Alarms blared as another evacuation order sounded. This time it was a full evacuation, and every single person in that facility made sure to leave the building, even the technicians in the control room, though one stayed behind to escort the remaining superhero in the room.

As alarms went on, Animage stood and knelt beside the large dog that stayed with her. She checked a device on the animal’s collar and nodded in satisfaction.

“Where is Sister Nature now?” Animage asked the remaining technician.

“Here.”

Anime looked at the computer screen, and once she was satisfied, she knew the location, she established a mental link with her dog to send it out. She wished she could help with the plane, but Animage didn’t have any flying animals available to her that would be helpful there. Keeping the dog here to protect headquarters was pointless now, so at least she could attempt to help capture Sister Nature.

With a mental command, her dog stood then sped away, its motions a blur. She then turned to the tech.

“I’m not certain I’ll be able to help,” said Animage. “But I have to try, and I’ll need all my concentration to do it. Can you help me?”

“We have a small car we can use,” said the tech. “You let me drive us out of here, and you can focus on helping the others.”

“Bless you,” said Animage gratefully.

###

An explosive shuriken sailed through the air and exploded, igniting the oil sphere around Sister Nature. Sister nature then summoned a small wall of oil, explosions deflecting three more darts. She then threw as much oil as she could in the direction the darts came from as she formed another protective oil sphere.

The oil she threw turned to a wave of flame, but as before, the Wraith was gone. With the Silent Wraith’s motorcycle as invisible as he was, combined with his suits sound dampening field, it was easy for Silent to slip away from her attacks. The moment he’d fired the darts, Silent had put the tranquilizer rifle onto his back, attaching with magnetism, and drove away before the wave of fire came.

Sister Nature could produce oil fast if she wasn’t interrupted, so Silent, driving around inaudible and invisible, threw another shuriken, exploding and igniting the oil the supervillainess had gathered. He then quickly pressed a button on his bike, locking the controls so he could grab his rifle, quickly fire off three darts, return it to his back, and speed off before another wave of fire came his way.

The oil burned quickly, the streets clearing of fire in a few seconds, and Silent would ride back, repeating the process, though Sister nature deflected the darts every time. After a few tries at this, Silent realized that this strategy wasn’t working, so he tried throwing one explosive shuriken before throwing a second one instead of using the darts, just to see if it would work.

The shuriken was slower than the darts, however, and Sister Nature was able to send out a small amount of oil to detonate it before it reached her. Silent, still invisible, grimaced. By this point he was just buying time. Sister Nature could just produce oil too quickly to give him a proper opening. He reverted to detonating the protective sphere with a shuriken before shooting the darts again, but unless something changed, all he could do was stall until Elementus returned.

###

If the plane kept its course, it would crash into U.H.E. headquarters in just a few minutes. Paramount and SteelStar flew beside the plane trying to come up with a plan as the wind rushed past them and plane’s engine roared in the sky. Black Ash’s limbs attacked them relentlessly as SteelStar kept punching them to bits while Paramount dodged to keep Demigoddess out of harm’s way. Somewhere nearby, Speedshock was still riding Silent’s invisible Wraithjet, but all three superheroes wore concerned faces.

“What if I go in alone?” asked SteelStar. “Can one of the technicians talk me through changing the plane’s direction?”

“You’d have to deal with Speedclaw,” said Paramount. “And using the kind of force to take him out risks blowing the bomb. Remember, that entire plane’s hull conducts electricity.”

“Maybe we blow up the bomb early so Speedshock and I can redirect the energy like before?”

“No good. Speedshock’s area of effect isn’t big enough. We’d have to get him close to the bomb, and I doubt that gas will run out before the plane hits.”

SteelStar gritted his metal teeth. He had no other plan, and looking forward, he could see U.H.E. headquarters in the distance. They were running out of time.

“Okay,” said Paramount. “Here’s the plan. SteelStar, plant yourself near the rear of the plane and use magnetism to pull on the part that controls elevation.”

