Hunters: Inferno (Original Edit)
This is the third story and direct sequel to "Stifeling Development". At the time, this was my biggest and best fighting scene. Others have definitely surpassed it.
The man known as Stife slowly woke up. His head pounded like a hammer on a radiator and his body ached like a ton had repeatedly fallen on him. He rose, slowly, trying to gain some footage into conscious control of dead-tired body.
He looked himself over. His shirt had been burned with a giant X through it, and beyond that hole was a black scar of an X. His body had many bruises and small cut, but was slowly healing itself.
He looked around. Tire tracks sped off from the wreckage of his van and group of agents. Everyone of them had been crushed by Ace Micheals’ car, and would be hard to explain to his superiors about that one.
He also noticed that his trench and fingerless gloves were missing. He trembled a bit, and then cursed the two teens that now had his stuff and had also beaten his ass.
Then as he turned toward his van, he felt a slight ting in the back of his head, and he started to hear the words that Kevin Duval had left in his head-
“Beware, we know who you are and what you want from us. We are not to be hunted; we are to hunt. We will track down all of our fellow Gen4s and your ‘army’ will rise against you. Know this-DON’T FUCK with us!”
It sent a chill down Stife’s back, as he continued toward the van. It had just been pushed to the side with small imprints of agents in its side, and it still ran. These Hunters...they’ll soon not be hunting anymore. No more fun and games....I’m not returning them to base...alive... Stife thought to himself. He cranked up the van, and thought of a few places they may have gone.
“The mall...where else?” He laughed out loud. He drove off and headed toward the mall.
“Dude, we’re gonna get busted, and you don’t want to be grounded right?” Kevin asked his friend.
Ace looked at him like he was stupid. “I haven’t been grounded in years. My parents really won’t care. Plus, how are we going to get busted?”
“Well...”
“Look, you’ve got your Jedi mind trick shit. Just use it when we get busted, if we do.” Ace suggested, turning around a corner. He was looking for a parking space. “Besides, I haven’t been to the mall yet.” Ace found a space and pulled in.
Nearby a familiar van pulled into a parking space. The driver lowered his eyes on to the two boys and chuckled to himself. “The mall...perfect place for a battle. And a perfect place for them to die.” Stife slowly got out of the car and concentrated hard on not thinking about the two boys, as he knew Kevin might be listening for his thoughts.
He watched as the boys got out of their car and walked to the mall. He slowly walked behind them, just watching them, trying to figure out how he was going to get them without alerting them to his presence. He just smiled an evil grin and continued to follow them.
“See look at this Ace. You know who the X-Men are right?” Kevin asked, pulling out a comic to show to Ace. Ace looked at him. They were in a comic shop inside the mall, trying to find some superheroes to model themselves after.
“Yeah, they’re a crappy bunch of heroes. The writing sucks, the powers blow, and nothings really new. Oh wow, blablabla is taking over the world, let’s go and take care of him. Oh wow, soandso took out that city, oh we better go teach him a lesson. It’s so boring, and it’s not even close to real-life.” Ace complained, thumbing through some comics. He pulled out a Gen13. “Now see here you have some people we can relate to.”
“Yeah, I can see your point. Catalin’s a fox and much better looking than you. I’d definitely like her to lead me.” Kevin joked, throwing a smirk at Ace.
“You’re funny. Besides, who asked who to lead?” Ace threw Kevin’s words back at him.
Kevin sighed. “Well I figured you were more cut out for it.”
Ace threw his hands up. “Look it doesn’t matter who leads. We’re partners, we both lead and follow. I guess if we get others involved then we’ll pick a leader.”
“I don’t think we should get others involved. I don’t even see why we’re involved, other than the fact that Stife is after us or was.” Kevin laughed a bit. Then he looked at Ace. “If I told you he was around would you believe me?”
Ace looked at his friend. He could tell that Kevin wasn’t joking. “What are you saying?”
Kevin looked around. “I can feel him...his thoughts...he’s trying too hard to keep them a secret from me...”
Somewhere off in the distance Stife was walking around a corner heading toward them. His thoughts were all about the Hunters and getting back at them. He was ready to kill them. He slowly pulled out a very large gun and cocked it.
Several people around him saw the gun and started to shout at him. Some ran and headed toward the Hunters direction.
Ace and Kevin saw the people running and got grim faces. “I think you’re right.” Ace said, pulling out his shades. “Looks like we’ve got to show this guy another lesson.”
Kevin looked at his friend. “Dude, we can’t fight in the mall. It’s gonna get us busted, remember, we don’t want to get busted.”
Ace threw a look at Kevin. “Look, either we fight him here, or we run. Either way we’ll have to fight him some time today. He’s not gonna give up on fighting us. C’mon, we kicked the tar out of him earlier, and now he’s after us again. Let’s take him out once and for all.” Ace clenched his fists together.
“You’re right. We shouldn’t back down. Let’s do it.” Kevin said, looking around. He watched as several more people ran past them. He looked at Ace and then realized that he didn’t have a weapon to use. “Um...one sec.” Kevin asked, looking around the store. He then saw the perfect weapon for him self. He picked it up and went to the cashier to pay. “Ace, why don’t you go and take on Stife while I handle this?”
Ace looked at Kevin with a mischievous grin. “Let’s play then!” Ace yelled, running out of the comic store. Kevin just shook his head and pulled out the money for his ‘weapon.’
Stife looked around, trying to figure out what store the Hunters had gone into. He cocked his gun, which was a high powered rifle combined with a shotgun. He didn’t care about the public seeing him. He didn’t care about getting in trouble with the law. He knew he could handle them. He had taken on a lot more than mall security. He had taken on tougher opponents, even fought to the death with some of the toughest Gen3s, and he just laughed to himself about the mall security.
He came around another corner and there were 3 security guards kneeling with their guns pulled out. “Halt! Put your weapon up and place your hands in the air!” One shouted.
