Chapter 18.
"Yeah, grow up Sprite, haha!"
A swift kick dropped a short fair-skinned boy with an athletic build, 4.5 feet in height with short blonde hair.
Wearing lowly armed leather hunting gear with a tunic, he crashed on his back as two buff dark-skinned boys as short as him in similar attire stood.
"Lemme guess, you're gonna call Rusty, aren't you?" One of the bullies bellowed.
"Bloody leave, meen. I'm not gonna fight you."
A swift punch to his face before it froze, as one of the taller guys widened his eyes, shaking.
"You know, if you really want Rusty, why not give him a call yourself." A deep male voice called.
Behind the child, a tall and blue eyed fair-skinned athletic man with short azure hair held him, gritting.
"You know, if you really want Rusty, why not give him a call yourself." He glared, frozen. "And leave my brother alone."
What would you know about brother-hood when you always ruin it for others by being assassins for Rusty!"
At this, everyone just remained still, before a fit looking ebony girl in leather clothes with a green tunic and long black hair approached them, facing the light-toned guardian.
"I'll be taking it from her Cole… let them go."
At this the man draped in the same clothes as the girl relaxed his frame releasing the coward, before the duo walked off.
Cole turned to Sprite. "I don't think I had to remind you to run though, but they were pretty tough."
"Yeah, the thing is," he folded hands, withdrawing. "I don't wanna always run away when I can use my powers."
"You don't have to." The lady knelt to him. "You don't have to fight to prove you're not a coward… Bravery is simply putting yourself before others."
"Well, I don't wanna just have bravery. I wanna be like you, Chiamaka." He pouted before sighting Cole. "Why is it so hard?"
"First off, way to thank us for our help." The man chuckled. "And also, let's go talk over some tea about this."
As they turned to walk north from the scene Farouk, Segun and Conditor ran to them panting.
"I heard you're with Hammer!" Farouk smiled forcefully, raising his back. "We need your help… despite stopping Light from retrieving the Ender Dragon, Hammer may need your help."
"Merit Ejiofor." Chiamaka stepped closer; her palm high. "I always loved calling her that name… but she was just off to another land defending it from Rusty, how do we know you're not lying?"
"My name is Colonel Edeagwu… the C.E.O of Optimum." He walked to Chiamaka, pulling out a black Android phone. "These here are logs..."
He switched it on with a white screen. "Of what we are about to face and are facing on Earth, thanks to the mythic net …"
He inched closer. "This is what my men have reported to me about Merit right now."
Cole, Sprite and Chiamaka gasped at the device with hands on their mouths. "That's terrible… what are we gonna do?" Sprite spoke.
"It's bloody simple." Segun came forth, nudging Farouk. "We get the hell outta here and go save our friends."
"Well so be it then."
The six then placed hands atop each other, before raising them with a shout.
From then on, you could probably tell victory is to be awaited.
***
"ZOOOM!"
Meanwhile, in a translucent big green beam, Victor dashed as Chigozie charged. With he and Stella in lightning, they tore through winds at him. He did same with his glowing lights, shaping rock formations massively in a huge deep-slate cave.
Crashing through mountainous formations across highly luminous lava bodies large, this pattern increased in speed, spanning acres of the biome.
Eventually, Chigozie crashed to the ground as Stella followed. Victor dropped a heavy landing with a shock-wave affront them, the sparking duo blasted to him, surging punches while he flung his with earth and spikes.
Immediately, a powerful blow to Chigozie, before turning back with an earth wall at Stella. Some hand signs came with a rock circle clamping them, then.
"WHOOSH!"
In a second, they zoomed, crashing in walls miles from Victor.
As Chigozie bruised, deep-slate rubbled affront him, before Victor rose out, glaring but smiling cooly.
"Weldone, he bent to the defeated on his bum. Later, with big stones soaring to his hands, they clustered hard. He aimed at him, then a young male voice…
"Leave him alone!"
Victor froze, as Chigozie did. When the villain turned back, he saw Caleb many metres from him.
His eyes glared lemon green, as his sleek metal white armour glowed with amber light and waving hair.
Victor's eyes widened as he gaped, pointing. "This adopted curse."
"Yeah, dad, I know it's not exactly 'dope' having your stepson being more ape-shit than you." He grinned. "Now everyone is in here… it's not just a 'flying prodigy' out to solo you… drop your weapons, or I promise, I will bring hell on you."
Victor just growled at this, waving his fingers with a forest hued light around.
"Is this what you want kid?" He calmly tensed his voice with narrow eyes. "Come get this."
***
Later, inside a red-bricked walled cubicle-sized room with granite tiles, dark-oak tall cupboards and books atop tem with a lantern above, Rusty, in a cobalt blue black line scaly textured vest, stared at Hammer, who was still in special combat armour, as the both sat in iron chairs.
Rusty shook his head. "It's been a long time since I've had my family back."
"Yeahhh… I'm just gonna ask you 'what the frick…? Cuz you just forgot mine too, for what, experimentation and war?!" She waved arms.
"I'm not gonna do this again with you." Rusty stood up, walking to Hammer before kneeling to her with one leg up.
"I'm in love with you, Merit… I really am."
His calm tone flowed. "And that's why I'm not gonna let you go for more rounds to fight just because I've had salty feelings for everything… the thing is…"
"He stared into Hammer's eyes as hers glistened in light with her straight face and frame.
"I want you to stop patronizing these people… They are only going to make you run from me… I banded us together only to defeat greed-obsessed efforts."
He clasped his hands on his eyes. Hammer glanced down there up at Rusty, as silence settled with small heat in the place.
Rusty smiled wryly at her.
"What do you say?"
***
A YEAR AGO.
Within a thick and heavy taiga wood forest with mountainous areas, filled with huge mounds of mossy cobblestones and water-bodies, Rusty, shirtless in long baggy brown trousers with a few tall muscular dark and fair skinned guys walked around atop a hill in the same clothes, pointing hands while laughing softly.
One light-toned male closed eyes doing this. "I bet Rusty has some crush on this babe, like daaaaaaaamn."
"No, no talking about Merit." The subject frowned. "Let's just focus on where she might have been ambushed by her."
"Yeah, yeah, speaking of which, why don't we just build our own base here fighting the military efforts? Things are getting really harsh."
"Oh, I know." Rusty spoke. "But King Victor Paul has called me over for work at the other multiverse… it seems the power oppressing our favourite schools and generations are invading there and I have a feeling Sprite Cole and Chiamaka were drafted to be sent there."
The rest froze, staring with pale faces.
"They won't take me in, I know." The speaker aired. "I mean, I did force them against their own will to fight our foes, but I promise you."
He pierced his eyes, staring into the glistening and summery horizon with shining blue skies."
"I, Rustage, will become the star fear for anything that gets in the way of peace for our people."
"And it shall be so."