The Astounding Squad: Part Two

     The Wall used his strength to plow through the rows of smaller mutants, like Chias and Kikos, knocking three or more down at a time with jabs and low kicks. When he came face to face with a larger mutant pet, like a Tonu, one punch would leave them lying senseless on the ground.

     Electro-boy and Captain Astounding took to the air, Electro-boy using the planet's electrical force to levitate. However, winged mutants like Rukis, Shoyrus, Buzz, and Scorchios were ready in an aerial division. Electro-boy zapped them one by one with a jolt of electricity, sending them pounding into the ground. Unfortunately, he sometimes even jolted himself.

     Captain Astounding blasted them with his flaming eye-beams, and he was barely able to keep up with the mass number of mutants surrounding him. He had to resort to his physical strength and started to punch and shove them off, sending them back into the air.

     The Incredible Grarrl stayed solitary on the ground, dodging each of the mutant's blows with a professional acrobatic talent or by using a psychically made shield to block. He would then hurl them into a tree or into the ground with a psychic blast. He kept it up for as long as he needed to, without even breaking a sweat.

     ***

     "Looks like we got them all," Electro-boy said, panting. He wasn't the only one on the team tired. All four of them were breathing heavily; that was a very difficult fight. Unconscious mutants lay all around them, and Captain Astounding declared them the victors.

     Pacing the forest floor aimlessly and somewhat worried, the Incredible Grarrl noticed something move inside the trees. He eyed the movement carefully and was able to make out its species, a Korbat. It was a mutant Korbat. Eyes growing wider, he saw the Korbat pull out a huge laser gun and watched him aim it directly at the Wall.

     "Watch out!" the Incredible Grarrl shouted and sprang forward and pushed Brock out of the ray's blast in midair. He, unfortunately, was hit instead. The team stared at him, and watched him slowly get covered in little droplets of ice, freezing his body and enclosing him in a block of ice. Immediately, Marc ran over to his frozen teammate, but was zapped by the ray and iced as well.

     "Electro-boy," shouted the Wall, "run!"

     The two ran. They ran as fast as their tired legs could carry them. Their muscles ached, but they sprinted on; this was a matter of life or death, or maybe it was a matter of freedom or enslavement. They didn't want to find out.

     The Wall looked back for a spilt second and saw a whole new horde of mutants chasing them. Gathering a new-found speed, the Wall was able to continue on strong, but his remaining teammate wasn't. Electro-boy was beginning to lag, as the mutant army flooded closer. Suddenly, Caleb tripped on a root and then the freezer gun was shot.

     ZAP!

     As the ray headed towards them, it hit the Wall, who barricaded the blast from Electro-boy. Scrambling up, Caleb gasped, but continued on.

     ***

     Within the ranks of the mutants, there was no room for the weak. If they fell, they were left behind to be trampled on or to be dealt with by their master. They were loyal to their master one hundred and ten percent, and that was a scientific fact from the loyalty exam. They were all hypnotized, forced to do their master's bidding.

     Only spies had a free will, their master enjoyed it when he came across a double agent. The only reason Spy #3464 was the "best there was" was because there were no others. Spies are constantly scheming against their master thus constantly getting caught. They either became a private in his hypnotized army or were left on a low oxygen level planet; without an air helmet.

     ***

     Electro-boy knew that his stamina wouldn't last for much longer. He felt his mind drifting off and a deep and hard pounding in his head. He grew dizzy, not exactly sure were he was going.

     Caleb collapsed in a bush. He fell asleep; completely unaware that someone, or something, was inching closer to him every second.

     Electro-boy stirred awake. "Where am I?"

     He was in a wooden cabin made from thick branches of trees. It was topped with a canopy of think leaves, only a few beams of sunlight lingered in. The rest of the light came from the large, wooden framed windows. From a glance outside, you could see the tops of the trees with the sun sitting over it all.

     "With a friend-"

     A Kougra walked gracefully towards him, her pale green face was catching the light's reflections and it was showing off her bright blue eyes.