SteelStar felt a chill, “Won’t the mechanism fight me? What if that jostles the plane and blows the bomb?”

“It’s the best plan we have,” said Paramount. “If we push against the plane ourselves, that will fight against the plane’s momentum. At least this way we’re redirecting that momentum where we want it to go. That should jostle the plane significantly less.”

SteelStar looked towards the tail of the plane uncertainly. He just couldn’t shake the thought of triggering the explosion and getting them all killed.

“Hey,” said Paramount. “We don’t have time for doubt. This is a risk, I know, but we don’t have time for a better plan. If we do nothing, people are guaranteed to die, and if you’re not prepared to take risks to prevent that, then you’re in the wrong business.”

SteelStar was shocked by Paramount’s words, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the elder superhero was right. Gathering his courage, he nodded, and Paramount nodded back.

As they dodged a few more attacks from Black Ash, Paramount banked left for a moment, and SteelStar saw Speedshock appear out of thin air. The electric speedster seemed to be standing on air, and SteelStar realized he was standing on the Wraithjet.

Paramount handed Demigoddess to Speedshock, who turned her electric, and they both slipped back into the invisible vehicle, moving through the metal. Now that Paramount didn’t have an unconscious woman to carry, he nodded to SteelStar who flew towards the tail of the plane. Paramount flew as fast as he could, punching all six of Black Ash’s wooden limbs one after the other to keep them away from SteelStar.

SteelStar landed on the tail with a clang, magnetizing his feet to the hull. Steeling his mind, he stretched his arms out and pointed his hands behind him.

“You can do this,” he told himself. “It’s time for a manual override.”

As carefully as he could, he used magnetism to pull the two pieces of the plane’s tail that controlled altitude, tilting them upward. While SteelStar did feel the plane shake beneath his feet, just a little, there was no explosion, much to SteelStar’s relief. Instead, the plane very slowly started to turn up towards the sky.

So far, so good, SteelStar thought.

###

Speedclaw, still wearing a gas mask, sped to the front of the plane now that he was alone. So far, no more heroes had tried to enter the plane, which was fine by Speedclaw. Cannisters kept unleashing knockout gas into the air, preventing Speedshock and Demigoddess from entering. By this point, the feline supervillain wished they’d thought to bring gas cannisters for the initial bomb, but they hadn’t known Demigoddess would even be there, nor could they have expected that Speedshock could combine with SteelStar to redirect the explosion. As it was, Speedclaw was feeling pretty good about their chances. From the pilot’s seat, Speedclaw could see U.H.E. headquarters approaching rapidly. It was time to leave.

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Before he could reach an exit, however, Speedclaw suddenly felt the plane shake, just a little. Feeling a sense of panic, Speedclaw brought out his communicator.

“Biomaster!” he practically shouted. “Tell me that bomb is still stable.”

“Hold on,” said a very irritated Biomaster. “The bomb is maintaining its stability, but I am seeing some stressors on it. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” said Speedclaw. “I…”

Suddenly, Speedclaw saw it out of the cockpit. The plane was tilting upward. After a few more moments, U.H.E. headquarters would no longer be in their flightpath. They were about to miss their chance, again.

“Black Ash,” Speedclaw said into his communicator. “One of the heroes is changing the plane’s direction. Who is it?”

Black Ash’s voice came back clearly, “It’s the rookie.”

###

SteelStar could sense the electromagnetic signatures around him. Black Ash’s six limbs were all targeting SteelStar to knock him off the plane, but Paramount flew quickly, punching each limb to smithereens and shooting the occasional brain blast to splinter them apart, though they regenerated quickly. Keeping the tail flaps up with magnetism, SteelStar was able to send the plane higher and higher into the air. High enough, and the explosion wouldn’t harm the city below.

Now all he had to worry about was getting high enough and then escaping before the organic bomb went off.

###

Speedclaw stood by the organic bomb as it pulsed. As the plane groaned and shook ever so slightly, the organic bomb seemed to pulse just a little more erratically. It could have been his imagination, but Speedclaw wasn’t prepared to take that chance.

