Icemaster lets out a long sigh, slouching as he walks alongside his partners. There's been nothing but silence for nearly five minutes, and it was really starting to eat away at him, especially with the first-day jitters he was experiencing. He looks over at one of his said partners - a woman wearing an almost comically bulky set of bright red armor. The slotting front plate of her helmet is pulled up, her starkly pale face shadowed as her eyes dart from place to place.
Finally, he decides that the silence is too much for him. "Do either of you really think there'll be an attack today?" he asks, loudly. They're walking through a residential part of the city, but it's the time of day that most people are at work, so he isn't concerned about being overheard. "The only briefing we were given was, 'we got a tip or something, go watch the city just in case.' Like, what?"
“How many times have we been over this?” Suddenly, Icy is forced to a stop, the armored woman appearing instantly in front of him. “We aren’t sure there will be one, but there’s no reason to think that there won’t be. What are we again, Icemaster?”
Icemaster only lets out another long sigh, lifting his eyes above the floating woman to take in the bright blue sky. “On a beautiful day like this?” He cracks a slight smirk, feeling his tension melt away just enough to relax. “It would be criminal to bother people on a day like thi– Ow!”
A dull thud rings through the air for a moment, a small rock bouncing off of the side of Icemaster’s head. Icy looks over at at the man who didn’t bother pretending to look like he hadn’t just thrown a rock at someone’s head. The man, tan and lean, is dressed less like a hero and more like a casual athlete with emphasis on the casual. A golf bag is slung over his shoulder, and whenever he moves, you can hear the metallic clunking of whatever is containde within.
"Momentumi--" His whine catches in his throat. "Actually, no, I'm not calling you that, too wordy, but who the hell throws a rock at the newbie's head?"
“I get that you like joking around, Icemaster,” he rumbles, his rather deep voice hard to miss, “but the threat is legitimate. Probably.”
“You didn't even answer my question, man,” Icy mutters, rubbing his head. He looks over at the woman, his target shifting. "You too, Insta! Not even trying to defend the hopeless new guy."
“Oh, sorry!” She cracks a playful smile, teleporting back between Icemaster and Momentumible in an instant. “But, you should probably just learn to catch.”
“Icemaster, you're new, so I'll cut you some slack on your relaxed attitude,” Momentumible says, smiling slightly, "but I'll let you know that HQ doesn't normally have people patrol."
“Okay?” Icy replies, a confused twinge to his voice. "I don't see how-... Mm. Yes. We're patrolling. Forgot about that."
"Yes, we're patrolling," Momentumible says, unfazed, as Insta groans out an 'Oh my god...' in the background. "Which means that they must have good reason to assign us here. But, given that you're a new guy with two senior heroes like me and Insta, they might just be setting up a drill."
“You're giving me conflicting signals.”
“In other words, don't be relaxed, but also don't be quivering with anxiety.”
“Will I lose points if I'm both?”
"Anyway!" Insta interrupts. "Can we please just be on the lookout? I'd really rather not be taken by surpr--"
"He's coming."
In one practiced motion, Insta's slotted faceshield slams loudly into place, and a spear suddenly appears in her hand. She turns around fast, slamming a foot down and getting into a defensive stance towards where the sound is coming from. Momentumible follows suit, reaching his golf bag and pulling out a metal bat before even attempting to source the voice. Icy is late on the uptake, but when he sees his partners get into position, follow suit.
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"Who's there?!" Insta says loudly, her eyes sweeping across the ground underneath her helmet. "Show yourself!"
On the road directly in front of the three, a black dot appears. Slowly, it grows to be nearly two meters wide, and three cloaked humanoids gradually rise up to be flush with the ground. All three seem identical, wearing long black robes that reach down to the ground, with a hood that covers their face with an unnatural darkness, rendering their features completely hidden.
"The one who Destroys nears." All three of the figures speak in unison, the voices seemingly speaking directly into the group's minds. "He comes to cleanse. Do not stand in his way."
