Frontier #17 - Control pt. 4

                “Well shit,” Tony said looking through binoculars at what once was a waste disposal plant, but was now a fortress of waste and filth. A central tower spun upward and commotion was heard behind the garbage walls that had been erected around the building site. These walls stopped most of the police and GMA agents from getting within; those who could get in weren’t heard from again.

                “You weren’t kidding about needing back-up, Matt. How long was he here that he could do all this?”

                Matt stared somberly at Sewage’s fortress. “About an hour, I guess.”

                “He did all this in an hour?” Tony said incredulously. “Dude you said he was powerful, but this is ridiculous!”

                “I know. I had no idea he had increased his power by this much. But he’s lacking control. Look.” Matt pointed towards the tower in the center. From their vantage point on a skyscraper a few blocks away, they could see using the binoculars into a window. Inside was Sewage, sitting like a statue in the large room halfway up the tower. “It’s taking so much concentration for him to keep this up, he’s defenseless.”

                “Not entirely,” Marian lowered her binoculars and pointed down towards the walls. Walking along the tops were people, former guards or police, who had been killed and corrupted by Sewage. “He’s killed so many people,” she whispered, putting the binoculars into their case. “And more are going to die if we don’t stop him.”

                “Is there anyone else you guys can call on to help? You said Fist and Teleka are too far away, but what about Electric Eagle?”

                Marian pulled out a phone and called Jackson. While she walked away to talk, Matt watched Tony’s eyes follow her movements. “Now’s really not the time to ask, nor am I the person to tell, but what’s going on between you two?”

                Tony shook his head and turned back to the fortress. “Nothing.”

                Matt nodded, understanding the complexity hidden behind that one word.

                “They begged me not to call, but things have gotten out of hand here. This Sewage villain has turned a waste plant into his own fortress, and they are out there trying to take him down alone. I know they are capable young adults, but I fear for their safety. I don’t think they understand the severity of what they are going up against.”

                Francis sat in the command room, the dinner he brought back cold on the table. Marian and Tony had left before he returned, but he saw on the news what was going on in the city. On the other end of the line, Steve’s voice was strictly serious.

                “We’re leaving now.”

                “I’m so sorry, Steve,” Francis said, the desperation coming through his voice. “I should have called so much sooner than this. We just had no idea what he was capable of doing, and none of us wanted to interrupt you.”

                Steve sighed, “I don’t blame anyone, Fran. I’m just glad you called us. They are trained; they’ll be fine until we get back.”

                As Steve hung up the phone, Francis hung his head. “Oh God, I hope so.”

                "Jackson is...preoccupied, at the moment," Marian said solemnly. "At least that's what his attendant said."

“We can’t wait any longer,” Matt said as he watched another platoon of agents go behind the walls. “People are dying every minute we wait.” He stood up, his body starting to glow as he absorbed energy from the cool night into his body. “I’m going in.”

                “And we’ve got your back,” Tony said, putting his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “You don’t need to carry this burden alone.” Marian nodded her head in agreement, and Matt gave them a smile.

                “Let’s get to this, then. Anyone got a game plan?”

                Marian looked at Tony, and then shrugged her shoulders a little. “Kinda hoping you had one, Matt. You know Sewage better than us.”

                Oh boy, Matt thought as he looked at the fortress. Not only am I playing superhero, but now I’m leader too? This is what I get for taking you under my wing, Brian. It’s time we both face the consequences.

                “Ok, here’s what we do,” Matt said aloud. “Getting in won’t be hard for me and Tony, and I’ll fly Marian in. Once inside, Mare, you save as many as you can from that last group to enter. Tony, we need you to take out those guards who are already dead and corrupted. I’ll head for Sewage and take him on while he’s distracted. Hopefully if we do it all at once, he won’t have time to shift gears. With his concentration split, all our jobs will be easier.”

                “Right, kill all the sludge minions. Sounds like a plan, good luck everybody,” Tony said before racing down the side of the building towards the fortress.

                “You have a knack for this,” Marian said with a smile as Matt put his arm around her.

                “Well my dad was the leader back when he was an active hero. Guess it runs in the family.” Matt returned her smile and then propelled off the rooftop, carrying them both towards Sewage and his castle.

                Marian held on tight to Matt, feeling the rush of adrenaline in anticipation for the upcoming battle, along with the thrill of flying without being in a plane. The wind against her face snapped her to attention, and she was completely focused on the task ahead. Matt’s body was a glowing white bulb now, lighting up the sky as they flew across it. He was absorbing and storing energy for the upcoming fight, and Marian could feel the tension in his muscles as he ran the possible outcomes through his head.

                Tony hit the wall and ran right up it; he flipped over the top and kicked a guard in the face, knocking his head clean off. As his feet hit the ground, Tony spun around and ran through the next guard he saw. He paused for a moment, looking over the building site, and saw dozens of corrupted guards.

                “Hmm, shouldn’t take too long,” he said to himself. “I’ll even have time to help Matt.” Tony jumped over the wall’s edge and ran down the side towards the cluster of armed, lifeless guards.

               

The platoon leader crouched behind a barrel, holding the gas mask to his face. The air inside the building was putrid, and he already saw what happened to a person once they took a breath. He turned and fired his gun at the few guards left, but the bullets went right through the bodies without slowing them down a bit.

                “Damn zombies!” he cursed and the young man next to him laughed.

                “I know, right? Not what I expected to be shooting at when I woke up this morning.”

                Even through the gas mask, the leader could hear the excitement in the rookie’s voice. There was only four of the original ten left, and the other two were across the hall backed up in a doorway. One of the men had been shot, since the lifeless guards could still function enough to use firearms, and the other was trying to treat the wound before the filth in the air caused an infection.

                “We have to get out of this building!” the leader radioed to the two across the hall. He turned to the rookie next to him, “Cover me!” The leader dashed across the hall while the rookie sat up and opened fire on the guards. The rookie managed to take enough pieces out of one to kill it, but the other two exacted revenge. In a hailstorm of bullets, the rookie fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

                The platoon leader saw the rookie fall when he looked back. The remaining conscious agent shook him to break his trance, and he helped her lift the wounded agent and drag him out while providing what cover he could. As they burst through the doors to the open air, they stopped dead in their tracks. The courtyard was filled with the corrupted, and they all turned to stare at the three humans with cold, dead eyes.