spotto

Okay I am NOT guaranteeing the next post to have the PPG review because I said that before and this is not the PPG review so I'll stop lying, lol. It'll come when it comes. For now...

Maxman: The Continuation (Chapter Two)
Heavy Viper Wall
-

Tala Ivanov was late for work. He normally wasn't a very tardy person, but today it almost proved impossible for him to arrive on work in time with everything that had happened that morning. He awoke at five am, a time he was used to waking up since he was a young boy, and he had prepared as thorough as he could for the day: showering, brushing his teeth, having breakfast, and was done with all that before six am even rolled around. Work would start at nine, so what kept Tala from reaching work on time? He remembered car pooling with Kai. Normally carpooling with him was pretty uneventful, if he ever spoke up Kai would only reply with a grunt, if he bothered to reply at all, and Kai himself never did initiate conversation, so they travelled to work in complete silence most of the time. Even so, it was never awkward around him as someone else would be feeling.

Today though was different, and Tala recalled what had happened, wondering what was taking Kai so long to get to work himself.

"Stop the car."

"What? We're almost there," Tala replied, surprised that Kai had said something.

The shorter man pointed at a bakery on the other side of the road, "I have an urge."

"Didn't you have breakfast today?"

"Stop the car."

"Fine fine, but you're walking the rest of the way," Tala was not in the mood to wait, if he didn't hurry fast the traffic would be piling in.

That was the last he saw Kai, but Tala knew work was only a short few minutes away and stepped on the accelerator, driving over a bridge and turning a corner before screeching to a sudden unexpected stop when a kid ran across the street. Tala couldn't keep control of his car and started to skid before the side of his car was crushed against a street before smashing into a fire hydrant. Luckily for Tala he was not worse for wear, unless his temper counted.

"YOU STUPID KID!" Tala slammed his car door shut, trying to figure out where the boy who did not look both left and right before running across was, and the redhead saw him duck into an alleyway. Tala Ivanov gave chase, determined to arrest this kid by the end of their marathon. He didn't know what to charge him for but he wanted to arrest him anyway, no one ruined his expensive sports car without consequences.

As Tala continued running, he realized that the part of his car that was damaged the most was where Kai was sitting, and had Kai not uncharacteristically headed for the bakery, he would've definitely been hurt, even killed. The thought became an afterthought as the redheaded detective noticed the "assailant" had disappeared. Tala continued to run around searching for the mysterious boy, but after thirty long minutes he returned to the scene of his car, and the police station when he noticed he was late.

He sighed and was about to walk in, expecting a lecture at the very least from the boss before he saw that same kid who wrecked his car running out back. Tala grabbed his gun this time, noticing a brown bag the boy was holding and took off, dashing through alleyways and dodging other people commuting to work when Tala noticed he had once again lost the boy. Whoever he was he was fast, incredibly fast, and that only further infuriated Tala. The officer turned around and returned to the station.

"Where the hell is everyone!?" Tala shouted to no one in particular, besides a few drunkards from last night still snoozing in the cells there were no officers or even guards standing around. He ran into the control room and turned on the lights with LCD screens covering the wall. Tala knew the control panel well and clicked a few buttons, causing the video on the center screen to rewind when Tala saw what happened.

Kai had come in a few minutes early and was holding that same brown bag in his hands, which he set on his office table. Rei came in a few seconds later, yawning in a way that imitated his own cat at home, and then a few other co-workers arrived before Takao lazily hobbled in. He then noticed the brat that wrecked his car enter, and soon he realized that it was this child who had stolen that brown bag, but before Tala could see anymore--the security screen turned blank. The redhead growled.

"I see everyone is on a mission this morning," Tala picked up his radio, trying to communicate with any of the officers. No one answered despite Tala trying to pick up several co-workers of his until finally someone replied.

"Maxman here, over." A response finally came, but despite how usually peppy the blonde superhero was, his voice sounded coarse and fatigued.

"Maxman? Where on earth is everyone else? Over." Tala asked while he left the security room.

There was a pause, Tala wondered if he had lost Maxman, but before Tala could attempt again he heard a reply, "Dead."

"...say what!?"

