Week 8.4 – Bite the Big Apple Corps

Previously; Deus Ex Machina of the Big Apple Corps had Digger and Twain held in mental paralysis, when suddenly Digger hit Deus. And now…

Deus fell to the ground, unconscious. Digger smiled. “Next?”

Twain gasped as the paralysis lifted and he could move again. “Digger…”

“Since when can you resist Deus’s mind control?” Invictus interrupted.

Digger’s smile turned fierce and a little frightening. “You don’t fight your way back to Earth from Hell without developing a strong will. So can we discuss this like adults or…”

“YEEEE-HAWWW!” came a shout from Digger’s side, followed by a loud, rapid ticking.

Digger turned and saw Twain aiming a blocky rectangular pistol toward Carpe Noctem. Thin wires ran between the pistol and her torso. “Carpe Taser, darlin’!”

Twain pressed a red button on the modified taser, and the ticking became a loud POP! He dropped the pistol and ran away as Carpe screamed and fell to the ground.

“Two down,” Digger said and dodged a swing from Stickus’s bat.

Caveat ran to Carpe’s side as Invictus rose into the air, eyes glowing. “Can you two handle Digger for the half-minute it will take to subdue that tranny?” Invictus asked.

“Of course,” Caveat said, drawing twin pistols from holsters slung under his arms. “Without his Drillers, he’s nothing.”

“I’ll be right back,” Invictus said and shot off toward the end off the alley where Twain was just rounding the corner.

“Take your time,” Caveat muttered and fired both pistols at Digger.

They stuttered with a sound like a sewing machine with air brakes. Digger instinctively blocked with his Driller. He dodged to the side and noticed a dozen small needles hanging from the bandages  concealing the Driller. All coated with some type of toxin, he was sure.

Out of the corner of his eye, Digger saw Stickus running toward him, bat poised. He leaped and dodged, cartwheeling in the air as he tried to avoid the darts. He knew he couldn’t, though; Caveat wasn’t some rent-a-cop snoozing away his afternoons in a museum. He blocked the ones aimed at his upper body, but felt soft impacts against his legs. No pain or pricking, though he wasn’t sure if that was because the needles weren’t penetrating or because they were anesthetic.

And then Stickus was there, swinging his bat.

***

Twain had been so rattled by the encounter with the Big Apple Corps that he forgot to switch outfits right away when he rounded the corner out of the alley. He remembered within a few seconds, but when he glanced back to make sure it was all clear, he saw Invictus flying after him. Twain vaulted a car and sprinted for another alley mouth, hoping for somewhere to hide and change, but there was nothing.

And then a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, and Invictus’s cold voice said, “There’s no use running. You can’t escape.”

His grip was inhumanly strong, and his glowing eyes were terrifying, but all Twain could remember was Invictus calling him a nothing. He looked into those glowing eyes and said, “You really want to let go now.”

“Not going to happen.”

Twain smiled.

What’s Twain planning against the invincible Invictus? Join us tomorrow for the next exciting episode!

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