The men surrounding them stepped away from the square, taking as many of the civilians with them as they could. Orion could tell the air grew immediately confrontational, and it wasn’t going to be an easy battle. At least they had the decency to get all the innocent people out of the way first.
The Clockwork 2.0 stepped forward once, and Orion could instantly tell something was off. Its movement was clunky, unnatural, and… very forced. The Clockwork still geared up for a fight, but Orion wasn’t sure if there was any actual fighting going to happen.
“Remember me, kid?” a voice said from inside the Clockwork 2.0.
“General McIntosh?” Orion asked, incredulous. “You were crushed under rubble.”
“Yes, I was, but thanks to this machine, I am now superhuman. My wounded body has no limits inside of the Clockwork.”
“You’re not really expecting me to fight you like this, right?”
“No, because you’re going to lose. I have the power of the Syndra Stone inside this suit! Any last words, Orion?”
“You don’t have the Syndra Stone.”
“What?”
“You don’t have the Syndra Stone. I took it and replaced it with a normal stone while I was at the Gearmaster’s shop.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m quite literally not.”
“Now, with the power of the Syndra Stone, I will smite you down!”
He raised a metallic arm painfully into the air, and the Clockwork 2.0’s eyes lit up. Orion waited, eyes slightly flinched, but as the seconds went by, nothing happened.
“Syndra,” the general yelled, “get me out of this suit! Syndra!”
The Clockwork used this awkward and slightly dumb opportunity to charge forward, sending a fist into the chest of the Clockwork 2.0. Its pieces crumbled around the painfully cast general, who writhed in pain on the ground, exposed to the entire square.
“I needed him out of the way,” Syndra said, reaching into his pocket and finding a remote. “He was cocky and sloppy. He should have killed you and your boyfriend when he had the chance.”
He pressed a button on the remote, and another whistling noise filled the air as something shot out from the capitol building. It landed right in front of the Clockwork and punched hard, sending Orion and the Clockwork tumbling a bit, but never completely losing balance.
The real Clockwork 2.0. Not a man in a machine. Rather than the brassy look of its predecessor, the Clockwork 2.0 seemed to be made of steel or a similar metal. Its eyes still glowed orange, but there seemed to be a hostility behind them.
“Meet your match, you outdated piece of scrap,” Syndra said. “The prototype for the Clockwork 2.0, or as I like to call it, Syndromeda. Technically superior in every way possible.”
As soon as the Clockwork geared up for an attack, Syndromeda was already on him, and a heavy metal fist was bearing down on the duo. Orion, deciding being sandwiched between the Clockwork and the brick square was a bad idea, jumped off and landed on his elbows and good leg before rolling out of the smash zone. Syndra leveled a pistol at his head, and as he got up, he raised his arms.
“As for you, Orion,” the man said, “you’ve had just about enough fun, I’d say. I’ll admit, you’re a lot more resilient than I thought you would be. But at the end of the day, you’re just a kid in my way.”
The bullet rang out as the Clockwork jumped in front of them and took it for Orion. It pinged loudly and vanished, and the Clockwork rushed for Syndra before being pulled back by Syndromeda.
Syndra took another shot, but Orion dodged out of the way and behind a fountain. It wasn’t a permanent answer, but hopefully it was good enough for—
Overhead, the scream of three military jets ripped through the sky, all bearing the United States flag. Syndra watched in shocked anger before pointing at them.
Syndromeda, who was getting ready to pound the Clockwork’s head into the pavement, changed directions towards the jets. Orion knew what that meant, and he made eye contact with the Clockwork, who rushed over to pick him up.
The Clockwork kicked into overdrive in an attempt to catch up, but Syndromeda was fast. It locked on to the first jet it could access, and in a matter of seconds, the back half was torn off, and the front was spiraling out of control. Syndromeda looked back at Orion and the Clockwork and lobbed the jet piece at them, which they promptly dodged. Then, the Clockwork landed his first hit on Syndromeda, sending it careening into a nearby office building.
It got up fast and bolted their way. The Clockwork ducked just in time and used the chance to loop back around to the town square before they could cause any more trouble. Syndromeda followed, landing on its feet and bounding towards the two of them. This time, the Clockwork wasn’t fast enough to dodge, and was sent into a backflip before landing on its front. Orion was completely exposed to the hostile machine.
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Gunfire rang out across the square. People ducked everywhere, and Syndra looked around in confusion. His men were being dropped, and after a few moments, it was clear the American reinforcements had finally arrived.
Syndra and his metal counterpart were less than happy with this development, and he signaled for his machine to go for the soldiers. It refocused, stomping heavily towards a group of them, but not before the Clockwork grabbed one of its legs and forced it to fall flat on its own face. Orion rolled off again, not waiting for Syndra to monologue again before hopping for cover. Syndra took a shot that seared right by Orion’s face, but he continued to go for cover.
Syndromeda pounded against the Clockwork, trying to disable him, but he got up and brought his heavy foot down on the silvery back of the machine. Its head turned fully around, and both arms grabbed at the Clockwork’s leg before lifting it off effortlessly. The Clockwork tilted in the air and fell on his side, and Syndromeda raised its arm like the Clockwork does when gearing up to use his plasma cannon.