Stife laughed. “Fuck you!” He then shot the guard in the head, blowing his brains all over the other two guards, who he promptly shot up. They both fell dead, baseball-sized holes in their chest where their hearts used to be.
Ace was ducking behind a large potted plant nearby. He watched the guards get killed and he watched at Stife loaded his gun back up. He knew this was his only chance to take out the gun. He increased his speed and jumped out. His claws came out in mid-air as he came down on Stife.
Stife turned, as he heard Ace’s trench coat flapping and his claws extending. He raised his gun to block, and Ace’s claws sliced it in half. “Shit!” Stife yelled throwing the two pieces down.
“You can say that again!” Ace yelled, dropping to one knee before sweeping Stife’s legs from underneath him. He then flipped up and raised him hand to punch Stife. Stife saw the punch coming, and he kicked Ace in the head with a handstand flip kick.
“Not so fast kid. I’m good at combat and a lot better than you.” Stife said, grabbing Ace by the shoulders. He then slammed him through the potted plant that Ace hid behind earlier. He jumped in the air and punched down toward Ace. Ace rolled out of the way and flipped up.
“Don’t you ever stay down?!” Ace yelled, throwing several punches. He upped his strength and speed and tried his best to get the blows in. Stife easily blocked the punches and grabbed Ace’s hands before giving Ace a nice backhand to the temple. Ace staggered back a bit.
“No I don’t.” Stife replied, kicking Ace in the knee. He then dropped the Hunter with a roundhouse to the face. Ace went down and slumped against a wall. “Now you stay down.”
Suddenly Stife was pushed hard into the wall next to Ace. But it wasn’t a physical push. It was a telekenetic blast from Kevin. “No you stay down.”
Stife staggered a bit and turned to face Kevin. Kevin stood with one hand behind his back and the other outstretched toward Stife. He was taunting Stife to come toward him with a small wave from his fingers.
“What do you want kid? Can’t you see I’m about to give your friend here a new meaning to the word beat down?” Stife smirked, as he came toward to Kevin.
Kevin looked Stife over. Stife had apparently gotten a new trench, judging from the new one he had on. His shirt was also new, since it would have had Ace’s slices through it. And as far as Kevin could tell, Stife had healed most of the wounds he had suffered earlier. “You look better Stife. Nice improvement. So you want to beat Ace huh? Yeah I could understand why, I mean he really, really, really kicked you ass earlier today. But hmm...so did I. So you wanna come kick my ass now?” Kevin smiled at Stife and waved at him to come closer.
“Look kid, you’re nothing compared to him. You’ve got dick for powers and you suck in combat. I mean damn.” Stife ripped Kevin. He threw Kevin another menacing grin. “I mean that wasn’t even much of a push from your pathetic telekenetic powers. You probably couldn’t even break a peanut with it.”
Kevin smiled. “Well let’s find out!!” Kevin winced a bit, as he targeted Stife’s crotch. He pushed his powers as far as he could and grabbed Stife’s manhood with his mind. Stife grabbed his pants instinctively as he started to bellow in pain. “Hmmm....peanuts huh? I think I’m cracking cherry tomatoes. Okay now turn and cough. That’s a good boy. And again.”
Stife started coughing just a bit and then he looked at Kevin. “Okay so I underestimated your powers. But I won’t make that mistake twice.”
Kevin smiled. “I’m sure you will. So I’m getting a bit antsy here, could we like fight, cause I heard you like suck and stuff.” Kevin said, trying to sound like Michelle, the horny band-geek from American Pie.
“Sure...let’s dance then.” Stife replied, getting back up. He cracked his neck a bit and then cracked his knuckles.
Kevin, still with his hand behind his back, ushered Stife to come toward him. “Fine. Yo, he-bitch. Let’s go!” Kevin replied back, stealing a line from Army of Darkness.
Ace watched Kevin, and then yelled at him as he stood up. “DAMN IT STOP USING THOSE LAME-ASS LINES!!!”
Stife looked back at Ace and then turned to Kevin. “Yeah listen to your weak-ass friend over there, and stop stalling. Let’s play!”
“Fine.” Kevin replied to both men yelling at him. He looked at Stife. “Your move.”
Stife smiled evilly and then ran at Kevin. Kevin threw his arm out and whipped out a small gray cylinder. He then flicked it as two red ends extended forth from it. All while in the shortness of a second, he turned and smacked Stife over the head with it, twirled around Stife and kicked him down into another potted plant.
Ace stood next to his friend as they watched Stife get up. “Man, you freak! You bought a fuckin’ Sith LightSaber to fight with? Damn...” Ace mumbled, shaking his head in disbelieve. He then turned to Stife. “And don’t make him have to do that other weird Jedi shit on you. Go home Stife. Leave us the fuck alone.”
Kevin walked over to Stife and kneeled down. “Remember that nice little message I left for you to tell your bosses. I mean it. Stop fucking with us, or I will squish your nuts, or perhaps even your head, into flatness, capice?”
Stife turned and looked at Kevin. “I’m not leaving till one of us is dead, capice!?” And then he grabbed Kevin by the head and flipped him to the floor. He then flipped up and kicked Ace in the head, knocking him down. “I’m not leaving till you’re both dead or I’m dead. And I’m gonna start right now.” Stife grabbed a gun from one of the dead security guards and started to check it for ammo.
Kevin saw this and he realized things were going from worse to very fucking worse. He flipped up and then grabbed Ace. “See yah!” And then he ran as fast as he could, knocking Stife down as he ran past him.
Kevin slumped Ace down on a bench. ‘This gonna be bad Ace. He’s gonna shoot us.” Kevin mumbled worriedly.
“Yes I know. I took out his other gun. I mean he shot at us earlier today, so what’s the difference now?” Ace replied, standing up and stretching. He checked himself over and noticed a few bruises. “Damn fighting sucks.”
