Return of Rancor
�Where are they?� Hope asked as she dodged Sniper�s gunfire. They had called HQ twenty minutes before and had been facing the powerful pair ever since.
Kai gave the younger mutant a hand in getting to her feet. �There,� she said as she pointed to the approaching Custodian.
She wasn�t the only one who saw it, for Rancor, upon seeing the sleek jet, formed a cannon (from the tattoo on his chest) and shot a modern cannonball, complete with nerve gas, a tracking device, and armor-penetrating casing at the aircraft. The Custodian fired a missile at the target, creating a giant explosion. The bottom hatch of the jet then opened and Cell, on an unbreakable rope dropped to the ground beside Kai and Hope. He tossed the latter her sword, which he had brought with him upon her request.
�You�re our backup?� She asked in disbelief. �Where are the others?�
He shrugged. �There was a little problem.�
�Hic!� Jacob covered his mouth as a piece of the Chamber�s wall fell to the ground after being turned to dust. From the control room Simon was about ready to give up. He had tried everything, even created a holographic alligator, which chased another hologram, this one of Hope, in the hopes of scaring him. It didn�t work.
�What I need is to find what Jacob is scared of the most�� he broke off when it came to him. He shook his head. �No, I can�t do that, it�s disrespectful.� He cringed when another piece of siding fell, this one after becoming shards of glass. �Then again�� he said as he began to type out a new holographic scenario.
Serenity was facing off against Sniper and she was losing fast. He had greater skill; it only took ten minutes to knock her sword from her hand. She had reached around, finding a knife on a stray table that had become broken in the scuffle. She held it up and began to charge it. At that same time, Sniper tried to enter her mind, his goal was to find a person�s image, one dead, who he could take the form of, giving him an edge.
She felt him try to break through her shield that had built up while using her powers. It was hurting, she didn�t know what to do to escape the pain so, while he pushed to get in, she pushed harder to keep him out. What she didn�t know was that attached to her push was a backlash of power that, when it touched Sniper�s mind, it overpowered him, sending him into an epileptic state.
She cried out in pain, for she had felt his, before falling to her knees, clutching her head.
Cell, looked at her upon hearing her cry. With his guard down Rancor had the upper hand. He used a grappling hook that immerged from the tattoo on the wrist of his right arm, and wrapped it tightly around Cell, to an unbearable extent. Cell tried to use his powers, but found that they couldn�t work on the organic weapon. He was a sitting duck in Rancor�s eyes.
Kismet wasn�t doing much better. In the two months since their last fight, Isis�s abilities had improved greatly. For while she still couldn�t fight much in hand to hand combat, her powers more than made up for the lack of skill. She had a number of tactics, her favorite was to blind Kismet momentarily, and just long enough to disappear and reemerge in a spot where she had a clean shot at an unprotected, save the karma field, area. But there was no telling when she would use this, her trump; and so Kismet was always ill prepared for it.
It didn�t take long for Kai to get angry with her young adversary and strike out in all directions with all she had. The protective shell surrounding her expanded in a golden light, as Kai covered her eyes, still not able to fully see after Isis�s last blow. When she heard Isis scream she let her force field drop. She was utterly exhausted.
She had used more energy than she intended; her control was slipping. So were her eyes she decided when she thought she saw Renegade running towards the fight with Ace by his side. It was the last thing she saw before she was bid into a deep sleep, unable to fight against its will.
Cell looked from Rancor�s smug face in time to see Kismet fall before his attention turned to the woman who was charging Rancor. Cell blinked several times before he realized that Ace was alive, although human, he determined from a telepathic probe. He could tell one other thing from that probe, she was pissed. Before he could say a word, Renegade released a set of ER knives at the extension of Rancor that held Cell tight before turning his attention to the two unconscious forms of Sniper and Hope. Rancor yelled in pain as the grappling hook broke from his arm. His tattoo bled as what surrounded Cell disappeared. Cell, himself, fell to the ground, receiving a bump to the head that left him dazed.
