Deadly Upgrades part 4 (finale)

Dante had been watching videos nonstop since the Resurgence. Sometimes he would watch reruns of One Smart Cookie or Real Community Service and sometimes he would watch Grey Matter Family videos on youtube. He also found himself checking for old news clips concerning Senator Jackson. This was all footage that featured his former friends and teammates. He missed them. He found it hard to sleep due to the guilt of being the lone survivor and when he did manage to pass out, there were nightmares. One of the last missions he had with the Upstarts involved helping Alysa Saraki take down a ship over Washington DC. The current situation in the area served as a reminder of what had been lost. In his mind, taking out the villains in the area was a potential way to deal with his feelings. He made his way to Potomac Park, keeping his eyes on the giant robot looming over the city.

Rampart watched Astra Machina grow more spikes while writhing in agony. “I wonder if I can absorb more of this stuff,” he indicated his new, metallic form, “Make myself even stronger.”

“I’m not sure,” Doc Serenity stood next to him along with Casket.

Rampart shrugged, “Only one way to find out,” and raced toward Astra.

He used his newfound strength to leap several stories toward Astra’s midsection but before he could come into contact, Shujai flew down, knocking the cybernetic mercenary out of the air. “You won’t touch her!,” Shujai bellowed as he hovered above. Rampart calmly pulled himself out of the snowy crater in the ground, “At least until I go through you,” and leapt back into the air to deliver a flying kick that sent Shujai halfway across the park.

Cavalier and Alysa Saraki raced to Shujai’s location on foot, but they were soon stopped once an energy blast erupted underneath them, dumping them onto the ground. Casket stood nearby, energy crackling around his stave with Doc Serenity at his side. “You’ve been a pain in our asses for far too long,” Doc Serenity snarled. Just then, Alysa caught a glimpse of a figure dropping from the sky.

“Dante?”

Dante Greer landed on top of Casket, embedding him in the ground while the kinetic shockwave threw Doc Serenity several yards away. The impact kicked up a lot of snow but once it settled, Casket lay unconscious while the teenager stood over him.

“Dante, the hell you doi’n here?,” Alysa snapped.

“I had to,” was his only response.

Shujai flew into Rampart with a punch across his face that knocked him toward what was left of the Washington Monument (which had been partially toppled during the Resurgence). Rampart bounced into a large chunk of mortar and without missing a beat, hefted it into his hands and hurled it into Shujai, which dropped him from the air.

Above, Intrepid flew Hyperion’s Light in a circular motion around Astra Machina who had now grown even taller as the techno-virus overtook her. “We’re working on a cure, Astra,” Intrepid said over the loudspeaker, “Try to hang on.” Elsewhere on the ship, Ryan Bennings began loading a seismic probe into the ship’s launcher. The probes were meant to study a planet’s surface but in this situation, it served another purpose. “Ready to launch,” Ryan radioed back to the bridge. Intrepid set the ship on autopilot and took control of the launching system. The probe in the launcher had been loaded with a chemical compound and was ready to be “injected” into Astra in hopes of a cure. The agent aimed the probe at Astra’s torso, took a breath and fired. The probe plunged into her chest area like an adrenaline needle and the virus quickly absorbed the metal and plastic encasing the compound which was immediately released into her system. On the ground, Alysa, Cavalier and Dante stood and watched the giant robot arch back and let out a final alarm.

Her spine rippled, the large spikes curling back to form twisted thrusters. “Is that a jetpack?,” Cavalier asked curiously as the strange lump morphed on her back. The thrusters ignited, releasing massive amounts of heat in the area and a strong shockwave just before she lifted off into the atmosphere. In space, Astra pushed through Earth’s orbit until she was free of any gravitational pull, then the thrusters died and she was left floating in the void. A few moments later, a hole emerged in the giant robot’s hollow form and Astra flew out, her body now restored to its original size and shape. Then she made her way back to Earth.

Rampart delivered a punch to Shujai’s face which smashed him through the wall of the Washington Monument. “The robot chick’s gone so I guess I’m stuck at this level,” the cyborg strode through the hole in pursuit of his prey, “It’s good enough.” A mystic concussive blast hit him from behind and when he turned, he saw Alysa and the Cavalier. Cavalier produced a small laser from his belt that was normally used for cutting locks and fired a stream which deflected off Rampart’s metallic form. “The hell you people think you’re gonna do?,” Rampart sneered. “Distract you for a few more seconds,” was Cavalier’s response. Shujai flew into Rampart’s back and sent him rolling along the snow-covered ground.