“That’s what I mean. It’s because we fight that we keep getting hurt and now we might just get killed. I don’t want to die Ace.” Kevin admitted, looking at his friend. His face showed the graveness of his thoughts.
“We’re not gonna die. I’ve got a plan. I think it’s time I tried boosting your powers.” Ace started to explain. “You think you can create a straight beam with your TK?”
“Yeah, I think so, why?”
Ace chuckled a bit. “I think we can create our own little beam to take out Stife. If he wants to make this a battle to the death, then fine. Let’s do it his way. But let’s win.” He looked at Kevin, who still didn’t look too happy about the situation.
“Look Ace, I know you like to fight and all, but still, I don’t want to die. Let’s just go home.” Kevin yelled, looking at his friend.
Ace stared at Kevin with some fierce determination. “I’m not quitting Kevin. If you want to quit fine, quit. Go home. But you’re the one who came to my rescue, you’re the one who fought and did well against Stife, and you’re the one that saved the both of us. I need you Kevin. You’re my partner, remember. It’s time we stand up, again, and beat Stife, once and for all, like we planned. Screw him and his fucking guns. Let’s take him out our way, the Hunter way.”
Kevin cheered up a bit. “I guess you’re right then. Fine, we’ll do it the Hunter way. By the way, what is the Hunter way?”
Ace looked at him. “I have no clue, but we’re about to find out.” Ace replied, as he started back to where Stife was last. He looked back at Kevin who was still sitting. “C’mon, let’s go take out this jabroni, okay?”
“Jabroni...okay so who’s saying the crappy shit again?” Kevin joked, getting up. He joined Ace and they started back toward Stife’s direction. Kevin then stopped and looked at Ace.
Ace saw this and then stopped himself. “What?”
“I was thinking, mainly about that finisher Stife mentioned earlier, you know, that thing you did. Do you think you can do it again?” Kevin asked, heading toward Ace.
Ace looked at him. “Well I don’t know. I don’t quite have the same feeling of energy that I did when I did, and besides, he said it only comes out when you’re under stress or about to die or something like that. It’s like a desperation move, something you basically pull out your ass.”
“I wonder if I can do that...” Kevin wondered, looking at Ace. “Think I can?”
Ace scratched his chin. “I don’t know, but maybe. I mean whose to say that we all don’t share the same powers, but we can only access what we think we need?”
“Interesting idea. I think we might have to look in on that after we through with Stife.” Kevin replied, looking at Ace. “Well shall we go find Stife and take care of his roody-poo candy-ass?”
“Yes Rock, let’s go take care of this piece of monkey crap!” Ace chuckled as they headed toward Stife.
As they walked, Ace started to sweat a bit more. He looked over at Kevin and noticed the same thing. “Um...is it me or is it getting hotter in here?”
Kevin wiped his brow. “I think you’re right. That, and have you noticed it’s getting harder to walk, like we’re being pulled down even more by gravity than usual.”
“I think something strange is going on here...” Ace commented, as he pointed toward a large open area of the mall. In the area was Stife who was standing and holding his hands in the air. All around him the air seemed to shimmering, like the way heat rises off the top of streets. And the floor seemed to be dipping toward him, like there was a sink hole under Stife.
“My thoughts exactly...” Kevin added, looking at Stife. He was looking like he was under a lot of stress and his face showed a lot of strain. “Well I take it he wants to take out the whole mall with this obviously secret power of his. Thinks it’s time to use ours?”
Ace looked at Kevin. “Are you ready then?”
“I guess...so what do I do again?” Kevin asked, as he moved toward Ace.
Ace grabbed Kevin by the neck and then aimed his head at Stife. “Just stand still and start pushing your TK toward him. I’ll do the rest...” Ace explained, as he raised his foot up. “One...two...three...HYPER SPLAT!!!” Ace yelled, slamming his foot down on Kevin’s. He increased Kevin’s telekenetic powers with every ounce of energy he could push. Kevin winced as the power pushed through his body and through his mind to connect to the TK he was pushing out already.
Suddenly Stife was blasted from his spot in the hole to a spot three walls away, as he went sailing through several department stores. He landed in a nice heap and passed out.
Kevin also passed out, and dropped to the floor. Ace grabbed him and carried him over to a bench where he laid him out. “I think I pushed you just a little too hard.”
Stife woke up slowly. He looked around and saw the rubble he had been blasted through. He had never in his life experienced such a pain as that. He slowly got up and dusted himself off. He was through. His plan to draw the Hunters out with his gravity-heat field powers worked, but now he had been blasted through a wall. “It’s time to stop playing.” He growled, as he headed back toward the Hunters.
Ace and Kevin were resting on the bench Kevin had been laid on. They jumped up as they saw Stife heading toward them. He quickly pulled out the small gun he had taken from the security guard and he fired at the Hunters. Ace grabbed Kevin as he saw Stife pull the gun out and he tossed him into some clothes in a nearby department store. He then took several bullets in the chest.
“DIE!!!” Stife yelled, firing again and again into Ace. Ace tried to stand and dodged a few of the bullets. One grazed his arm and the another hit his leg. He winced as he started to cough up blood.
“No...I’m not...giving up....” Ace yelled, pulling everything he had to heal himself. He started toward Stife who stared in amazement. Ace could feel the energy he had felt earlier that day. He was about to hit Stife with something he knew Stife had not forgotten about.
“I don’t believe this...you...you should be dead...or atleast you shouldn’t be moving....damn...I have underestimated you two.” Stife admitted, as he pulled out more ammo for the gun. He tried to reload the gun but Ace was almost on him, even in his half-dazed state.
“Times up Stife...” Ace murmured. He looked up and then gathered all the energy that was surging through his body. His hair started to stand on end and he started to get a blue hue to him. He then turned to Stife and started moving toward him, claws extended.