Ace came to a stop in front of him, and stared Rancor down. He looked up at her, clutching his arm tightly.
�You!� He spat at the woman. �You live!�
�Ace!� Renegade called over the unconscious form of Sniper as he threw her Serenity�s sword.
She took it as she squinted at Rancor. She was at a disadvantage, with not being used to fighting without her powers, and she was well aware that he knew it. She only hoped that her combat skills would come back to her quickly because without her full strength, even lacking her powers, she needed all the edge she could get. He smirked, sensing her unease.
Behind them Cell climbed to his feet and faced Renegade who had Hope in his arms. �So is this where you�ve been?�
�Yeah, but lets not get into this now. I�ll take Hope and Kai back to the jet, you keep your eye on Ace, she�s not right, and she�s going to lose.�
Cell nodded. �I know. Get them to safety. You seem to be well versed in saving damsels in distress.� His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Renegade gave a mischievous smile. �I can�t help it, I was made for helping the ladies. Some day you may have my charm too.�
�Program complete.� The A.I. system said in the voice that Simon had worked many hours perfecting. Simon smiled as he activated the holographic simulator.
Jacob had both hands clamped firmly over his mouth trying to stop his hiccups. But his hands dropped when he saw a figure hovering above him, Ace. He gulped, as his eyes looked her over, she was a ghost. A mean one, he added to himself when he saw her smile; he had seen that smile many times before, it was the one she used just before someone got fried. He gulped again, and he went pale when he saw a giant fireball form in her hands. He reached up, to cover his face; he couldn�t do anything else to stop the unstoppable Ace. As the fireball neared him, he could feel the cold heat that was given off by the dangerous orb. He screamed just before it disappeared.
�What the hell?� Jacob asked looking around at the then empty Chamber. He was breathing hard and he could have sworn that he had wet his pants.
�Are they gone?� Simon asked over the intercom.
�What?�
�The hiccups,� he explained, �Are they gone?�
Jacob shot the control room window an evil look. �You almost made me lose bladder control, and used Ace, who is dead, just to cure my hiccups? That�s sad Simon.�
�Desperate times call for desperate measures my boy.�
Rancor had Ace dodging for her life, getting out of the way of numerous rays, guns and lasers that came from different tattoos on his body. From the sidelines Cell watched intently, trying to find a way into the battle without jeopardizing her life. So far, he hadn�t come up with one.
The sword, made especially for Serenity, had done Ace, a woman with more of an offensive stance and attack, little good. It had been years since she used a sword, one that was actually built for her. She was losing, and losing fast. It was then, with the smell of defeat filling the air that she slipped. Rancor brought his fist down fast on the dazed woman, almost knocking her out.
She would have been flung backwards if it hadn�t been for the coil coming from his shoulder that surrounded her and, as it seemed to Cell, electrocuted her. He charged up quickly.
�No!� She beseeched him through clenched teeth. �You�ll kill us all.�
Cell gave her a quick, reassuring, glance. �Trust me.�
She studied him for a moment, forgetting the voltage that coursed through her body, trying to decide what she should do. She then clamped her eyes shut and nodded for him to proceed. Hoping that he wouldn�t misplace her fragile trust.
Renegade had just made Kai, after positioning Hope, comfortable on the other of two long couch like seats in the Custodian�s passenger area, when Cell entered with Ace using him for support. �What happened?� Renegade asked as he accepted Ace�s weight and Cell went to the pilot�s seat. Renegade followed, setting Ace in the co-pilot�s chair.
�What else? She got her ass kicked. I hit him, but before I could finish it he took off with Isis and Sniper. Where�s your car?�
Renegade pointed in its general direction, which wasn�t that far off before looking at Ace who moaned slightly and placed her hand on her neck.
�I forgot how much punches hurt.� She said rolling her neck.
Renegade shot her a look. �I could have reminded you, ya know. It probably would have been easier.� His tone was sharp, and was one that was used by a father when disciplining a child. �I�m going to take a look at the girls.�
Ace watched him go before looking at the man beside her. He was studying her out of the corner of his eye. �What?� She demanded.