     "Pale green," murmured Electro-boy as he awoke with a fright. Directly in front of him stood his enemy, a mutant, and he was ready to fight.

     "Please," the Kougra stopped her advancing pace and drew back, "I only intend to help."

     "Then who are you?" Caleb pivoted his body so his feet lingered over the side of the bed he was lying in.

     "My name? Well, uh, I don't know." Electro-boy shot her a puzzled glance. "I was an infantry member of that dreadful mutant army. All I know is that I was called #0014." She motioned to her forehead, where the number was stamped in red on her head. Her eyes drifted around the room. Caleb sensed that she didn't like that topic.

     Electro-boy touched his feet to the wooden floor and sprung out of the bed. "Well," he said joyfully, "my name is Caleb." He sensed her sincerity and found her trustworthy. "#0014, huh? You wanna go by Michelle?" She smiled, so Electro-boy took that as a yes. "So, do you know where my friends are?"

     "You mean the other Grarrls? They were taken aboard the large space ship, enclosed in ice, the poor souls."

     "Then you have to get to them right away!"

     Michelle smiled a worried smirk. "You are in no condition to fight your way there."

     "I won't have to!" Caleb exclaimed. "You must know a secret way in, right? You were once apart of the mutant army."

     Michelle shot him a glance of uncertainty, but she replied without hesitation, "Yes," it was a small mutter, but Electro-boy heard it.

     "Then let's go!"

     Michelle heaved an agreeing sigh and half-walked, half-dashed to catch up with her newfound friend.

     ***

     There they stood, at the entrance of the space ship, where three out of the four team members of the Astounding Squad were being kept captive. Electro-boy, known as the weakest member, was ready to save them.

     "So," asked Electro-boy, his eyebrow cocked, "how do we get in?"

     "Follow me," replied Michelle. She dashed to an activation panel, and typed in some security letters. C, B, D, C, A… "We're in."

     The two took a step into the large metallic corridor. They stepped softly; each step brought the sound of a metallic click which was carried through the hallways.

     "Where is everyone?" asked Caleb, "Shouldn't there be guards or something?"

     "Dunno," replied Michelle. "Maybe we're just lucky, hush, this way. Come on."

     The two ran. Michelle's long Kougra legs stretched and retracted gracefully and Electro-boy tried his best to keep up. Clank, clank, clank, the sounds of the two's advancing footsteps were loud enough to attract anyone's attention, but the metal halls were completely empty except for Caleb and Michelle. Electro-boy cringed every time the noise sounded into his ear, but he soon grew used to the clicks and clanks of this strange spaceship.

     Michelle dashed through the ship fearlessly; you could see it in her eyes. The surroundings clicked into something in her head, reminding her of a clouded past. She couldn't remember her name, her family, her friends; she couldn't remember anything thanks to her so called, "master." She wanted to be her old self again, her old color, to be with her old friends and family. If only she could remember what that was like.

     Electro-boy kept up with Michelle until she stopped running and stopped right in front of a door. Caleb almost fell over to trying to stop himself from running into the Kougra. "This way," she whispered. The two tiptoed down a long hallway with a huge metal two piece door down at the end.

     In a loud hiss of escaping air, the door opened.

     Michelle and Caleb just stood there as two large, muscular mutant Grundos walked out of the room that the door led into to. They both held their breath as Electro-boy started a surge of electrical energy in his fists. Michelle, somewhat hiding behind the Grarrl, began to shake slightly.

     The two mutants simply walked past the Grarrl and Kougra, completely unaware that they were there.

     "Lucky break," muttered Electro-boy. He grabbed Michelle's arm and they dashed right through the still open, mechanical door. It slowly began to shut behind them and the door hissed upon impact with its two sides. The room they were now in had the same metallic walls and floors like the rest of the ship, but there were about two dozen cylindrical glass capsules lined around the room. In the center, the two spotted an armchair, with someone's darkness covered figure sitting in it. The two quickly gasped and dashed behind the nearest capsule.

To be continued...