“Oh no...I’ve seen you do that before...no sir, I’m not getting hit by another fucking Finisher.” Stife yelled, as he finished loading the gun.
“Too late! R-A-Z-O-R S-T-R-I-K-E!!!” Ace yelled, as he pushed all the energy into his attack. His strength boosted and his speed increased, as he rushed at Stife. His claws came up and he sliced into Stife with an ‘X’. But he didn’t cut into like he did before and he fell to the ground. He had partially missed.
“Boy, you should know I can increase my speed and defense just like you. Now then, let’s get this over with.” Stife said, grabbing Ace. He tossed him back into the hole that he had made earlier. “That will make a nice place for you to die.” Stife then raised his hands up. “Meet my Finisher....the Inferno Smash!” And with that Stife glew a blue hue just like Ace and his eyes flattened in on Ace. “I-N-F-E-R-N-O S-M-A-S-H!!!”
Slowly flames started to shoot up from the ground around Ace, as the floor below him buckled more and more from the increased gravity. Ace’s clothes started to catch on fire, and he was too weak and too unconscious to do anything.
Not too far away Kevin saw all of this. He had seen his friend sacrifice himself to save him and now his friend was going to die. He felt so helpless. He punched the ground and then he stood up. He could feel a new power surging through his body and he then knew what he had to do.
He walked toward Stife as his hair started to stand on end. The power was surging through his body and slowly reached his mind where it increased his mental powers. Kevin looked at Stife and raised his hand. “No more....M-I-N-D W-I-P-E!!!” A small blue bolt arched from Kevin’s outstretched hand and struck Stife in the back of the head.
Stife suddenly jerked his head back and looked at Kevin. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. His whole mind was slipping away from him. He could feel his body and mind separating. He could feel the memories of his life draining away into the darkness of his mind. He could feel the end of his entire being coming to get him. Stife looked at Kevin and a small tear dropped from his eye before he slumped to the ground.
Kevin just kneeled down, exhausted. He then looked at his friend who was laying in a cloud of smoke. Kevin’s Finisher apparently had stopped Stife’s Finisher, but it still had done some damage. Kevin got up and went to his friend.
“What happened??” Ace mumbled as he looked up after regaining consciousness. He looked at Kevin and then at Stife.
“I did it Ace. I got a Finisher.” Kevin said, with a dead tone in his voice. He didn’t sound very happy about getting it.
“What did you do to him?” Ace asked, looking at Stife. Stife was slumped over, his eyes wide open. Drool was coming out of his mouth and parts of his body twitched uncontrollably.
Kevin looked at Ace. “I think I just turned him into a mental vegetable. I could feel his pain as everything inside his mind went away, as his mind lost control of his body, and as his life just faded away. He’s not gonna be coming after us anymore, but then again, I don’t think he’s even Stife anymore.” Kevin explained in a very dead tone.
“You don’t sound happy.” Ace noted as he stood up. He looked himself over and noticed that the bottom of his pants and trench had been burnt a little. “What the fuck?”
“Oh he used his Finisher on you, something like ‘Inferno Smash’ or like a major version of what he was doing earlier. That’s why I did mine on him. And yes, I’m not happy with what I did. I didn’t kill him, I just took away his whole being. I think its worse than death. I think he would have been better off if I had killed him.” Kevin looked at the ground remorsefully.
“Look, he was gonna kill me. You did what you had to do. That’s the way life goes.” Ace replied, as he headed toward Stife. He grabbed him and picked him up. He then carried Stife’s comatose body over to the bench they had been sitting on earlier and laid him out.
“But I can feel him Ace. He’s not completely gone, he just can’t control and think like he used to. He’s locked in his own mental prison. I condemned him to that.” Kevin explained, looking at Stife.
Ace took off Stife’s trench coat. “Look, we won. He’s out of the picture, be happy. C’mon, let’s get out of here before the police get here. They’ll take care of him while we go home, okay.” Ace handed the trench to Kevin. “You earned this.”
“No I didn’t. I mean....I killed a man Ace. Why should I earn the clothes of a dead man?” Kevin asked remorsefully. He put the trench down on the bench.
Ace looked himself over. He had several shot wounds in his chest, but he wasn’t hurting. He put his fingers in one of the holes and slowly pulled out a flattened bullet. He felt the wound again and noticed that it wasn’t really all that deep, almost like a minor cut. And he wasn’t bleeding a whole lot. He looked at the bullet, and was simply amazed. “Kevin have you ever seen a bullet do that?” He asked, as he showed the bullet to Kevin.
Kevin looked at the bullet and got a very surprised look in his face. “No not really. That’s weird dude. Are you alright?”
Ace looked at himself as he pulled the other bullets out. They were all the same. “Yeah, I’m alright. But this is just weird. And my wounds are majorly healing themselves. Look.” Ace said, pointing to the wound where he pulled the first bullet out. It was already closing itself up.
Kevin looked really freaked. “I guess you do regenerate fast. But why would the bullets do that to you? I mean it looks as if they smacked into something, like some sort of forcefield.”
“Maybe I have one or maybe because I was nearing my Finisher state that my defense got boosted.” Ace suggested, watching the other wounds heal themselves.
Suddenly red and blue lights started to flash near the mall exit. The police and ambulances were showing up, and the two Hunters started running.
“Time to jet Kevin.” Ace said, grabbing a hold of his friend. “I’m gonna boost your speed and reaction, think you can make it back to the car?”
Kevin, now holding the trench of Stife, looked at his friend. “Let’s do it.”
Kevin started to run with Ace holding on to his shoulder. Ace then started to push Kevin’s reaction speed to the max while increasing Kevin’s speed as well. With a jolt, the mall and all of its shop became a blur as Kevin hit sonic speed. The glass in every single shop blew out everywhere, and the mall echoed with a sonic boom.