Dante Greer ran forward and placed himself in the way of the large man tumbling across the park. Once there was impact, he absorbed the kinetic energy and remained perfectly still while Rampart rose to his feet, “Where did you come from?” Without answering, Dante used the kinetic energy he had just absorbed and released it in a punch across Rampart’s face which staggered him and made him chuckle. “Got some muscle on ya, kid,” and when Rampart responded with a punch of his own; Dante braced himself and absorbed the impact, then redirected its energy into another punch that sent Rampart flying into the air. Shujai quickly dropped down at high velocity while charging both fists with bio-energy. The impact caused a tremor that was felt throughout the park. Rampart was finally out and lying in the snow.

Shujai stood above him while catching his breath and across the way, made eye contact with Dante. From one side, Alysa and Cavalier approached the scene while on the other, Astra landed. “Thanks everyone,” Astra said gratefully and then noticed Dante, “Oh, hello.” They were soon joined by Ryan and Intrepid who beamed down to the surface.

“Dante?,” Ryan approached curiously.

“I saw shit going down and it just triggered some feelings,” he said finally.

“I get it. That’s how you felt you needed to deal with this.”

“I’m not gonna join the team,” he quickly added.

“Of course, you were never obligated to. It’s perfectly fine and I honestly wouldn’t want you to.”

“Yeah, no, it’s not just all that. When we last saw each other in Boston, I didn’t say nothing but now I guess I gotta get it off my chest. There’s another reason why I would never join this team.”

“Okay, why’s that?”

Dante pointed a finger at Shujai, “That fucking thing.”

Shujai said nothing and the rest of the team went silent.

“I’m all about a team of adults going out and risking their lives, y’know, if it means no one would be putting kids out there. You people can do what you want and I’m not gonna stop you but as long as you have one of them on your team,” he indicated Shujai once more, “Huh-uh. I ain’t ever gonna help you out again.”

“I… know you’re pretty angry about a lot of things,” Ryan said sympathetically, “And if you should ever need someone to talk to-

He cut him off and grew angrier, “Y’know the thing that really pisses me off that people keep doing? The worst part of it all?,” Dante’s voice began to rise, “It’s when people keep telling me I can talk to them! You wanna know how I feel, `cuz I’ll tell ya right now! I’m pissed off! Of course I’m pissed off! I got a good reason to be!,” tears began to well up in his eyes, “Don’t I?”

“You do, Dante. You do.”

Dante turned to leave, only to see Shujai within his line of vision.

“If I could have given my life to save your friends,” Shujai began, “I would have.”

Dante glared at him but said nothing as he continued across the field.

That night, Senator Tom Jackson appeared on the political pundit show, Tough Talk to discuss what he referred to as “The Metahuman Problem” and, because of the battle in Washington DC earlier that day, he had new material to discuss. “… Here’s another example,” Senator Jackson sat across from the host as grainy pictures of the Commission were pulled up, “Apparently, there’s a new superteam called The Commission. Authorities have known about this for a short while but it’s news to us. Now, sure, they stopped some terrorists from attacking Washington DC but if you take a look at the pictures some folks took, we have the usual suspects… Ryan Bennings? That robot lady who was running around the country a while back?…The Cavalier?,” Tom pointed to a camera to clarify, “The new Cavalier, not the classic ones I knew as a boy… this is the guy who beat up some cops and was quick to do business with the aliens and guess what?… They got an alien on the team too,” a picture of Shujai fighting Rampart appeared, “Folks at home might recognize this guy. That UN tribunal should have tossed him in the Ice Box for the rest of his life but instead, he’s out and about,” Jackson threw his hands up in frustration, “We don’t know the others yet but this is the sort of thing I’ve been talking about ever since my boy passed away fighting the Resurgence,” he pounded on the desk, “Metahumans are out of control. How long will this go on until someone does something?”

Ryan turned off the TV and turned to Labrat who was seated on the couch next to him, “Well, there’s our public support.”

Epilogue

Intrepid stood on a bridge, lit only by a street lamp. A shadowy figure in a long coat approached, stopping next to her to look out over the bridge. The figure didn’t turn in her direction but still quietly spoke to her, “The DC incident seemed to go well enough.”

“As expected, the Second Phase operatives escaped while we were securing the area but the techno-virus was eradicated.”

“What about the morale of the team?”

“I didn’t think they would get along well enough to complete a single mission. They’ve completed two so far.”

“It’s safe to say the Commission will stick around for the time being. Do you perceive any competency problems? Corruption?”

“None so far but with the current media coverage and certain political figures taking note, I would not be surprised to see a legal conflict in the future.”

“Well done,” Sean Pierce turned to leave, “Keep me posted… and Happy Holidays, Mansoor.”

“Happy Holidays, sir.”

Next: Journey to the East