Frontier #28 - Shadowed Past pt. 7

                The ground buckled in the center of the square under Steve’s feet. He managed to jump aside, grabbing two police officers with him, as the ground caved into the sewers below. Before the smoke could clear, a monstrous form emerged from the hole with a horrific stench ushering his coming. Sewage had used the city’s sewer lines as a power source, and was now twenty stories high and towering over the open square. He let out a mighty roar as clouds of his fast-rotting microorganisms swarmed out from his body.

                But the ground never ceased to shake. As Sewage appeared, the remaining pavement and concrete was torn up by tremors ripping through the city square. Steve managed to get out of the way, but dozens of police officers and agents were trapped in the rubble. The ground was torn apart, making the area uneven and chaotic as the surrounding buildings started to shake and fall apart. Marian ran inside to escape the crumpling ground, while Tony could move fast enough to avoid the churning earth. Amidst the initial chaos, Tommy Goodman, aka the villainous Land Slide, was seen riding a wave of rocks, cackling the whole time in evil glee.

                Matt was first to react, sensing Sewage’s impending attack. He launched a blistering energy blast at Sewage. The blast knocked into Sewage’s body, but the behemoth was prepared this time. His lower half was still connected to the vast sewer system of Hopling, and quickly restored his body’s mass. However the energy blast burned up a large cloud of microorganisms, lessening their threat for now. Sewage countered, reaching up with an extended arm at Matt. Matt was too quick for the villain and dodged the attack, diving down towards Sewage to continue the fight.

                Meanwhile, Land Slide was still causing massive damage to the city. One of his tremors moved out of the square and straight through a block, causing the handful of buildings to crumble. The brave agents and officers underneath ran to move, but many could not in time. Even as Tony raced around moving people out of harm’s way, dozens were trapped under the debris. As Land Slide continued his wave of destruction, Natalie swooped down on telekinetic wings and knocked him hard into the ground. Not giving him any chances, she levitated him off the ground, suspending him in midair so he would be powerless against them.

                “It’s always the same thing with you Tommy!” Natalie yelled over the din of the chaos.

                Tommy laughed back at her, seemingly possessed. “But unlike last time, I’m not alone!” A bolt of electricity crackled out from the smoke of the field, hitting Natalie and breaking her concentration. Both she and Tommy fell to the ground, and as soon as Tommy landed a quake radiated outward, throwing Natalie far backwards.

                Jackson had been using his electrical surges to destroy the microorganisms when he saw the attack on Natalie. He jumped down from his perch on the low building and sent a bolt of lightning at Tommy. The bolt smashed into Tommy, sending him head over heels and rolling to a stop on the ground. For the moment, Land Slide was down.

                But as one fell, another took his place. Volt returned fire on Jackson, who barely managed to dodge the attack. Although Jackson could absorb some amount of electricity, a strong direct attack from Volt would be pushing his limits. Jackson knew feeding Volt electricity would only make him stronger, and that after healing from his previous wounds, Volt’s limits were increased. Jackson’s old tactic of defeating the villain wouldn’t work. The exact new tactic needed to win was still a mystery to Jackson, but he was running out of time and couldn’t give the enemy any leeway. Jackson jumped out from behind a destroyed car and ran straight for Volt. Volt saw Jackson’s charge and ran to meet him, ready to do battle with the man who defeated him last time.

                Sewage’s enlarged fist smashed into Matt, sending him through a building and landing in the cubicles of a business’ office. Matt absorbed energy and quickly burned off the liquid waste that clung to him, not wanting to let any of the microorganisms do their damage.

                “How the hell has he gotten stronger than last time?” Matt muttered as he spit out a bad taste in his mouth. Even without splitting his concentration to reanimate corpses, Sewage was noticeably more powerful. “Wasn’t he in prison?”

Suddenly, a streaked flew by the broken window. Before Matt could get back up, the glass of that level of the building was shattered by a sonic boom. Matt’s body absorbed most of the energy from the attack, but his ears still rang as he clutched them. “What the hell was that?!”