“Alright,” said Speedclaw into his communicator. “I’m outta here.”

“Negative,” said Black Ash. “You need you knock SteelStar off the plane and then turn the plane back on target.”

“And blow the bomb myself?” asked the feline speedster. “We’re still not close enough to the U.H.E. Face it, it’s over. I’m coming out. You’d better catch me.”

“No.”

Speedclaw froze, “What?”

“I’ll not catch you,” said Black Ash. “Until you set that plane back on course. I can’t reach SteelStar with Paramount in the way, so you’ll have to do it.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” said Black Ash, his voice cold and menacing. “I know you don’t really believe in our cause, but you will fulfill our purpose. We’re so close to destroying our enemies, and we’re not giving up just because you’re ready to chicken out. Now, our window of opportunity is shrinking fast, so you get out there and knock that metal boy off the back of the plane then point that plane down again, unless you’d rather hope the superheroes take pity on you.”

Speedclaw growled, but Black Ash didn’t respond. Reluctantly, Speedclaw put away the communicator and ran to the window that Demigoddess had broken. It took a few seconds to climb out, his claws digging into the metal, as he prepared to attack SteelStar.

###

Silent and Sister nature repeated the same song and dance for a few minutes. Sister Nature would be surrounded by a protective sphere of oil, Silent would throw an explosive shuriken to ignite it, Sister Nature would summon just enough oil to deflect the tranquilizer darts, and then throw a wave of fire in the shuriken’s direction. The invisible superhero was always gone by the time she threw it.

As they repeated this, however, Sister Nature slowly made more, smaller explosive oil balls that she kept in her robes. She also slipped some of her oil under a manhole cover nearby, keeping the drops small so Silent wouldn’t notice. It was a risky plan she was preparing, but she needed a way to end this once and for all.

Silent, meanwhile, was feeling the pressure. He was quickly running out of tranquilizer darts. As he replaced the cartridge at the end of the rifle with his last one from his belt, he hoped Elementus would be back soon.

Little did he know that Elementus was flying back right at that moment. Having ditched the gigantic oil ball at a safe distance, he saw Sister Nature’s flames and dived down, ready to capture the ecoterrorist once and for all. From the opposite direction, Animage’s dog, directed by her, sped towards the scene, ready to assist.

Sister Nature, keeping an eye out, saw Elementus out of the corner of her eye, and realized that she had to work fast. Keeping her oil balls close, she unleashed as much oil as she could around her and immediately ignited it, briefly hiding her from Silent.

At the same time, she ignited the oil she’d sent under the manhole cover, small explosions knocking it up to clatter onto the pavement. By the time the flames cleared, Sister Nature had already dropped through the manhole to the sewers below. Silent turned his invisible bike to towards the manhole to pursue, while Sister Nature landed and spread her oil balls in as wide an area as she could across the roof, detonating them all at once.

Silent was suddenly knocked off his bike as the ground split apart beneath him, the road crumbling and leaving a gigantic hole as rubble fell into the sewer. Sister Nature used a few more small explosions to deflect the rubble above her, blasting them away from herself.

Silent and the bike fell, the bike crashing against the stone beside the sewer water, its cloak failing as it flickered into sight. Silent, however, splashed into the water, and Sister Nature, standing on the stone beside the water, grinned under her mask.

“Got you,” she said, sending out a wave of oil that ignited immediately.

Before the flames could wash over Silent, Elementus dropped down and blew as much wind as he could, the flames fanning out as if hitting an invisible wall. When the flames finally cleared, sister Nature had already formed some oil under her feet and was fleeing down the sewer.

Elementus turned to Silent, his invisible form displacing the water below.

“You okay?” asked Elementus.

“I’m fine,” said Silent, temporarily disabling his sound nullification field. “Go after her.”

“Roger,” said Elementus, forming a whirlwind and flying down the sewer.

