A SAD LITTLE MAN PART 2

The man who killed the Danger Squad, or as Jake remembered, the man who humbled him in their first encounter at the slaughterhouse only a few days ago.

There he was, right before his eyes.

However, all he was now was a broken shell of his former self.

Literally.

His left arm along with both of his legs were gone. Burn marks covering the holes where they were supposed to be showed he was victim of the explosion that formed this hole in Mr E's inescapable base.

An explosion he felt at close range as well.

Luther looked back and saw Jake standing over the corpse. He tried to signal him to move but he was too entranced by the corpse to notice. He didn't get why Jake gave a shit though. All he knew was that was Ace, Mr E's sidekick. A real quiet type of guy who genuinely didnt seem that bad, judging from the transmissions and calls his gang got from Mr E, but he was Mr E's sidekick nonetheless and in the end, he deserved this fate.

That didn't keep Jake from staring at the broken man for long enough for Luther to get pissed. He walked over to Jake and grabbed him by the arm, jolting him out of his trance.

Hey! Get your head in the game! Our ticket out of here is right there and you're here looking at some dead body! Are you some kind of stuoid child?" Luther asked with clear annoyance in his voice.

Yeah, I get you. Just a little distracted is all. I mean, this guy was pretty damn strong so I wonder who was strong to take him down." Jake said, scratching his head once he realised Luther had a point.

Austin's face immediately appeared in Jake's mind.

This isn't the time to be thinking about who killed this asshole! May I remind you you're not the only one who needs saving here?"

Jake took a moment to process what Luther said. He took a good look at Ivy who he was carrying on his black armored arms.

She was shivering profusely, an obvious after effect of her sudden horrible mutation. Although the smoke wasn't causing her much damage, he knew prolonged exposure might be dangerous.

He also knew this was all his fault. If he thought about the life he lived, the enemies he'd attract. If he thought about refusing that date Stella got him into, or better yet, not formerd such a close bond with her in the first place, maybe, just maybe, Mr E wouldn't get to her. But it was already to late. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past.

Now was the time to move forward.

Y..yeah you're right." Jake said and followed Luther to the edge of the island base. His plan was to carry them through the ocean with his superspeed to the closest piece of land he could find and once this was all over, take them to the city.

Once he took care of Mr E that is...

Just as he was about to take them away, he heard a cough.

Then a giggle.

Then one of the most ferrying laughs he would ever hear. He immediately turned around and was shocked at what he saw.

Ace was laughing.

He had only one arm and all his other appendages wear gone. A normal human would die or go into shock.

But Jake quickly realised Ace wasn't a normal human.

Damn kid, of all the faces I'd thought I'd see before I'd meet my maker."

H..how are you still alive?!" Jake asked with a small stammer. It appears the fear this man left inside him during their last encounter still lingered, despite his newfound strength.

He then noticed his burn marks slowly disappearing and his question was immediately answered. He possessed some form incredible healing. But mumans only had one ability per person, even he knew that. He also knew Ace's ability was to summon things from his sleeve.

How did he have a second one?

So you're getting out of here eh?" Ace said, catching Jake off guard.

Y..yeah. I am. And it's obvious you won't be able to stop me." He replied, trying to maintain focus despite this man's powerful aura.

Luther could only watch with sweat constantly dripping down his face like a broken faucet. He didnt know why but despite his fatal wounds, this guy still terrified him.

Well I wasn't gonna stop you anyway. It's not like getting off this island will do you any good. MR E made sure of that."

What do you mean?..Wait, he said something about some kind of plan. What was it? Tell me.Some kind of bomb to turn everyone in the city into mumans? Or monsters? What is it?!"

What's the point kid? It's not like you'd be able to stop him."

No I won't stop him. I'm gonna kill him."

Out of nowhere, a powerful silence engulfed the smoke filled area. Ace looked at Jake with a mix of humor and confusion in his masked eyes. Then he let out a slight chuckle.

Man. You really are a funny one. I'll give you that. You surely don't seem like the type to be fine with killing. Seems like I was wrong."

No you were right. I generally hate killing. I despise it even, but I can't let someone like him live in world scott free."

Oh and why is that?"

You see, you're gonna call me crazy, but it's the look in his eye."

Huh. Seems you're right about the crazy part."