And the two Hunters were already at the car, in it, and gone, before the police and the medical crew could even get up and figure out what the hell had just happened.
The man known as Stife slowly woke up. His head pounded like a hammer on a radiator and his body ached like a ton had repeatedly fallen on him. He rose, slowly, trying to gain some footage into conscious control of dead-tired body.
He looked himself over. His shirt had been burned with a giant X through it, and beyond that hole was a black scar of an X. His body had many bruises and small cut, but was slowly healing itself.
He looked around. Tire tracks sped off from the wreckage of his van and group of agents. Everyone of them had been crushed by Ace Micheals’ car, and would be hard to explain to his superiors about that one.
He also noticed that his trench and fingerless gloves were missing. He trembled a bit, and then cursed the two teens that now had his stuff and had also beaten his ass.
Then as he turned toward his van, he felt a slight ting in the back of his head, and he started to hear the words that Kevin Duval had left in his head-
“Beware, we know who you are and what you want from us. We are not to be hunted; we are to hunt. We will track down all of our fellow Gen4s and your ‘army’ will rise against you. Know this-DON’T FUCK with us!”
It sent a chill down Stife’s back, as he continued toward the van. It had just been pushed to the side with small imprints of agents in its side, and it still ran. These Hunters...they’ll soon not be hunting anymore. No more fun and games....I’m not returning them to base...alive... Stife thought to himself. He cranked up the van, and thought of a few places they may have gone.
“The mall...where else?” He laughed out loud. He drove off and headed toward the mall.
“Dude, we’re gonna get busted, and you don’t want to be grounded right?” Kevin asked his friend.
Ace looked at him like he was stupid. “I haven’t been grounded in years. My parents really won’t care. Plus, how are we going to get busted?”
“Well...”
“Look, you’ve got your Jedi mind trick shit. Just use it when we get busted, if we do.” Ace suggested, turning around a corner. He was looking for a parking space. “Besides, I haven’t been to the mall yet.” Ace found a space and pulled in.
Nearby a familiar van pulled into a parking space. The driver lowered his eyes on to the two boys and chuckled to himself. “The mall...perfect place for a battle. And a perfect place for them to die.” Stife slowly got out of the car and concentrated hard on not thinking about the two boys, as he knew Kevin might be listening for his thoughts.
He watched as the boys got out of their car and walked to the mall. He slowly walked behind them, just watching them, trying to figure out how he was going to get them without alerting them to his presence. He just smiled an evil grin and continued to follow them.
“See look at this Ace. You know who the X-Men are right?” Kevin asked, pulling out a comic to show to Ace. Ace looked at him. They were in a comic shop inside the mall, trying to find some superheroes to model themselves after.
“Yeah, they’re a crappy bunch of heroes. The writing sucks, the powers blow, and nothings really new. Oh wow, blablabla is taking over the world, let’s go and take care of him. Oh wow, soandso took out that city, oh we better go teach him a lesson. It’s so boring, and it’s not even close to real-life.” Ace complained, thumbing through some comics. He pulled out a Gen13. “Now see here you have some people we can relate to.”
“Yeah, I can see your point. Catalin’s a fox and much better looking than you. I’d definitely like her to lead me.” Kevin joked, throwing a smirk at Ace.
“You’re funny. Besides, who asked who to lead?” Ace threw Kevin’s words back at him.
Kevin sighed. “Well I figured you were more cut out for it.”
Ace threw his hands up. “Look it doesn’t matter who leads. We’re partners, we both lead and follow. I guess if we get others involved then we’ll pick a leader.”
“I don’t think we should get others involved. I don’t even see why we’re involved, other than the fact that Stife is after us or was.” Kevin laughed a bit. Then he looked at Ace. “If I told you he was around would you believe me?”
Ace looked at his friend. He could tell that Kevin wasn’t joking. “What are you saying?”
Kevin looked around. “I can feel him...his thoughts...he’s trying too hard to keep them a secret from me...”
Somewhere off in the distance Stife was walking around a corner heading toward them. His thoughts were all about the Hunters and getting back at them. He was ready to kill them. He slowly pulled out a very large gun and cocked it.
Several people around him saw the gun and started to shout at him. Some ran and headed toward the Hunters direction.
Ace and Kevin saw the people running and got grim faces. “I think you’re right.” Ace said, pulling out his shades. “Looks like we’ve got to show this guy another lesson.”
Kevin looked at his friend. “Dude, we can’t fight in the mall. It’s gonna get us busted, remember, we don’t want to get busted.”
Ace threw a look at Kevin. “Look, either we fight him here, or we run. Either way we’ll have to fight him some time today. He’s not gonna give up on fighting us. C’mon, we kicked the tar out of him earlier, and now he’s after us again. Let’s take him out once and for all.” Ace clenched his fists together.
“You’re right. We shouldn’t back down. Let’s do it.” Kevin said, looking around. He watched as several more people ran past them. He looked at Ace and then realized that he didn’t have a weapon to use. “Um...one sec.” Kevin asked, looking around the store. He then saw the perfect weapon for him self. He picked it up and went to the cashier to pay. “Ace, why don’t you go and take on Stife while I handle this?”
Ace looked at Kevin with a mischievous grin. “Let’s play then!” Ace yelled, running out of the comic store. Kevin just shook his head and pulled out the money for his ‘weapon.’
Stife looked around, trying to figure out what store the Hunters had gone into. He cocked his gun, which was a high powered rifle combined with a shotgun. He didn’t care about the public seeing him. He didn’t care about getting in trouble with the law. He knew he could handle them. He had taken on a lot more than mall security. He had taken on tougher opponents, even fought to the death with some of the toughest Gen3s, and he just laughed to himself about the mall security.
He came around another corner and there were 3 security guards kneeling with their guns pulled out. “Halt! Put your weapon up and place your hands in the air!” One shouted.