He could hear Maxman's heavy breathing, "I'm about to infiltrate the Midget Mafia headquarters, over."

"What? All by yourself? Are you crazy!?" Tala had dropped the professionalism, still wondering if Maxman was playing some sort of cruel trick.

"Everyone else is down. I'm going in, over and out!" That was the last Maxman had said, and now Tala was already outside, putting on a helmet and taking one of the patrol bikes. He had pinpointed Maxman's location on radar, and sped off into the distance, still mourning for his lost car.

"You should've shot Maxman when you had the chance," a shadowy figure said, standing at the back of an old abandoned warehouse.

The Green Midget kept his cool, "The deal included leaving him alive...besides ending his life that fast would not be satisfying at all."

He raised the brown bag he had obtained earlier, and could still smell the warm aroma of the treat inside. This was no ordinary pastry, no; it was a cookie that symbolized everything to him, and everything to the pesky police force that resided in this city. With it now his, it was almost like he had the power to control the city.

"Return that cookie this instant!" A midget with brunette hair and high-rising coke bottle glasses demanded, "You broke the deal!"

"I don't break deals kid, and you should be happy with our movement. You are our kind after all," The Green Midget replied, opening up the brown bag to take in the scent of the cookie. It was chocolate chip--no, double chocolate chip with nuts, the chewy kind. His nose knew all.

The rebellious midget growled, "Yes you did! You said you wouldn't hurt anyone if I got you that cookie!"

"No, I said I wouldn't kill anyone. We compromised, remember? Besides I highly doubt any of them are dead...I may hate them, but I still respect them for their tenacity," The Green Midget put his hood on, refilling his barrel with new bullets.

The door slammed open violently, almost blasting off its hinges. The brunette midget squeaked as he ran behind some abandoned machinery. There standing at the entrance was not only the magnificent Maxman but Detective Rei as well.

"Green Midget, return that cookie now!" Maxman demanded, dramatically pointing at the other end of the warehouse. The midget stood, not moving an inch, not trying to escape.

"Hm, I recall blasting out your knee. A shame you're still up," he merely stated, crossing his arms and doing nothing else.

Maxman grinned, "It'll take a lot more than that to knock me down! I got some high-tech equipment here created by our genius technician Kenny, and in a war between your power and his genius, he wins hands down!"

"Why did you tell them all that?" Rei asked, obviously annoyed.

"It's how confident I am in Kenny's abilities," Maxman responded, "Besides what can he do to Kenny, he doesn't even know where he lives!"

The Green Midget could only laugh, "You think so don't you? Hahaha! Well I have my own demands Maxman. If you don't follow them I'll have to blow your entire leg off."

"You can't get past my superior defences!" Maxman was prepared this time, unlike last time. He knew he could not completely rely on his tank-like exterior, and he wanted to take advantage of the Green Midget's arrogance.

"Not usually no, and I will have to admit that bullet that wrecked your knee was specially designed for you. I only had one," The Green Midget said, "But even without it, I am already beyond your defences."

Maxman raised an eyebrow, "Quit bluffing!"

The Green Midget only smirked when he pulled out a remote control. Maxman and Rei stepped back, wondering if there was some sort of trap nearby when Rei's acute hearing picked up an odd beeping sound that came from somewhere extremely close by. He hectically scanned the area, wondering where it could've come from when he finally pinpointed it from Maxman himself, more specifically his knee.

"Maxman! Your knee!" Rei called, and Maxman looked down at his injured limb, a tiny red dot was flashing off and on inside his shell armour, the hero could only watch in horror how he yet again was close to being instantly killed.

"How did that get there!?" Maxman questioned, bringing his hand down towards the armour in an effort to remove it.

The Green Midget quickly spoke up, "I wonder if you're a little more interested in my demands now, Maxman?" The midget lined his thumb around the remote's button, the chance of accidentally pressing it only rising.

"I will never give in to your demands!" The brave, possibly stupid hero retorted, not believing that any of this could be happening. The last thing he would ever do would be following his arch-nemesis' orders, even if it cost him his life.

Rei grabbed Maxman's wrist, "Don't do it! He can and will kill you!"

"He's bluffing," Maxman wanted to believe that, but a part of him knew he was once again in a helpless situation, "There's no way he could've put that through my defences."

