Several things were true about Walter Crawford. The main being that he was a criminal. Despite that, no one had expected him to be working with someone as elusive and bloodthirsty as Warmonger. Leviathan caused plenty of deaths, murders of innocent people, and even tried to kill his own children before. Him walking side by side with someone branded a terrorist that had blown up daycares and schools for seemingly no reason? That was a new low even for him.
Nia revealed several things about Walter, starting from when he escaped prison. Apparently Leviathan had been a huge supplier for Sullivan Clifford, the kingpin of all the kingpins in New Elysium. Maybe even his main supplier of drugs and weapons there at the end right before Walter was arrested and Sullivan was murdered by another vigilante. A team of people had broken him out of his cell and they were extremely skilled, powered beings. The main person being Sullivan’s adopted son, Otto. It appeared that Nancy Clifford expected Leviathan to fall into place just as he once had for Big Boss, the only problem was that Freakshow was a big difference from the rule of her father.
Walter, more than likely fearing for his life and always having a scheme ready, probably teamed up with Warmonger to get out of a deal he didn’t want to be in. The man was more cunning than a snake, and definitely not stupid. It seemed that Warmonger targeted people with powers, killing them indiscriminately. Anyone that got in her way was reduced to pieces as well. That meant that he was taking a huge risk working with the woman, as he had powers of his own. The chances of her getting whatever she wanted out of him and then simply killing him were high, which meant he needed another plan to get away from her as well. That plan seemed to be Santiago Chavez, otherwise known as Freight Train.
A human tank, that’s what Freight Train was. Nearly eight feet tall and weighing almost half a ton. Nothing but a hulking mass of muscle and murderous rampage. The man got shot in the head and just walked it off. Videos of that went viral, making everyone aware that seemingly nothing could stop the giant. Where would you unleash someone like that to avoid the most damage that could happen? Certainly not Athena Avenue, where the man once ripped down the street and caused an apartment building to collapse just by running through it. No, that would be pointless to let him rampage in an area like that. Instead, there was a cargo dock with a warehouse on it owned entirely by the Cliffords. Every shipping container stored there had something inside of it that belonged to the Clifford syndicate. Imports and exports of both legal and illegal things. Warmonger was certainly living up to her name by targeting the Clifford family’s entire business structure. If she took out their legal business, they’d have nothing to help shield their illegal schemes.
Together Nia, Gio, Tate, and Tana narrowed down exactly where and when they thought this possible betrayal was going to take place. It would not only put a huge dent in the Clifford empire, but it also was a perfect place to corner and ambush someone. That could work both ways. The team of four could trap all three criminals and take out a huge asset all at the same time. All of them came up with a plan, and then for several hours sat and scoped out the large shipyard and cargo dock. Stakeouts could be fun, if you weren’t crammed into a tiny, shitty car that Nia owned for occasions just like that. They took turns going to get food or taking breaks, Gio and Nia both had their motorcycles parked in inconspicuous places which made transport faster. It also made getting to the shipyard much quicker when they finally saw Leviathan and Warmonger show up.
The sun was getting lower and armed guards were pouring into the place, surely guarding the Clifford family’s investments. Street lights flickered to life, casting pools of light that left voids in certain areas. It was in that darkness the occasional flash of green could be seen from Leviathan’s glowing eyes of his mask, creating streaks as he ran around and quietly took down any guards in his way. Concealed completely by the shadows was Warmonger, slinking through and sticking small bombs in specific places. She had every intention of blowing the entire shipyard sky high, hoping it would be the final poke to draw out Freakshow and Crow.
Moving as quickly and quietly as they could was the team of four. Sentinel, Total Eclipse, Conduit, and Spitfire were probably the vigilante team up of the year. Trying to carefully stealth around, quietly take down any guards that Leviathan had left, and allow Gio to take out all the bombs he could find. Just when they thought they could finally go and confront Leviathan, the gunshots started. Trying to figure out which side of the warehouse they were coming from proved pointless, as soon more came from the other side of the lot nearest to the water. Bullets could be heard ricocheting off shipping containers and people could be seen flying through the air as they were thrown.