Stife laughed. “Fuck you!” He then shot the guard in the head, blowing his brains all over the other two guards, who he promptly shot up. They both fell dead, baseball-sized holes in their chest where their hearts used to be.
Ace was ducking behind a large potted plant nearby. He watched the guards get killed and he watched at Stife loaded his gun back up. He knew this was his only chance to take out the gun. He increased his speed and jumped out. His claws came out in mid-air as he came down on Stife.
Stife turned, as he heard Ace’s trench coat flapping and his claws extending. He raised his gun to block, and Ace’s claws sliced it in half. “Shit!” Stife yelled throwing the two pieces down.
“You can say that again!” Ace yelled, dropping to one knee before sweeping Stife’s legs from underneath him. He then flipped up and raised him hand to punch Stife. Stife saw the punch coming, and he kicked Ace in the head with a handstand flip kick.
“Not so fast kid. I’m good at combat and a lot better than you.” Stife said, grabbing Ace by the shoulders. He then slammed him through the potted plant that Ace hid behind earlier. He jumped in the air and punched down toward Ace. Ace rolled out of the way and flipped up.
“Don’t you ever stay down?!” Ace yelled, throwing several punches. He upped his strength and speed and tried his best to get the blows in. Stife easily blocked the punches and grabbed Ace’s hands before giving Ace a nice backhand to the temple. Ace staggered back a bit.
“No I don’t.” Stife replied, kicking Ace in the knee. He then dropped the Hunter with a roundhouse to the face. Ace went down and slumped against a wall. “Now you stay down.”
Suddenly Stife was pushed hard into the wall next to Ace. But it wasn’t a physical push. It was a telekenetic blast from Kevin. “No you stay down.”
Stife staggered a bit and turned to face Kevin. Kevin stood with one hand behind his back and the other outstretched toward Stife. He was taunting Stife to come toward him with a small wave from his fingers.
“What do you want kid? Can’t you see I’m about to give your friend here a new meaning to the word beat down?” Stife smirked, as he came toward to Kevin.
Kevin looked Stife over. Stife had apparently gotten a new trench, judging from the new one he had on. His shirt was also new, since it would have had Ace’s slices through it. And as far as Kevin could tell, Stife had healed most of the wounds he had suffered earlier. “You look better Stife. Nice improvement. So you want to beat Ace huh? Yeah I could understand why, I mean he really, really, really kicked you ass earlier today. But hmm...so did I. So you wanna come kick my ass now?” Kevin smiled at Stife and waved at him to come closer.
“Look kid, you’re nothing compared to him. You’ve got dick for powers and you suck in combat. I mean damn.” Stife ripped Kevin. He threw Kevin another menacing grin. “I mean that wasn’t even much of a push from your pathetic telekenetic powers. You probably couldn’t even break a peanut with it.”
Kevin smiled. “Well let’s find out!!” Kevin winced a bit, as he targeted Stife’s crotch. He pushed his powers as far as he could and grabbed Stife’s manhood with his mind. Stife grabbed his pants instinctively as he started to bellow in pain. “Hmmm....peanuts huh? I think I’m cracking cherry tomatoes. Okay now turn and cough. That’s a good boy. And again.”
Stife started coughing just a bit and then he looked at Kevin. “Okay so I underestimated your powers. But I won’t make that mistake twice.”
Kevin smiled. “I’m sure you will. So I’m getting a bit antsy here, could we like fight, cause I heard you like suck and stuff.” Kevin said, trying to sound like Michelle, the horny band-geek from American Pie.
“Sure...let’s dance then.” Stife replied, getting back up. He cracked his neck a bit and then cracked his knuckles.
Kevin, still with his hand behind his back, ushered Stife to come toward him. “Fine. Yo, he-bitch. Let’s go!” Kevin replied back, stealing a line from Army of Darkness.
Ace watched Kevin, and then yelled at him as he stood up. “DAMN IT STOP USING THOSE LAME-ASS LINES!!!”
Stife looked back at Ace and then turned to Kevin. “Yeah listen to your weak-ass friend over there, and stop stalling. Let’s play!”
“Fine.” Kevin replied to both men yelling at him. He looked at Stife. “Your move.”
Stife smiled evilly and then ran at Kevin. Kevin threw his arm out and whipped out a small gray cylinder. He then flicked it as two red ends extended forth from it. All while in the shortness of a second, he turned and smacked Stife over the head with it, twirled around Stife and kicked him down into another potted plant.
Ace stood next to his friend as they watched Stife get up. “Man, you freak! You bought a fuckin’ Sith LightSaber to fight with? Damn...” Ace mumbled, shaking his head in disbelieve. He then turned to Stife. “And don’t make him have to do that other weird Jedi shit on you. Go home Stife. Leave us the fuck alone.”
Kevin walked over to Stife and kneeled down. “Remember that nice little message I left for you to tell your bosses. I mean it. Stop fucking with us, or I will squish your nuts, or perhaps even your head, into flatness, capice?”
Stife turned and looked at Kevin. “I’m not leaving till one of us is dead, capice!?” And then he grabbed Kevin by the head and flipped him to the floor. He then flipped up and kicked Ace in the head, knocking him down. “I’m not leaving till you’re both dead or I’m dead. And I’m gonna start right now.” Stife grabbed a gun from one of the dead security guards and started to check it for ammo.
Kevin saw this and he realized things were going from worse to very fucking worse. He flipped up and then grabbed Ace. “See yah!” And then he ran as fast as he could, knocking Stife down as he ran past him.
Kevin slumped Ace down on a bench. ‘This gonna be bad Ace. He’s gonna shoot us.” Kevin mumbled worriedly.
“Yes I know. I took out his other gun. I mean he shot at us earlier today, so what’s the difference now?” Ace replied, standing up and stretching. He checked himself over and noticed a few bruises. “Damn fighting sucks.”
