Journey to the East part 2

Sun Wukong smiled, displaying large teeth. Strong, furry hands gripped the red and gold staff tightly. Opposable feet dug into loose soil with a steadfast readiness. His knees bent slightly, then he exploded forward, “Prepare yourselves!”

Shujai flew in to meet him, firing a bio-energy blast but the Monkey King somersaulted around the beam while in mid-air, then delivered a kick that smashed him through a tree. As Shujai fell, he released a second blast that hit Wukong in the chest and sent him into the side of a rocky hill. “Yes, hold nothing back!,” Wukong said gleefully as broken stones spilled over him. He dashed forward again and as Shujai threw a punch, Wukong flipped over him, slapping the end of his staff against the back of his head, which sent him into the broken boulders nearby.

“Guess talking to him is out of the question,” Ryan Bennings grumbled, then stabbed a mechnical pole into the soft dirt, “You guys know the plan.”

Astra Machina once again reminded Ryan of something, “Remember, it’s just fun for him,” but she was largely ignored.

****

It was early morning in Washington DC and Senator Tom Jackson stood in Arlington National Cemetery, overlooking his son’s grave. Kyle Jackson was the only member of the Upstarts buried in Arlington – a fact that made many people curious since the Senator pulled the strings to make it happen but neglected to ensure the other members of the team received the same treatment. With the exception of Dante Greer, all members of the team died in battle during the Resurgence and Senator Jackson had been waging a war against metahuman oversight ever since. It was true that his actions partially led to the creation of the Upstarts and he purposefully ensured his son would become a superhero. He needed to blame someone for his death and his pride did not allow him to blame himself. The Commission were a controversial team for a number of reasons and he convinced himself that reckless metahuman heroics were the cause of his son’s death. Almost every member in the Commission was a controversial figure in one regard or another so it was easier to speak out against them. It was especially egregious that Ryan Bennings was secretly contacting members of the Upstarts to act against the program before they died.

He wiped a tear away and headed back to his vehicle with his aides and security solemnly following. Once he left the cemetery and entered the parking area, his driver opened the door for him. “Senator,” someone called out, “Senator, could I have a word?” He looked up and noticed conspiracy-theorist and self-proclaimed journalist Jim Alexander racing toward him with a phone aimed in his direction. “Oh, Christ,” the Senator muttered and quickly sat in the car with aides following. Alexander was a portly man but was more agile than one might’ve expected; he placed himself in front of the vehicle before the driver could pull away. “Is there any truth to the attack on a UN facility during the Shujai Trial?,” Alexander shouted, “There’s a rumor another U’ntari is on Earth! What do you have to say about that?” A bodyguard swiftly moved behind Alexander and began pulling him away. “Are you allies with the aliens?,” Alexander continued to shout while being dragged, “Did you sacrifice Craig Levison to them?” The bodyguard pushed him to the asphalt and Alexander asked one final question that he would soon regret, “Did you sacrifice your own son?” The driver began to pull the car away but the senator placed a hand on his seat, “Stop”. The driver did as instructed.

Senator Jackson stepped out of the car and straightened his jacket. “Sir, I advise we leave this area,” his bodyguard suggested. Senator Jackson ignored him and simply asked, “Is he uh,… streaming? Is this live?”

“No,” Alexander answered curiously as he picked himself up. With that satisfactory answer, the senator took a hard swing into Alexander’s jaw. When he hit the pavement for a second time, the senator quickly picked up his phone and hurled it back to the ground where it shattered. “Is that how you silence critics, Senator?,” Alexander shouted back. Meanwhile, the bodyguard and aides were in the process of physically dragging Senator Jackson to the car. “You mention my son again and I will do everything in my power to make sure your joke of a career ends!,” the Senator snarled as his people pulled him into his car, “Never speak of my son again!” Finally, he was placed inside the backseat, the door was slammed shut, and the car sped off.

“Jesus, Tom,” his aide grumbled as he looked out the window to ensure there were few witnesses.

“No one’ll believe him,” the Senator straightened his suit again, “No one who matters.”

“I heard what the creep said too but we can’t afford to have you blowing your top like that.”

“My son’s death will not be in vain,” Senator Jackson responded, “It can’t be for nothing,” he gazed out the window and added, “Soon, the Greer kid is gonna turn 18 and we’ll make this right.”

****

In a forest in Japan, Cavalier leapt forward, using his Round Table weapon to generate a holographic sword. Sun Wukong blocked the blade with his staff and noticed Intrepid gliding through the air behind him with a laser ready. He flipped over Cavalier’s blade as the laser flashed behind him, then he flipped the end of his staff up to deflect the next laser shot; Intrepid swerved back as her own laser blast was sent back to her. On the ground, Cavalier’s sword shifted into a morning star and when he took a swing, Wukong bent backwards as the weapon sailed past his face. Once he had an opening, the monkey thrust his staff into the ground and spun into a kick which sent Cavalier into some bushes. Intrepid swooped overhead, firing several more blasts which Wukong ducked and dipped between.

