Chapter 34
It was cool, a slight breeze blowing, the sun beginning its descent to the horizon when they took up their line of defense on the center of the bridge. All of them were determined that Pruitt’s group would not set foot on the Playground. Aiden and Mike posted up in the center of the line. Frost was on Aiden’s right, snow swirling all around them. Blaze and Amina were on Mike’s left, electricity crackling over Blaze’s fists and sparks shooting off of Amina’s dual maces. Sonica stood at the end of the line next to Frost, her shoulders rising and falling as she sucked in deep breaths, clearly eager to release her sonic scream. Caleb was back at HQ, watching and feeding intel into their ear pieces, while his drone hovered above them.
In the distance, Aiden spotted what they were waiting for. A line of vehicles approached, purple lights swirling on their rooftops.
“Here they come,” Stardust said.
The line of purple lights grew closer. Moments before they arrived, the sound of footsteps, many footsteps, came from behind them. Aiden turned around. A huge group of Players marched onto the bridge. Most were in their costumes, but they were all armed with chains, pipes, and brass knuckles. Suzie, incongruous with her pigtails and ruffles while wielding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, lead the way. The group stopped while Suzie continued on a few more steps to meet the line of superheroes. She smirked at Stardust when she reached him, leaning in to whisper in his ear.
“Like I said before, this is our town and we’re not giving it up.”
Stardust’s eyes went wide at the realization that she knew his secret identity. Then he grinned behind his mask and nodded. “We’re glad to have you here.”
Mike started showing the Players where to position themselves for the best defense of the bridge, while Blaze shouted quick instructions on where to hit the P-Bots to take them out of commission. That was all the time they had to prepare. The army of P-Bots and white shirts had arrived. Their adversaries exited their vehicles, moving forward in a well-ordered mob to face off against the Guardians and the Players. Their numbers were bigger than any of their previous attacks on the Playground. Several dozen white shirts and P-Bots combined. It wouldn’t be easy taking them all down.
There was a brief stare down but impatience rolled off both groups in almost visible waves. Everyone was itching for this battle. There was no prearranged signal. No call to action. Still, both sides moved at the same time, rushing at each other into what immediately became a wild melee.
Aiden was as eager as everyone else for this fight. Diving in without hesitation, his blades sliced against both metal and flesh, a fury of kicks and headbutts taking down multiple foes. He used his shield to protect himself and others when he could and gladly absorbed every punch and kick from an opponent when he couldn’t. His adrenaline kept him from fully feeling the pain from the blows, but it was there just beyond his awareness. The pain didn’t matter. All that mattered was defeating as many white shirts and P-Bots as possible to stop them from entering the Playground, and sending a message back to Pruitt that they were not to be fucked with.
As Aiden fought, he caught a glimpse of blonde hair and a pink cardigan through the violently shifting mass of combatants. Hardly daring to believe what he saw, he ducked a punch, then straightened to get a better look. Itwasher. Alice Iverson. The face of the movement against the Playground. Protest Barbie.
If she was here, she must have intentions of joining in the brawl. Aiden tossed a bot over the bridge, already diving back into the fray before it splashed into the water. If she was down to fight, she wouldn’t be fighting anybody but him. It took time and effort, but eventually he broke free of the crowd and stood alone to face her.
Iverson stepped forward when she saw him. She smiled her polite, Protest Barbie smile.
“Tell your corporate overlord Mr. Pruitt that we are not shutting down,” he yelled across the space separating them. “Not now. Not ever.”
Her smile stayed fixed and calm as she stared at him. She was still smiling when she sprinted forward and jumped, leaping over the bridge faster and farther than any human, anynon-enhanced human, should have been able to leap.
Stardust was so surprised that he dropped his guard and went down when she slammed into him. He hit the ground hard enough that the asphalt burned his back even through his jacket. But his training kicked in. He ignored the pain and rolled with the momentum of his fall, taking her with him, and flipping her over his head.
Iverson landed on her feet facing away from him. Her head turned all the way around to face him. Her body followed.
Aiden took a step back. “What the...?”
She ran at him in a full sprint, fists clenched, arms pumping, and the creepy smile still on her face.
Aiden punched her hard, right in the throat. A human would have choked. Whatever this was blinked and...glitched. Iverson’s head jerked to the side, mouth stuck open with that smile turned to a grimace before she recovered and came for Aiden again. He planted his feet, guard up, his grip on his sai sure and steady. His left blade flashed out, catching Iverson across the cheek, opening a wide cut. When she jerked back, the skin peeled away, revealing shiny gray metal and glowing purple wires. Aiden stared at the sparks shooting from the slice on Iverson’s face in shock. Alice Iverson wasn’t human. She was a robot.
“Did anyone else know Protest Barbie was a robot?” he called out to the bridge at large.
No one answered him before she came gunning for him again. Ready to end this fight, Stardust threw up his shield to block her attack, then immediately went on the offensive. The golden blades glinted in the purple light emanating from Iverson’s face as Aiden struck again and again, faster and faster until the robot looked dazed, unable to keep up.
Aiden hit her with a final punch directly on the spot where the flesh-like substance had peeled away. He suffered a shock that made him involuntarily jerk and clench his teeth when he made contact with the still sparking wires, but it was worth it. Alice Iverson went off-line and crashed to the ground.
∞ ∞ ∞
Mike fought, knuckles aching from all the times his fists crashed against metal or a jawbone, firing off his blast to knock back bot after bot. But if he didn’t get a close and direct hit to take their system off line, they’d get up and keep coming back. Purple light was everywhere, swarming all over the bridge, making them easy to identify targets. They were all indistinguishable from one another. Until an unpleasant tingle shivered down his spine and the hair on the back of his neck lifted.
Mike turned his head, looking for the source of that negative energy. A purple light glowed—one he immediately recognized even though it appeared the same as the others. He halted his forward momentum, going into defense only mode while he kept an eye on that one purple light. Now that he was seeing it up close, he noted that this P-Bot looked different from all of the others. But that was him. The A.I.—thethingthat almost killed his lover. His fists clenched with rage, Mike went after it with single minded purpose.
Caleb suddenly spoke into his ear piece.
“That’s Commander 5.”
“What?”
“Commander 5. He—or rather it—leads the other P-Bots.”