The midget leapt off the box he was standing on, heading towards the back of some broken machinery and pulling out a second midget, the one with brown hair and glasses. Maxman and Rei were speechless, their eyes almost as large as the midget himself when they saw Kenny forcibly revealed.

"Guess who built your armour. Guess who took the builder. Guess what the builder did," The Green Midget found the scene before him becoming more and more amusing, "I hope you're good at riddles."

Maxman was shaking his head, "This isn't true...is it, Kenny?"

"I...they took Dizzi...I didn't know what to do!" Kenny fell on his knees, tears forming in his eyes, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

The Green Midget tossed his remote and caught it like a baseball, "So what are you going to do now Maxman? Follow my commands...or die?"

No matter how much Maxman believed that he had a very real chance of blowing into pieces, he knew the last thing he ever wanted to do was follow the commands of the Green Midget, whatever evil he wanted he would never allow. With his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed that the usually innocent blue could barely be seen, the superhero stared intensely into the midget's round violent orbs, taking a single breath Maxman spoke, "Kenny would never do such a thing, and I will never do such a thing!"

"Suit yourself," the Green Midget pressed the button.

In the few nanoseconds before he did though, Maxman turned his gaze to Kenny, who stared back with anguish. The brunette boy realized that Maxman's eyes were not ones of anger or betrayal or even helplessness, but a confident stare, almost like he was silently comforting the prodigy that everything would be okay, and that he was confident...confident in Kenny's abilities. Despite all of this, Maxman trusted him.

BOOM!

Rei was blown back, his aerial descent interrupted by the walls of the warehouse, and he crumpled to the floor. Despite the massive force that threw him across the room, his eyes only rested on Maxman, or what once was Maxman inside the hazy dust cloud. He did not spend time lying on the floor for very long before his feline reflexes mixed with his unstable emotions to take over his body, and he soon found himself charging towards the Green Midget, only rage was emitting from his narrowly slit pupils.

As midgets tried to tame the tiger, the Green Midget looked up from his battle for just a second only to see that the dust clouds had cleared, and despite no Maxman being there, no mutilated gory remains were either. He could only gasp for a few seconds before a dozen midgets managed to pull Rei off of him, who was still throwing the vertically challenged minions around like Frisbees.

Blood fell onto his cheek; the Green Midget took one glance at the ceiling.

"Maxman!" Rei cried, still being tackled by more and more midgets. The superhero was grabbing onto a pipe above, the armour he wore on his injured knee missing, but Maxman being uninjured at all from the explosion. What had happened?

Maxman smiled, "Kenny would never do such a thing."

"But I was there supervising everything!" The Green Midget argued, "This is impossible!"

"I did put a bomb in...a bomb with a special emergency eject function in case something like this would happen," Kenny explained, "It had not been tested, but it looks like it worked."

The Green Midget's frown did not last very long, "That's all? And here I was thinking Maxman was invincible. You do realize that without that armour..."

He did not finish the sentence, only taking out his gun and aiming it directly upwards at Maxman, the smirk returning to his face. Maxman quickly dodged the resulting bullet, swinging to another pipe. The bullet made a loud clang off the ceiling and shot down straight, smacking the ground. This was not only dangerous for him, but for everyone else inside the warehouse.

"I can dodge too, you know!" The superhero taunted, but this only made the Green Midget's smile wider.

"Oh, well in that case...Crazy Monkey Attack!"

The ceiling was suddenly covered in rabid flesh-eating monkeys, popping out from beyond the ceiling. They all swung towards Maxman crying out in their cannibalistic rampage. Maxman had to let go of the pipe, dropping to the floor, and luckily it was Rei that had caught him. With Maxman's injured knee there was no way he could've landed without causing considerably more damage to it, and without the armour securing it now, it was a free target. Not only that but he could not stand without it.

"You made him unleash the monkeys!" Rei was about to run, but he knew there were far too many monkeys surrounding them to escape.

Maxman had his own ideas, "Don't worry. I can protect us! Kenny, come here!"