“I got ‘im,” Alysa Saraki called out as mystical energy surrounded her hands. The trees and foliage nearby came to life and began to elongate and surround Wukong who smiled joyfully, “Ah, magic.” He tried to flip out of the way of the entrapping plants but Shujai flew in with a punch that sent him back to his original position. The plants continued to wrap themselves around him like a cocoon. He watched with interest as vines wrapped around his limbs and quickly engulfed him. In a second, he disappeared inside a brown and green ball. Once he was restrained, Alysa reached to the sky and called down a bolt of lightning. The blast hit the plants, blowing them apart in a cloud of smoke and a second later Wukong shot into the air on a strange cloud, “I really like all of you! I’m going to enjoy beating you!”

Ryan Bennings stabbed another pole in a different part of the battleground, “You guys are doing great. Keep it up.”

Shujai, Intrepid, and Astra Machina flew up to meet Sun Wukong. “I’m glad you’re having fun,” Astra called out to him, “But can we continue this later?” “Don’t be cowards!,” Wukong swerved back and forth as he dodged blasts from Intrepid and Shujai. Astra formed a canon and assisted, but Wukong looped around in the air, never falling off the cloud. As he danced around the beams, the Commissioners doubled their efforts, briefly putting him on the defense. Because of this, Shujai saw an opening.

He landed against the small of Wukong’s back, tackling him to the tree tops at top-speed and with enough force to rattle the branches. In midair, Wukong flipped, kicking the U’ntari warrior in the chest. Shujai dropped hard on the forest floor, sending a cloud of debris into the sky. This gave Astra the opening to shoot him in the back with her lasers, sending him to the ground. Wukong shrugged off the attack and hopped up on his feet, then he spun around and opened his mouth, releasing a large fireball from within his jaws. The flame shot past the trees and exploded against Astra, brushing her back.

“So fire-breath as well?,” Intrepid asked as she caught up to Astra in the air.

“72 transformations,” Astra answered.

Below, Ryan dug the final pole into the ground and shouted to his teammates, “Okay, fire in the hole!” Cavalier and Alysa cleared the area to avoid the poles while, up above, Astra and Intrepid flew in opposite directions while firing blasts. Wukong rose into the air just as Shujai came up from below; he shot a beam of bio-energy before the Monkey King even noticed he was there. Caught off guard, Wukong was shot down, his cloud disappearing as he fell in range of Ryan’s devices. With the enemy now in position, Ryan Bennings pressed a button on his holographic console. After Wukong rose to his feet the three poles lit up and electric beams shot out, forcing his super strong muscles to tense up and drag him back to the forest floor. Wukong lay still and the electric bolts dissipated. He made a second attempt to leap out of the devices’ range but was once again pulled back to the ground by his own strength. Once he realized his predicament, he laid still and let out a frustrated bark.

“That’s enough outta you, Goku,” Ryan told him as he began to contact the officers at the Ice Box.

“It was a good contest,” Astra assured Wukong as he remained on the ground.

“Was?,” the monkey giggled slightly, “It’s not over, yet.”

There was a puff of smoke where Wukong once lay and the Monkey King seemingly disappeared. “Wait, where is he?,” Ryan looked around franticly alongside his teammates. Astra used newly-built telescopic lenses to see a small bee flying low to the ground, far too small to be detected by the electric sensors surrounding him.

“He turned into a bee,” she clapped her metal hands together.

“I’m glad someone’s excited,” Ryan rubbed his forehead tiredly.

There was another puff of smoke and Wukong returned to his original form in front of them. “As I said before, I like this group,” he stated happily as he leaned against a tree, “You all have unique skills and abilities. I wanna test them individually.” He grabbed a handful of fur on the top of his head and then pulled, his fist bringing a few strands of hair along with it. When he opened his palm, the hair blew into the wind and as each individual hair floated in different directions, they suddenly vanished in more puffs of smoke. In their place, five exact clones of Wukong stood, each having the exact same clothes and weapons. “That’s not a good thing,” Ryan said to himself. The six Wukongs all shrieked in delight as they descended on them.

The Cavalier activated a sword and shield from his holographic Round Table; he swung the blade at Wukong who swatted it with his staff, spun, and thrust the end against the shield. The shield held firm but Cavalier was still tossed far away. Shujai flew at another Wukong, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks that were blocked with expert skill as Wukong flew in reverse on his cloud. Nearby, a third Wukong flew past Intrepid, the gust of wind forcing her off-course and nearly sending her into a tree. Astra Machina created a series of blasters along her body and fired with pinpoint accuracy. Wukong spun his staff in a blur, blocking multiple shots. Another Wukong landed in front of Ryan who quickly tapped his belt to generate a forcefield; it protected him when he was batted into the air by the staff like a baseball being sent to Left Field. The final clone approached Alysa.

“You seem too young,” Wukong told her, “I can’t fight a little girl. Go back to your studies!”

“I might surprise ya,” she told him as she threw a bolt of light into the sky.