All four of them split up, going different ways to investigate. Each of them wound up face to face with several gunmen, but all of them had their own ways of dealing with the threats. Sentinel made swift work of everyone standing in his way, dodging easily before closing the distance between him and the gunmen to quickly knock them out and disable their weapons. His slick footwork left everyone behind him, allowing him to quickly scale one of the shipping containers and jump between the closest ones to continue dodging both bullets and other weapons. Total Eclipse had two swords out, slicing bullets in half with her superhuman reflexes. Rather than slicing limbs off, however, she was using gadgets that Isaiah had given her to stun people. Trying to be nonlethal with swords could be difficult, especially when they resorted to using hand-to-hand when they realized not a single bullet had hit the woman. Conduit and Spitfire were both running through with their skin turned into steel, using supercharged punches and bending gun barrels or crushing them with their hands. However Spitfire also scaled the shipping containers eventually, easily making the large jumps across the huge gaps until one of the containers she landed on top of started to tilt over.
Despite the fact he knew his sister could handle herself, as soon as Tate saw her stumble backwards and the shipping container roll towards Tana he took a sharp turn towards her. He rounded a corner just in time to see her catch the container and hold it up long enough to pull an unconscious gunman out from under it. Though, unfortunately, the culprit that had turned it over came bounding around from the other side of it. Gio and Nia met up with Tate and Tana, just in time to see Freight Train stomping towards Tana.
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“Kids!” That familiar robotic voice shouted from above. Leviathan lowered himself down until his feet touched the ground, standing right beside of Freight Train. “I wasn’t expecting to see you all again for a while still. Was I too obvious?” He opened his arms wide, motioning outwards towards Tate and Tana. Even though the modulated voice was forced to sound monotone, the sarcasm was evident. “Do I still have the option to turn myself in?”
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“That chance expired a long time ago, Walter.” Tate spoke up, not taking his eyes off his father. “Remember what I told you? Next time I see you, you’re leaving in a fucking body bag.”
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The laugh was hollow and metallic sounding, but it was obviously a laugh as Leviathan’s shoulders shook with the noise. He looked down at the ground before looking back up at his masked son, shaking his head. “There it is. That anger. Embrace it, kid. Let it envelope you!” Something about the entire situation wasn’t right. Why was neither Leviathan nor Freight Train attacking? It seemed like they were waiting for something. “I’m surprised you brought Sentinel and the new hero on the block with you tonight. Didn’t think you could handle me yourself?”
His taunting only struck a nerve with Tana, who took a single step forward and Freight Train growled at her. The low sound rumbled deeply, exposing his teeth like an animal would. She postured up at him, hands balling into fists at her sides as she puffed out her chest at him. That move alone caused Freight Train to chuckle.
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“Este pequeño es mío.” His voice was gruff, but his words were clear enough. He wanted to take on Tana, and knowing Tana? She’d gladly do it alone.
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Almost as if she’d heard her cue, out of the shadows pounced Warmonger. She clashed blades with Nia, sending Nia backwards and into the side of a shipping container. The only thing that had saved her from losing her head in one clean cleave were her reflexes. She hadn’t even looked in the direction that Warmonger had ambushed her from until after she was fighting for her life in a struggle to keep the upper hand over a woman that was clearly stronger than her. Just as everyone heard the bang from Nia’s body slamming into the container echoing through the metal, Freight Train took Tana looking back as his moment to hit her.
Watching your younger sister go soaring into a shipping container was bad enough, but watching as a man that lived up to his name went charging right after her was even worse. The impact from her body had already dented the metal wall, but it warped worse as he slammed his humongous fist into it. Tate didn’t even have time to react as the back of his jacket was snatched by Leviathan and his body was lifted off the ground. He cursed to himself as he tried to break free, but by the time he finally did they were a whole building and then some high in the air. Tate fell and slammed into the top of a shipping container, nearly rolling off the edge of it. When he looked over, groaning as he knew that was going to bruise badly, he noticed he was at least three containers high from the ground.