"Who is 'the one who destroys'?" Momentumible asks calmly. He slips off the golf bag, resting it on the ground while keeping the bat in his hand. "What is he cleansing, exactly?"
"The Plaguebringer, the Doctor, the Cure," they answer. "He cleanses what he deems to be unclean. He is--"
Before they can finish their sentence, Momentumible moves with blinding speed and slams his bat against the pavement. Immediately, the ground splits open, a minor chasm opening up where the figures were standing. When the dust clears, the figures have vanished, as have the hole of darkness they rose out of.
"Contact headquarters." Momentumible's voice is deathly calm, but urgent, giving no time for Insta or Icy to ask questions. "Tell them that Plaguebringer is coming, and that they should mark our location for repairs."
Insta nods, and vanishes. Icy remains frozen in place, events having happened too quickly for him to acknowledge them.
"Plaguebringer..." His voice quavers. "Is this... the test you were talking about?"
"Icy, go to the top of the capital and initiate Code Zed. If and when you see any unusual activity at all, immediately contact me or Insta."
"Momentumibl--"
His voice is hard, almost artificially. "Now."
All Icemaster can bring himself to do is nod. Bringing his hands to his chest, he touches his palms together; as he pulls them apart, what seems to be a thin, seamless skateboard without wheels materializes. He drops it, but instead of hitting the ground, it slows down, and then stops before touching the pavement.
He puts a testing foot on the board, making sure it can support his weight, and then nervously climbs on-board. After nodding once at a stone-faced Momentumible, and giving a worried look to Insta, he takes off to the sky at a blistering speed, vanishing into the distance almost an instant.
Finally alone, Momentumible sighs. "Damn cult..."
---
As Icemaster flies through the sky, he scans the ground, searching for anything that could be considered 'unusual' by any stretch of the word. The streets are buzzing with cars, people on their way too and from work, and the sidewalks are similarly full, uncoordinated lines of people walking between the tall buildings squished on every block. It's, by all means, a perfectly average day.
Taking in the familiar sights, Icemaster takes in a deep breath, and then slowly lets it out. Already, he can feel himself relaxing. Momentumible might've been ominous, but if this was a test, surely both of them would have to try their best not to give it away. With this new thought in mind, he smiles and lets out a small chuckle.
Damn seniors, he thinks to himself with a grin. He turns his trajectory away from scanning the top of the streets, and starts flying towards the capital building in the center of the large city. Even if it's just a test, they'll probably still pull something, so I should at least have a nice vantage point.
The capital building itself wouldn't be impressive if it wasn't so enormous. Decoratively, it appeared to be the same as any other generic skyscraper. Gray steel on gray stone, windows lining each floor, four rectangular sides. The main difference to every other similar building being - it was about eight times larger, and purely in height. It almost gave the aura of being about to snap in half at any moment, given that it was the same width as most other buildings in the city.
At the top, Icy had to make sure to regulate his breathing. The air was so thin that hyperventilation could mean real issues if you didn't have someone come to your rescue. But, because of poor design choices, a full-height elevator in the building lead directly to the roof. Which, on one side, made for a lot of oxygen deprived people needing rescued. But, on the other side of things, made for a lot of easy grunt work to give to newer heroes.
Icemaster was very familiar with the rooftop.
Even so, he was careful, and made sure he got all the breath he needed with every inhale as he got off of his hoverboard and peered over the side of the building. From this high up, the horizon had a nice and clear curvature, and it made for a gorgeous view of the city. As well as an advantageous one.
How long has it been since those guys said that thing about He Who... whatever his name, was coming? Icy thinks to himself, rubbing his hands together in the cool air. You'd think--
The ground begins rumbling. Icemaster immediately drops to his knees in surprise, grabbing onto his board and using it to keep himself steady as the building shakes. As he looks up, he can see a fifty foot wall of earth rising in the distance.