The light exploded into a winged bird resembling a massive phoenix that stretched across the entire forest. “Think you can take that thing in a fight?,” she asked him. “I accept!,” Wukong shouted excitedly and flew into the air. The other clones disappeared in five puffs of smoke as the monkey flew toward the creature in the sky. The other Commissioners curiously gathered around as they watched him battling an invisible foe in the air.

“Illusion?,” Ryan asked.

“Yup,” she answered.

“How long will it last?”

“As long as it takes him to figure out it’s all in his mind.”

“Alright people, we’re gonna regroup.”

The team turned back and headed toward Hyperion’s Light which was still hovering overhead. Wukong flew toward the phoenix and extended his staff. The weapon passed through the winged creature, which gave Wukong curious pause. In retaliation, the creature spit fire at him which didn’t even generate heat. He stopped momentarily and allowed the fireball to fly toward him; when it passed through him, he realized it was a trick and the creature immediately disappeared. Disappointed, he returned to the battle field and perched on a tree branch to search for his real opponents. Once there, he watched as the Commission was lifted into their ship via tractor beam.

Inside the ship, the team sat in the Meeting Room. “He’s definitely powerful,” Ryan began.

“And what does he want?,” Cavalier asked aloud, “This can’t just be about him wanting a decent fight.”

“It really is,” Astra explained, “It’s fun. I can understand why he does it. We just have to play the game the right way.”

“I admire your childlike sense of wonder,” Ryan grumbled, “But this guy can really do some damage and sooner or later, he’s gonna…”

The ship suddenly shook as a loud CLANG could be heard on one side. Ryan brought up a holographic screen displaying the outside and there, they saw a floating, serpent-like dragon looping through the air.

“What is that?,” Shujai asked as he stood up.

“Looks like a dragon,” Alysa answered.

“And I think it’s Wukong,” Ryan explained further.

“Yes, another one of the forms he can take is a giant dragon,” Astra added helpfully, “He’s showing off.”

“Well, I got something to show off too,” Ryan raced to the bridge of the ship, “Everyone strap in!”

The members of the Commission followed him with Intrepid, Astra, and Shujai taking flight. Outside, Wukong slapped the side of the ship again with his serpentine tail. The inside shook and the heroes lost their footing in a hallway. Shujai was the first to get to the bridge and prepared to take off. Intrepid followed suit by activating the ship’s defensive weapons. A moment later, mini-guns sprang out of the hull of the ship and began pelting Wukong with high-caliber rounds. His dragon-form smiled as bullets deflected off him but it was enough of a distraction to get the rest of the team to the bridge. “Here we go,” Ryan drove a lever forward and the ship disappeared into the horizon. Inside, Cavalier and Alysa struggled to strap themselves in to avoid falling out of their seats. Astra extended a hand and helped Alysa with her seatbelt.

“How fast are we going?,” Cavalier asked as he finally buckled in.

“We’re probably the fastest moving thing on the planet currently,” Ryan explained.

“Maybe second fastest,” Intrepid corrected him.

In the rear viewscreen, they witnessed Wukong riding his cloud, swiftly catching up to them. “I’m picking up some mountains up ahead,” Ryan informed her, “When I take us down, get ready with the flares.” The ship descended toward a mountain range and when it did so, Intrepid followed through. Flares exploded from the back of the ship once Wukong caught up to it and while he wasn’t harmed from the bombardment, it still blinded him for a moment before he ran headlong into the side of a cliff at high speed. The cliffside slid off, taking chunks of rock and Wukong along with it. Hyperion’s Light vanished from the area while hundreds of tons of rock fell into a valley with a clawing monkey underneath. The boulders settled and dust hung in the air for a moment before a staff vaulted several feet into the air, knocking rocks out of the way in the process. Wukong shot out of the collapsed cliffside and landed on a nearby plateau. When he saw no traces of his foes, he sniffed in frustration.

Later, Hyperion’s Light floated over an ocean as the team regrouped.

“That didn’t go well,” Ryan slouched in the captain’s seat, “We lost the tracking feed when he hit the mountain. There’s a strong likelihood the tracking device was broken. At least we got him out of Japan as promised.”

Astra turned to the Cavalier, “What games did you play as a child?”

“Uh, Pokemon?,” he answered.

“Are we still talking about playtime?,” Ryan grumbled.

“I think we can find a way to win if we start thinking about the fun things we did as children. What games did you play as a child, Ryan?”

“Strip poker,” he said sarcastically while checking the monitors.

Astra looked at him curiously, “Is that true?”

“No,” Alysa told her while glaring at Ryan, “He’s just being an old crank.”

“Knowing an enemy’s mindset is an optimal way to defeat them,” Intrepid interrupted, “She may have a point.”

“Thank you, Intrepid,” Astra said politely.

“You learn that while in Mossad?,” Ryan asked.

“IMD,” she answered coldly.

“Why don’t we just let Astra take a turn?,” Alysa suggested finally, “We tried everything else. That dude’s tough as hell.”

“Fine,” Ryan shrugged, “Astra, you’re up. Let’s see if your particular brand of whimsy can match his.”

Continued…