He shook his head. �You�re eyes� they�re not you. But, you�re alive.�
�Get used to it, I haven�t died yet.�
�What happened?�
�It�s a long story, I don�t even know it all. Sampson will fill it all in later I�m betting.�
Cell nodded as he touched some buttons. �The car�s loaded. Okay, let�s go home.�
�Ace?� Kai said in a weak tone as her eyes opened to see Renegade. She was the first of the two women to wake. �Zen? What happened?� She tried to sit but Renegade stopped her.
�Don�t. You used a lot of power. You�re weak. Lie still until we reach headquarters.�
She shook her head. �No, I should be up front. James should have someone with him.�
Renegade smiled. �He does.� He then moved a little so she could see past him to where Ace was sitting.
She leaned closer to Renegade. �Am I seeing things? Is� is that Ace?�
Renegade nodded. �In the flesh. I�m sorry about not being able to watch your back at Rancor�s compound that time, but she needed me.�
Kai smiled at him warmly. �You brought back a friend. There is nothing to forgive.�
Simon watched carefully as Jacob reversed all the damage that he had caused in the Chamber before they would move to the den. Just as they were finished a buzzer sounded.
�Computer?� Simon asked as he looked up, to no place in particular, �What is it?�
�A message,� came the icy response. �From the Custodian.�
Jacob and Simon looked at James via the hall monitor just outside the Chamber. �What�s up?� Simon asked.
�We�re coming home. Prepare the med lab for three, but don�t worry it�s nothing overly serious. The hiccups gone?� He asked looking at Jacob.
�Yeah,� Simon answered for him, �When are you coming in?�
James checked a few instruments. �Ten minutes, give or take. Oh, Simon, we�re bringing home a surprise.�
Hope sat up with a jolt. She was breathing heavily, terrified about what she had done. All she could see in her mind was Sniper falling then going into convulsions. She looked at the pair in the passenger area. Renegade was sitting besides the half sitting Kai, they had been talking, but both fell silent when Hope jerked awake.
�What�s going on back there?� A familiar voice asked. Hope�s eyes went wide in mixture of surprise and disbelief. That was followed by a dropping jaw when she caught sight of the face she had last envisioned as a enemy dieing in battle. It was too much for the young woman who soon fell back to the soft cushioning beneath her.
Renegade laughed slightly at the black haired beauty�s reaction as Cell asked what happened. �She fainted.�
Jacob paced across the hanger�s floor as the Custodian came in. Between him and Simon was an emergency kit, just in case it was worse than James had said. After the first message a second had been made, from Renegade, who told the doctor to make sure he had a bottle of smelling sauce on hand. The ramp lowered and the first to exit was Renegade, in his arms was Hope, still not awake. Cell exited next, giving a hand to the wobbly Kai. While Simon and Jacob were looking at the four Ace slowly made her way down the ramp, wondering who would notice her first. Jacob did.
H
e jumped, catching Simon�s attention. Simon was curious as to what made young Jacob look like he did in the Chamber earlier that day. He figured out why when he saw the approaching woman. He too went pale and froze in place.
Jacob leaned towards the giant. �Did you do this?�
�No.�
�So she�s real?�
�Yes.�
�Alive?�
�I�m guessing so.�
�Shit, I think I did it for real this time.� Jacob mumbled.
Simon, knowing that he was referring to his comment on his bladder control took a step away from the lad before moving to look at the impatient Ace. �Come,� he said beckoning her to him. She, knowing what he wished, followed his lead from the room. They were followed shortly by Cell, who had taken Hope and Kai, under her own support, leaving Ruse and Renegade to the unloading of the latter�s car.
�Come on Junior.� Renegade said with a slap to Ruse�s back, breaking the younger man�s previous trance. �We�ve all had a long day. I don�t know about you but I want to unpack.�
Well Ace is back, how it�ll affect the team?
Also a visit from Cell�s parents has dire implements on his powers and on his reasons for fighting.
Check it out here in the next issue of The Guardians