Kenny quickly rushed to the other two, standing very close to Maxman. The hero lifted his cape, raising his arms and pulled it swiftly around himself and the others, almost like he was trying to protect himself from monkey claws scratching his face off with a paper fan, "Fortress Defence!"

The cape extended itself, forming an almost spherical shape and in constant spin. The monkeys were now comically bouncing off the barrier like hyper basketballs on all the stimulants at once, even forcing the midgets to dodge the monkeys as flying hairball projectiles with claws.

"How is this any better? We're trapped now!" Rei said as more monkeys tried to attack. Despite continuing to ricochet off Maxman's circular shield, the flow of monkeys bashing off their shield was endless, and now it felt more like an endurance contest.

Maxman continued focusing on his shield, "We're not dead."

"Touché...when did you even learn to do this? I thought you weren't supernatural," Rei asked, still staring at numerous monkeys' faces splattering onto the shield. The barrier was somewhat translucent, so the image of the simian's face being plastered was rather entertaining.

"I don't wear the cape for show, Rei!" Maxman said, "My mom gave me this when I was smaller than a midget, and it turns out it's even more than just a childhood blanket!"

Kenny stroked his chin, "Interesting. I'd like to analyze that blanket when we get back....if I ever get Dizzi back." He immediately turned his gaze to the ground; the loneliness he felt without his talking laptop was crippling him.

The Green Midget did find the situation once again in his favour despite his monkeys doing little damage, "Well now that you're all encased there...I suppose I can enjoy my snack."

"No! Don't you dare touch that cookie!" Maxman shouted.

The Green Midget reached into the bag, the smell of the warm cookie travelling through the warehouse, "Yes, eating it right in front of my mortal enemy would be delicious."

He stared at Maxman the entire time, watching the hero helpless once again. Could this day get any better for the Green Midget? He gripped the cookie with the bag, keeping his hands off the doughy goodness and opened his mouth...

"DON'T TOUCH THAT COOKIE!" Maxman's voice cracked a few pitches higher and rocketed great decimals higher, emulating his movements in the shield. He was not able to stand on two legs but he was able to crawl with three limbs, and with great adrenaline started to crawl faster and faster, until he looked like a chasing cheetah. The shield turned along with his movements, and soon Maxman was in a human runaway hamster ball.

The Green Midget barely dodged in time, and in his surprise dropped the cookie which conveniently slipped back into the bag before it touched the ground. Maxman and his comrades were not as lucky as the cookie, and they continued inside their killer hamster ball before it completely demolished the wall of the warehouse, unravelling the mystical cape and flinging its contents all of over place. Everyone of them were sprawled out on the debris, having the wind knocked out of them.

A shadow appeared on the ground, and in came Tala who had followed Maxman's radar signal to this warehouse. He noticed many monkeys, midgets, and morons lying around inside but the one thing that caught his view was the brown bag sitting in the very middle.

"The cookie!" He called and dived out, but Maxman and the Green Midget heard as well, and they too leapt to grab it at the same time. Unfortunately for them none of them grabbed it first. A man with a long flowing white scarf had picked it up right before them.

Kai examined the snack, "So this is where it was."

He took a bite, chewing for a few seconds. Everyone in the warehouse gasped, even the monkeys.

"Too sweet," he tossed the cookie onto the ground and walked off, ignoring his strange surroundings. By this point the midgets had crept away while everyone else was mesmerized by the cookie.

"WHAT!?" Maxman yelled, "He ruined a perfectly good cookie!"

Tala unusually agreed, "How can a cookie be too sweet Kai!? It's a cookie!"

Takao peered through the door, his outfit tattered from a vicious monkey attack, "Oh hey free cookie!" He picked it up from the ground and ate it whole, "Mmmm...sweet."

"Oh gross Takao!"

"What the hell!?"

The unaware boy shrugged, "What? Five second rule!"

While everyone else started to argue whether eating a cookie that was on the ground for three point two seconds was sanitary--besides Kenny who kept mentioning the kidnap of Dizzi--the Green Midget watched the scene through a window from afar atop a tree. He narrowed his eyes, knowing he had lost this battle and the cookie, but he knew he would get Maxman next time. His arch-nemesis would not win the war. His days to controlling the city were only drawing nearer.

-
Yay! Okay that is all move along.