Below, while Tate was trying to get back to his feet just as Leviathan was on a descent back after his son, Gio was the last person left without someone attacking him. He watched as Freight Train continued to pummel the container right where Tana had landed, and as Nia struggled to keep Warmonger’s machete away from her throat. He knew that he had to make a choice, and he was no match for Freight Train’s superhuman strength. Not knowing what else to do, he launched a stun grenade at the hulking mass’s back before making a dash towards Warmonger. Just as the grenade hit flesh it went off, sending several pulses of high voltage through Freight Train’s body. It probably felt like a tickle to him, at most — but it wasn’t for him.
Right as Gio’s fist connected with the back of Warmonger’s head, a glowing red one connected with Freight Train’s jaw. Both were stumbled, one to the side and the other backwards. Out of the crater of metal came Tana, entire body lit up as she made a running jump and nailed Freight Train again in the face, causing him to lose his balance and fall completely onto his back. Nia used Gio’s attack to switch positions with Warmonger, who was easily fighting both of them off now that they were both in front of her. It didn’t take long before they were both nearly incapacitated. It didn’t matter how much martial arts training either of them had, they were fighting against a woman that had been trained to kill… and kill them she was absolutely trying to do.
Back up above, Leviathan had landed and looked down to watch as Tana wailed on Freight Train. He chuckled again as he removed his mask, turning back to look at Tate. It was almost like the look on his face was one of pride, in a strange way. Arrogant pride, sure, but still pride. Though was he prideful of himself, or of his children? That only he could answer.
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“I knew she could handle that big oaf.” Walter grinned at Tate. “She’s so strong, but so are you.” He hesitated for a moment as he watched his son stagger to his feet, as if he were afraid he’d severely hurt him. “I’ve really done it this time, haven’t I?”
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“I’d say this is pretty on par with how fucked up you normally are, Walter.” Tate grunted out, gritting his teeth as he held his ribs. Even though his own mask covered the majority of his face it was clear in his voice just how angry he was.
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Only for a moment did it seem like Walter was back to his old self. When he cared for his family over his own selfish gains; back when all the bad shit he did was truly to try and help them. An emotion flashed across his face that Tate hadn’t seen since he first discovered Walter was Leviathan and thought his father was going to turn himself in. It was hard to believe that it had been over a year already. Regret, anguish, and perhaps even sadness. “I never meant for it to go this far, but I can’t stop now. The Cliffords know where you all live, they have to die...” Walter put his mask back on, his voice immediately becoming modulated as he did so, “tonight.”
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That was a revelation to Tate that took him a second to fully process. If he wasn’t misunderstanding Walter, or just assuming what he meant, it sounded like a crime syndicate had threatened the Crawford family. Maybe they had, but that was no excuse for all the senseless murders Leviathan had been involved in with Warmonger. Even if the Clifford family caused plenty of harm themselves, Tate knew that Gio would never allow them to be murdered. He’d want them brought to justice, but first they’d have to stop them from being killed. Saving villains was the last thing Tate wanted to do at that moment.
Tate noticed Leviathan pull what appeared to be a detonator from a pocket. He didn’t wait, immediately rushing forward and tackling him. Hoping to fend him off long enough for Gio to finish finding and disabling the rest of the explosives — but Gio? Well, he was a little preoccupied as he’d knocked Warmonger’s helmet off, but was now staring directly into cold, dark eyes that bored right back into his. Struggling to hold the tip of a knife back just mere centimeters from his throat. Nia was off to the side, bleeding from a head wound and only just starting to regain consciousness.