“That’s what I mean. It’s because we fight that we keep getting hurt and now we might just get killed. I don’t want to die Ace.” Kevin admitted, looking at his friend. His face showed the graveness of his thoughts.
“We’re not gonna die. I’ve got a plan. I think it’s time I tried boosting your powers.” Ace started to explain. “You think you can create a straight beam with your TK?”
“Yeah, I think so, why?”
Ace chuckled a bit. “I think we can create our own little beam to take out Stife. If he wants to make this a battle to the death, then fine. Let’s do it his way. But let’s win.” He looked at Kevin, who still didn’t look too happy about the situation.
“Look Ace, I know you like to fight and all, but still, I don’t want to die. Let’s just go home.” Kevin yelled, looking at his friend.
Ace stared at Kevin with some fierce determination. “I’m not quitting Kevin. If you want to quit fine, quit. Go home. But you’re the one who came to my rescue, you’re the one who fought and did well against Stife, and you’re the one that saved the both of us. I need you Kevin. You’re my partner, remember. It’s time we stand up, again, and beat Stife, once and for all, like we planned. Screw him and his fucking guns. Let’s take him out our way, the Hunter way.”
Kevin cheered up a bit. “I guess you’re right then. Fine, we’ll do it the Hunter way. By the way, what is the Hunter way?”
Ace looked at him. “I have no clue, but we’re about to find out.” Ace replied, as he started back to where Stife was last. He looked back at Kevin who was still sitting. “C’mon, let’s go take out this jabroni, okay?”
“Jabroni...okay so who’s saying the crappy shit again?” Kevin joked, getting up. He joined Ace and they started back toward Stife’s direction. Kevin then stopped and looked at Ace.
Ace saw this and then stopped himself. “What?”
“I was thinking, mainly about that finisher Stife mentioned earlier, you know, that thing you did. Do you think you can do it again?” Kevin asked, heading toward Ace.
Ace looked at him. “Well I don’t know. I don’t quite have the same feeling of energy that I did when I did, and besides, he said it only comes out when you’re under stress or about to die or something like that. It’s like a desperation move, something you basically pull out your ass.”
“I wonder if I can do that...” Kevin wondered, looking at Ace. “Think I can?”
Ace scratched his chin. “I don’t know, but maybe. I mean whose to say that we all don’t share the same powers, but we can only access what we think we need?”
“Interesting idea. I think we might have to look in on that after we through with Stife.” Kevin replied, looking at Ace. “Well shall we go find Stife and take care of his roody-poo candy-ass?”
“Yes Rock, let’s go take care of this piece of monkey crap!” Ace chuckled as they headed toward Stife.
As they walked, Ace started to sweat a bit more. He looked over at Kevin and noticed the same thing. “Um...is it me or is it getting hotter in here?”
Kevin wiped his brow. “I think you’re right. That, and have you noticed it’s getting harder to walk, like we’re being pulled down even more by gravity than usual.”
“I think something strange is going on here...” Ace commented, as he pointed toward a large open area of the mall. In the area was Stife who was standing and holding his hands in the air. All around him the air seemed to shimmering, like the way heat rises off the top of streets. And the floor seemed to be dipping toward him, like there was a sink hole under Stife.
“My thoughts exactly...” Kevin added, looking at Stife. He was looking like he was under a lot of stress and his face showed a lot of strain. “Well I take it he wants to take out the whole mall with this obviously secret power of his. Thinks it’s time to use ours?”
Ace looked at Kevin. “Are you ready then?”
“I guess...so what do I do again?” Kevin asked, as he moved toward Ace.
Ace grabbed Kevin by the neck and then aimed his head at Stife. “Just stand still and start pushing your TK toward him. I’ll do the rest...” Ace explained, as he raised his foot up. “One...two...three...HYPER SPLAT!!!” Ace yelled, slamming his foot down on Kevin’s. He increased Kevin’s telekenetic powers with every ounce of energy he could push. Kevin winced as the power pushed through his body and through his mind to connect to the TK he was pushing out already.
Suddenly Stife was blasted from his spot in the hole to a spot three walls away, as he went sailing through several department stores. He landed in a nice heap and passed out.
Kevin also passed out, and dropped to the floor. Ace grabbed him and carried him over to a bench where he laid him out. “I think I pushed you just a little too hard.”
Stife woke up slowly. He looked around and saw the rubble he had been blasted through. He had never in his life experienced such a pain as that. He slowly got up and dusted himself off. He was through. His plan to draw the Hunters out with his gravity-heat field powers worked, but now he had been blasted through a wall. “It’s time to stop playing.” He growled, as he headed back toward the Hunters.
Ace and Kevin were resting on the bench Kevin had been laid on. They jumped up as they saw Stife heading toward them. He quickly pulled out the small gun he had taken from the security guard and he fired at the Hunters. Ace grabbed Kevin as he saw Stife pull the gun out and he tossed him into some clothes in a nearby department store. He then took several bullets in the chest.
“DIE!!!” Stife yelled, firing again and again into Ace. Ace tried to stand and dodged a few of the bullets. One grazed his arm and the another hit his leg. He winced as he started to cough up blood.
“No...I’m not...giving up....” Ace yelled, pulling everything he had to heal himself. He started toward Stife who stared in amazement. Ace could feel the energy he had felt earlier that day. He was about to hit Stife with something he knew Stife had not forgotten about.
“I don’t believe this...you...you should be dead...or atleast you shouldn’t be moving....damn...I have underestimated you two.” Stife admitted, as he pulled out more ammo for the gun. He tried to reload the gun but Ace was almost on him, even in his half-dazed state.
“Times up Stife...” Ace murmured. He looked up and then gathered all the energy that was surging through his body. His hair started to stand on end and he started to get a blue hue to him. He then turned to Stife and started moving toward him, claws extended.
“Oh no...I’ve seen you do that before...no sir, I’m not getting hit by another fucking Finisher.” Stife yelled, as he finished loading the gun.