Silent climbed out of the sewer water and rested, lying down on the stone for a moment, the impact having knocked the wind out of him a little. As he rested, his invisible body dripping with water, Animage’s dog jumped down into the sewer and sped in the direction Sister Nature and Elementus had gone.

While Silent was relieved at the backup, he was worried it wouldn’t be enough. Sister Nature was proving to be a wily opponent. If Elementus and Animage couldn’t take her down, Silent might have to take a risky ploy in order to stop her.

###

The plane climbed higher and higher into the air. Surely it had to be high enough now. Despite thinking this, SteelStar wasn’t prepared to flee the plane until the last moment. Paramount kept flying around him, punching Black Ash’s limbs away, letting SteelStar do what he needed to do. SteelStar could feel the vehicle shaking beneath him and was nervous that the organic bomb could blow at any time, but he kept pulling on the tail flaps behind him with magnetism. Just a little bit further, and he’d ditch the plane.

Suddenly, something hit him in the face, hard, and if his metal feet hadn’t been magnetized to the plane, he might have been knocked off. SteelStar, dazed, looked around, but saw nothing, until something hit him in the back of the head, hard. Soon something was running back and forth, hitting SteelStar in the head from every conceivable direction.

“Speedclaw,” muttered SteelStar, his vision going blurry.

With each punch, SteelStar could feel his metal head beginning to deform. Claw marks appeared in the plane’s hull around him as Speedclaw ran back and forth, assaulting SteelStar relentlessly. SteelStar could feel himself getting dizzy but couldn’t afford to throw lightning around as his hands were busy magnetizing the plane tail behind him.

Gritting his metal teeth, SteelStar ran electricity through the skin on his upper body, making sure not to channel it through his legs. SteelStar’s upper body glowed briefly as electricity came off it, and the next time Speedclaw punched him, he pulled his hand back with a screech of pain, electricity dancing over his arm.

Speedclaw stood there, cradling his electrified arm. It lay limp in his hand, and Speedclaw watched it nervously for a moment. He then sighed in relief as his fingers started moving again. Angrily, he looked up at SteelStar and growled.

SteelStar stood there, defiant, a few dents marring his head as electricity danced over his face.

“Plane’s still going up, if you hadn’t noticed,” said SteelStar.

Speedclaw growled some more, and then extended the claws on both his hands.

“Doubt that will do much to me,” said SteelStar.

“To you? Probably not,” Speedclaw conceded.

Speedclaw ran, scratching up the hull of the plane in a circle surrounding SteelStar. Speedclaw then knelt, reached under the metal, and yanked it up. A very surprised SteelStar was thrown away from the plane, a circular sheet of metal attached to his feet.

“SteelStar!” cried Paramount, flying .

The plane jostled for a moment, a section just in front of the tail revealing the metal underneath as Speedclaw sped back to the open window, ran through the plane, and reached the cockpit. The feline supervillain desperately tried to correct the plane’s flightpath, grabbing the controls, and slowly but surely pointing the plane back downwards.

As he piloted, Speedclaw pulled out his communicator, “Biomaster, tell me that bomb is still stable.”

Biomaster’s voice came back concerned, “I have bad news.”

Within the plane, the organic bomb was pulsing erratically.

SteelStar twisted in the air as he fell, and it took considerable effort to stop and hover in the air. For a moment, the metal sheet beneath him began to fall, but he recalled it with magnetism, holding it with one hand. Couldn’t let it drop on something below. Paramount flew up to him, Black Ash’s limbs staying close to the plane.

“You okay?” asked Paramount.

“Yeah,” said SteelStar, “I’m good.”

Paramount nodded then turned to fly towards the plane. SteelStar almost followed as it began to tilt downwards, aiming Directly at U.H.E. headquarters. Before he got far, however, he sensed the electromagnetic signature of the bomb. It was erratic in ways SteelStar had never seen from a living thing, and that could mean one thing.

“Paramount!” cried SteelStar. “Watch out! The plane could blow at any moment!”