Dan-EL or Dan for short,” Dan bowed his head and waved to the devastated surroundings. “I took care of the soldiers, this camp is no longer under German control.”
“We’ll see about that in a moment,” Sebastian Shaw leavered himself free of Stormy’s pit, covered in a fine layer of soot. He rose to his feet, eyes filled with a dangerous glint. “I assume you’re the owner of that cursed creature?”
“That’s right,” Dan returned Shaw’s glare with a smile as he set Stormy onto the ground. He waved the cat toward Eric and his mother, a reminder of the creature's duties. “He’s a bit of a handful, but his skills are pretty good.”
Even though Bear and Stormy had only spent five years under the light of a blue sun, much of that time was with fully matured bodies. They had the same overpowered bloodlines as their Masters, so their strength wasn’t to be underestimated.
“He’s skilled at running… and digging holes,” Shaw scowled as he marched forward, half-focused on Eric as he pointed a finger toward Dan’s nose. “Now hand over my property and we can speak with each other as friends… if not…”
Shaw shrugged, face set in a smug grin. He crossed his arms and looked Dan up and down, eyes half closed as he gazed down his nose. Dan ignored the finger in his face as he squinted past the surface of the man’s skin.
“This family isn’t your property, Shaw,” buried under the mutant’s flesh was a bizarre energy form. It acted like his own biofield in some ways, integrated with the cells and designed to channel energy. “But you do have something that I need… why don’t we test the limits of your powers while I collect it?”
Shaw’s lips twitched, face twisted in a snarl as he reached out a hand. Dan kept his smile in place as he pulled back a fist, a flicker of ki under his skin. He would start slow, the more organic matter that was left behind, the better.
Air compressed against his knuckles, divided and dispersed by his biofeild’s effect. Feet planted, his body pushed forward and slammed a fist against the confidant mutant’s face. No sound erupted as their different biofields met, just a flash of light that blossomed into silent midnight-blue flame.