“Too late! R-A-Z-O-R S-T-R-I-K-E!!!” Ace yelled, as he pushed all the energy into his attack. His strength boosted and his speed increased, as he rushed at Stife. His claws came up and he sliced into Stife with an ‘X’. But he didn’t cut into like he did before and he fell to the ground. He had partially missed.
“Boy, you should know I can increase my speed and defense just like you. Now then, let’s get this over with.” Stife said, grabbing Ace. He tossed him back into the hole that he had made earlier. “That will make a nice place for you to die.” Stife then raised his hands up. “Meet my Finisher....the Inferno Smash!” And with that Stife glew a blue hue just like Ace and his eyes flattened in on Ace. “I-N-F-E-R-N-O S-M-A-S-H!!!”
Slowly flames started to shoot up from the ground around Ace, as the floor below him buckled more and more from the increased gravity. Ace’s clothes started to catch on fire, and he was too weak and too unconscious to do anything.
Not too far away Kevin saw all of this. He had seen his friend sacrifice himself to save him and now his friend was going to die. He felt so helpless. He punched the ground and then he stood up. He could feel a new power surging through his body and he then knew what he had to do.
He walked toward Stife as his hair started to stand on end. The power was surging through his body and slowly reached his mind where it increased his mental powers. Kevin looked at Stife and raised his hand. “No more....M-I-N-D W-I-P-E!!!” A small blue bolt arched from Kevin’s outstretched hand and struck Stife in the back of the head.
Stife suddenly jerked his head back and looked at Kevin. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. His whole mind was slipping away from him. He could feel his body and mind separating. He could feel the memories of his life draining away into the darkness of his mind. He could feel the end of his entire being coming to get him. Stife looked at Kevin and a small tear dropped from his eye before he slumped to the ground.
Kevin just kneeled down, exhausted. He then looked at his friend who was laying in a cloud of smoke. Kevin’s Finisher apparently had stopped Stife’s Finisher, but it still had done some damage. Kevin got up and went to his friend.
“What happened??” Ace mumbled as he looked up after regaining consciousness. He looked at Kevin and then at Stife.
“I did it Ace. I got a Finisher.” Kevin said, with a dead tone in his voice. He didn’t sound very happy about getting it.
“What did you do to him?” Ace asked, looking at Stife. Stife was slumped over, his eyes wide open. Drool was coming out of his mouth and parts of his body twitched uncontrollably.
Kevin looked at Ace. “I think I just turned him into a mental vegetable. I could feel his pain as everything inside his mind went away, as his mind lost control of his body, and as his life just faded away. He’s not gonna be coming after us anymore, but then again, I don’t think he’s even Stife anymore.” Kevin explained in a very dead tone.
“You don’t sound happy.” Ace noted as he stood up. He looked himself over and noticed that the bottom of his pants and trench had been burnt a little. “What the fuck?”
“Oh he used his Finisher on you, something like ‘Inferno Smash’ or like a major version of what he was doing earlier. That’s why I did mine on him. And yes, I’m not happy with what I did. I didn’t kill him, I just took away his whole being. I think its worse than death. I think he would have been better off if I had killed him.” Kevin looked at the ground remorsefully.
“Look, he was gonna kill me. You did what you had to do. That’s the way life goes.” Ace replied, as he headed toward Stife. He grabbed him and picked him up. He then carried Stife’s comatose body over to the bench they had been sitting on earlier and laid him out.
“But I can feel him Ace. He’s not completely gone, he just can’t control and think like he used to. He’s locked in his own mental prison. I condemned him to that.” Kevin explained, looking at Stife.
Ace took off Stife’s trench coat. “Look, we won. He’s out of the picture, be happy. C’mon, let’s get out of here before the police get here. They’ll take care of him while we go home, okay.” Ace handed the trench to Kevin. “You earned this.”
“No I didn’t. I mean....I killed a man Ace. Why should I earn the clothes of a dead man?” Kevin asked remorsefully. He put the trench down on the bench.
Ace looked himself over. He had several shot wounds in his chest, but he wasn’t hurting. He put his fingers in one of the holes and slowly pulled out a flattened bullet. He felt the wound again and noticed that it wasn’t really all that deep, almost like a minor cut. And he wasn’t bleeding a whole lot. He looked at the bullet, and was simply amazed. “Kevin have you ever seen a bullet do that?” He asked, as he showed the bullet to Kevin.
Kevin looked at the bullet and got a very surprised look in his face. “No not really. That’s weird dude. Are you alright?”
Ace looked at himself as he pulled the other bullets out. They were all the same. “Yeah, I’m alright. But this is just weird. And my wounds are majorly healing themselves. Look.” Ace said, pointing to the wound where he pulled the first bullet out. It was already closing itself up.
Kevin looked really freaked. “I guess you do regenerate fast. But why would the bullets do that to you? I mean it looks as if they smacked into something, like some sort of forcefield.”
“Maybe I have one or maybe because I was nearing my Finisher state that my defense got boosted.” Ace suggested, watching the other wounds heal themselves.
Suddenly red and blue lights started to flash near the mall exit. The police and ambulances were showing up, and the two Hunters started running.
“Time to jet Kevin.” Ace said, grabbing a hold of his friend. “I’m gonna boost your speed and reaction, think you can make it back to the car?”
Kevin, now holding the trench of Stife, looked at his friend. “Let’s do it.”
Kevin started to run with Ace holding on to his shoulder. Ace then started to push Kevin’s reaction speed to the max while increasing Kevin’s speed as well. With a jolt, the mall and all of its shop became a blur as Kevin hit sonic speed. The glass in every single shop blew out everywhere, and the mall echoed with a sonic boom.
And the two Hunters were already at the car, in it, and gone, before the police and the medical crew could even get up and figure out what the hell had just happened.