“Hey, stupid!” Orion yelled, waving his arms at the machine. It turned to look at him, then turned back to the Clockwork.
But that was all the time he needed. The Clockwork fired his own plasma shot, which connected with the chest of Syndromeda, crackling and driving a hole straight through. Then, the Clockwork got back up and gave it one swift kick, which launched the “superior” machine off the ground and into the limousine Syndra had taken to make it to the square.
By this point, two military men had stood in front of Orion, trying to beckon him over to safety, but he wouldn’t leave the scene without it being over. Syndra stood before the group of military men, Orion, and the Clockwork, pistol still in hand, and screamed.
“You don’t get it! You can’t stop what’s coming! The world will end without me!”
The armed men closed in on him, and Agent Ike appeared out of the crowd, his own weapon raised. “Syndra, you are officially under arrest, by authority of the people of Carmsborough and the United States of America. Put the pistol down.”
Syndra slowly lowered the pistol, but in one last movement, aimed it directly at Orion’s head.
Bang.
Orion closed his eyes hard, expecting it to be the end, but when he opened them, he found the opposite to be the case. He was still very much alive.
Syndra, on the other hand, was kneeling in pain. Agent Ike had shot him with what seemed to be a taser and not a pistol, and all of his muscle functions ceased to work. The men all held him down and put him in handcuffs. Then, as they were dragging him away from the town square, Syndromeda started to get up from the limousine. Orion watched in horror as it got to both its feet, and—
Was engulfed in a purple orb, which grew in size to encompass both it and the limo, and promptly disappeared, limo included. All eyes went in the direction where the orb came from, and standing there was the Gearmaster, some sort of weapon in his hand.
“What did you just do?” Orion asked.
“That’s my return to sender weapon,” he replied. “He’s going back to the forge.”
“The forge?”
Syndra, despite his condition, laughed. “You idiot. You moron.”
The ground rumbled, and a crack appeared in the bricks below. A few buildings swayed back and forth, and one collapsed completely. It continued for almost half a minute, then came to a stop.
“What was that?” Agent Ike asked.
“That was the end of Carmsborough. You’ve awoken the apocalypse.”
Syndra was dragged away, still laughing, as the three men and the Clockwork stood in the town square, waiting for something to happen.
But nothing came.
There were murmurs running through the crowd. They had done it. Orion and the Clockwork had saved the day. Defeated Syndra and Syndromeda and rescued Carmsborough. Slowly, the murmur erupted into cheering and clapping, and as Orion stood confused and embarrassed, the Gearmaster stepped up beside him. “Orion and the Clockwork, everyone!”
There was another bit of confusion in the crowd as Rami came running through it and to Orion. There was an excitement in the air, and in the midst of it, the two looked at each other, and kissed.
-◦=[ ]=◦-
They had decided to wait and see if the crowd would die down before they left the square, but after a few hours of standing and greetings and no signs of stopping, the heroes inevitably left to regroup somewhere out of the public eye. This ended up being Orion’s apartment, where both agents, Kate, his dad, his sister, Rami, the Gearmaster, and the Clockwork all stood or sat in the cramped living room, talking. The conversations had been mostly separated until the Gearmaster stood up in front of them all.
“Orion, I’m not the first person—or the only person—to say this, but we’re all very proud of you today. You did good, kid. If you ever want a spot in my shop with me, I am in the market for a new apprentice.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” he said, smiling.
“That said, I have to go. I’m an old man, and all of this excitement was a lot.”
“Please, sir,” Agent Ike said, “allow us to help you back to your place. I’ll call in a ride now. Kid, you’re something special. We’ll keep in touch, alright? Something tells me you’re going to be very important.”
“Thanks. And yeah, we’ll keep in touch. What’s your phone number?”
“Classified.”
The whole room laughed, except for Ike, who kept a dead-pan face.
“What about you, Rami?” Orion asked. “What are you going to do now? I can’t imagine you’re planning to go back home.”
“No, I’m not. Actually, your dad and I had this talk when we were still down in the secret base. We’ve negotiated a potential short-term… conjoined living position here at the apartment.”
“You’re staying with us?!”
“For as long as I need to until I have a job and can get my own place, yeah.”
The rest of the group walked out, waving their goodbyes, and leaving the four of them plus the Clockwork at the apartment. The others were relaxed and in a good mood, but something in Orion’s head was still off. Something about Syndra in the town square. Something about Syndromeda. Something about… everything that had happened.
“Does anyone feel like it’s not over yet?” he asked aloud. The others looked at him.
“What do you mean?” his dad asked.
“I don’t know. But something’s wrong. Like the very foundation we’re standing on is going to collapse.”
“That’s just called anxiety,” Sam said. “You literally saved the day. Stop being a worry-wart and get over here. It’s almost time for dinner.”
He looked over at the Clockwork, whose eyes were flickering softly.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” He went to the sink to wash his hands and joined his family and boyfriend at the dinner table.