It looked as though Warmonger was going to fully overpower Sentinel, until Tana’s body was slammed into her. Freight Train had recovered from the onslaught of blows that Spitfire was inflicting upon him, throwing her as far away from him as he could so he could return to a standing position. Unfortunately for Warmonger, she’d been in the way of that. Gio barely rolled out of the way as the large brute came barrelling through, snatching Spitfire up and squeezing her with both of his hands. The exact same way he’d killed plenty of other people before. Constricting her arms, and holding her far enough out that she couldn’t quite kick him hard enough with her feet to get away from him. She was in a dangerous position, especially as Warmonger slowly stood back up and shook off the daze the impact had put her in.
Barely dodging the bullets as more armed guards arrived on the scene, Warmonger rolled behind cover and grabbed the first gun she came across. Gio was finally made aware that Leviathan had a detonator as Tate came toppling off the top of the shipping containers in a grapple with his father. He made a choice. Instead of choosing to go after the rest of the bombs he went scaling the massive frame of Freight Train and tried to put the man into a headlock. Nia, finally awake again, went after Warmonger.
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“Listen to me, Spitfire!” Gio shouted, barely hanging on for dear life as Freight Train tried to wrestle him off while still keeping his grip on Tana. “I don’t know how, but I’ve seen Conduit do it before! Channel all of your energy you have left and let it go in one giant burst. He did it even when he didn’t have anything left!”
It was clearly taking all of her strength just to keep herself from being crushed. Gritted teeth and veins sticking out in her neck were clear indicators of that, along with how flushed the exposed part of her face was becoming. Gio was close to getting himself smashed between a flesh wall and metal one, as Freight Train continued to struggle. “Th-.. think of everything that’s ever pissed you off! Everyone that’s ever disappointed you, everything that’s ever failed you, and just let it all out!” Preferably before they both became human pulp.
During Gio’s little speech to Tana, Freight Train had stopped trying to wrestle him off. Instead, he resorted to laughing. The man found Gio trying to encourage his friend funny, and even muttered something in Spanish about how pathetic they both were. However, as he continued to laugh, Tana’s eyes began to glow red. She took in a large breath and Gio took that as his sign to hop off the bull ride. Barely dodging the massive blast of red energy that came flying out of her mouth and knocked the huge man completely unconscious. His flesh was burning, but he was still alive. Just with some new scars to add to his collection and menacing appearance.
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Just as Tana helped Gio back to his feet, Tate came sprinting towards them both. “GET DOWN!” The words barely left his mouth before several small explosions went off around them, causing shipping containers to groan and topple over. The worst of them were centered in the warehouse, which caused the building to completely collapse in on itself.
Clearly Conduit had lost the fight with Leviathan, as the latter hovered above the destruction he’d caused. There was rubble all around the three, but somehow they’d come out completely unscathed. Nia appeared shortly after, watching as Leviathan flew and landed on a building across from who appeared to be Warmonger, both staring down at the group of four. Everyone was roughed up, a little bloody, but otherwise fine. Nothing that some decent rest couldn’t cure in all of them. It was as they all stared down the two still-standing perpetrators, who were staring back, that Tate noticed it first. Warmonger had a large gun in her hands. One just like Leviathan offered specially to his most loyal customers. Modified, probably with armor piercing ammo, and there was one person in particular that was scoped — Giovanni. His suit had kevlar plating, but one of those bullets had nearly pierced Tate’s skin when he turned it to steel before.
He didn’t think, he just moved. The gunshots were heard, and Tate shouted Gio’s name. He slid in front of him, knocking him down and shielding his body with his own. It echoed once, twice, three times before Leviathan slammed his own body into Warmonger’s and they toppled over, completely out of sight. Tate fell backwards, hitting the ground hard as he took in a sharp breath and gasped for air. Gio, Tana, and Nia were all surrounding him with hands on his torso in various places, but his vision blurred around the edges and everything melded together. His senses numbed and what he thought was just a single blink was actually him losing consciousness.
Will our fearless hero survive? Bleeding out on the asphalt of what was left of the cargo dock, it certainly didn’t seem too hopeful. What about Leviathan? Could he be telling the truth about his family being threatened? Truthfully, who would believe that he really cared after he’d tried to kill his oldest two children himself. Only time will reveal all.
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