                Outside, Steve was helping dig people out of the rubble when a tiny bomb landed on the ground near him. Steve only had a moment to react before an explosion knocked him off his feet, killing the agents he was trying to help. Steve got back to his feet quickly, realizing the bomb was only to get his attention.

                “We meet once more, Fist!” The Obliterator floated in the air in front of Steve, his arms outstretched and two missile launchers pointed right at Steve. “I don’t believe we’ve ever had a chance to test our strength one on one. Let’s change that, shall we?”

                Steve didn’t reply; instead he looked grimly at the mechanized enemy in front of him. The Obliterator had nearly killed his entire team during his last attack, and thankfully had been locked away ever since. Now it was up to Steve to stop him before he hurt his family. The sound of Richard laughing through the suit’s face mask snapped Steve away from his past encounter and reminded him that the Obliterator was just a frail old man behind the metal.

                “I agree; just me and you.” No emotion crossed Steve’s face as he lunged for the Obliterator; only a steady determination that he would win, no matter what the cost. Dodging the two missiles, Fist slammed a punch into the metal chest plate and the Obliterator was thrown backwards, steadying himself only with the help of his jet thrusters. To the villain’s dismay, the mighty Fist had put a dent in his armor.

                “Hahaha! That’s what I want! Your full power!” the Obliterator screamed at Steve and dove again, opening fire and prepared to kill his arc nemesis on this very day.

                Across the city square, Marian was helping with the perimeter watch and moving the wounded to the medics. Though she was an amazing fighter in her own right, against the group of villains Frontier now faced she found herself severely lacking in firepower. But a loud scream alerted her to a danger behind where the medical stations were set up. A bright blast of heat seared through the tent, burning doctors and patients alike and destroying the supplies within. As firemen tended to the blaze; a towering figure walked out of the chaos. Marian froze when she saw him and knew instantly he was one of the villains. She started to run towards him, but stopped suddenly when his eyes began glowing. With split second reflexes, Marian dodged out of the way as Sentinel unleashed another blast of heat from his eyes, incinerating the path before him.

                Marian cursed under her breath as she heard the screams of the burned and injured. With everyone else preoccupied, she didn’t give the situation a second thought. Marian sprinted towards the giant, ready to enter the battle her friends were already fighting.

                Back in the square, Tommy stirred. He struggled to his feet, still groggy from the electric blast from Jackson. As he looked around, he saw the amazing mayhem his fellow villains were causing. Sewage had all but destroyed any floor above the twelve story mark in his fight with Echo. Volt and Electric Eagle were squaring off trading punches, while the Obliterator and Fist were doing their best to kill each other. The two girls and Bullet were nowhere to be found, but Tommy didn’t care at that point. All he wanted to do was increase the damage already done, which was what he was best at doing. His job in the master plan was to cause as much destruction as possible. Tommy smiled as he put his hands on the rough hard ground.

                “Sewage might be death, but I am destruction!”

                Tommy channeled all his angst and rage into the earth, rippling the ground beneath him and causing the entire area to quake. Tremors knocked down more surrounding buildings, burying countless lives underneath. Everyone had stopped fighting as the buildings started to fall, and even the villains became victims to the torrent of power coming from the super villain Land Slide. The ground was liquefied in places, opening holes that dropped objects and people deep into the crushing rock. Rifts in the earth began opening around Land Slide, threatening to swallow the city’s center and all who were in it. Land Slide roared with laughter as he watched the city of Hopling fall apart around him and became one with his power.

                “I am destruction!” he bellowed, his power causing quakes throughout the entire city limits.

                An instant later, the shaking ceased. The tremors died down, and the rifts slowly began closing under their own power once more. The destruction wrought by Land Slide stopped just as suddenly as it began. Everyone looked over towards the villain and was speechless. Standing over Land Slide’s body, which was crumpled on the ground with a broken neck, was Tony.