I'm serious. I have the ability to look into people's eyes and tell how they're feeling. It's not muman, it's something I've had since I was a little boy. And every time I look into someone's eyes, I see a glimmer, a shine showing their emotions. It makes them more human to me. I could never kill someone with that shine. But Mr E..."

And what about him?"

He doesn't have that shine. His eyes are dead and empty. There's nothing there but darkness. Like he's some kind of animal. One that desires nothing but chaos. I can't let him roam free in this world. Not after the things he's done to me. Not after the things he's done to the woman I love and the man standing behind me and especially not after what he did to his son."

And what do you see in my eyes?" Ace asked him, cutting him off. Jake looked at him in silence for a while until he responded with nothing but an awkward smile.

He approached Ace and got to his level before quickly moving Ivy to the side to give his left arm some freedom to take off Ace's mask.

Revealing the face of a teenage boy.

Surprised huh? I get that a lot. Let's just say i cant really age due to my...uh, unsavory origins. Not lets ignore my face for a bit and focus on my eyes okay?"

Jake ignored his young features, scarred from the explosion and focused on his pitch black eyes as instructed. After looking into those deep dark spheres for quite some time, he finally realised what he saw.

Something cold. Not dead, but cold, like something he had been holding back for a long long time.

Little did Jake know this was his humanity.

So what do you see?"

A sad little man."

Ace rocked is head back and a deafening laugh escaped his lips. That's all he did.

Laugh.

Laugh like a mad man. Laugh more than he had ever laughed before. All Jake did in return was stare at him in pity. He had no idea who or what this man was, but he knew his past was one filled with nothing but loss.

And even more pain.

You wanna know what Mr E's plan is kid? You were right about mutating the city. But it doesn't end there. You see, this island was the former base of the first super team."

The Super Society?"

No, a team before them. They're all dead now and no one knows anything about them since they were erased from history. Hell not even Mr E knew that much about them. But that's not the point. What he did know was this base had a secret tunnel that led into a maze of passageways throughout Empire city. Mr E has a bomb which he plans to trigger and flood the city with his mutoxin, mutating all the men, women and children into mindless monsters."

Damn... and you said there's more to this? This madness?!"

Yes. He doesn't want mindless destruction. He wants a new world. A world without humanity, and turning some city into some fucked up jungle isn't gonna achieve that, but introducing a virus that'll mutate every human on earth into a monster. Now that, was gonna achieve it."

Jake's jaw dropped in shock. That's when he remembered Mr E's mindset. His hatred of emotions, of humanity itself. This was his plan. His plan to rid the world of it. To evolve it.

He could see it now, millions of innocents being forcefully altered into mindless beasts in the most painful ways imaginable. Sons feasting on fathers. Daughters eating mothers. The world gone ablaze as humanity was reduced to an apocalypse filled solely by wild beasts who only desire carnage.

Now Jake knew, for a fact even, that he couldn't let this happen.

Jake got up and walked away, Ivy still in his warm embrace. He walked to the waves of oceanic beauty nearby and noticed the Empire city docjs just a few miles away. He then faced Luther for a moment.

Hey. I'm running through the water to the docks. Once I place her at pier. Then I'll be back for you and your little boy."

Th..then you'll stay with us right.. or.. wait! You're not thinking of taken on that psychopath right? Just because he took doen one of his clones doesn't mean you can take him on! Cmon kid, we gotta get outta here! Warn the government or something!" Luther shouted but Jake ignored him and stared back at Ace.

Hey Ace. I got one more question for you."

Ace didn't even look at him.

Despite his emotionless response, Jake still gave it a shot.

If you knew all this. Why work for him? Do you really believe in that psychopath."

No. Honestly I don't give a damn about him or his plans or even humanity in general. We simply made a deal. I work for him and give him the secret technology needed for cloning humans and I get something in return. He didn't get what he needed the cloning tech for since he can clone himself, but I finally got it once he killed Captain Rocket.

Jake stared in silence, trying to hide his incredible shock. Could Mr E have cloned Mr Bufford? Could the clone be in the base right now?"

Uhm.. and what did you get in return? What was so great that you could sacrifice all of humanity for it?"

Simple kid. Vengeance."

Jake stared for a while, trying to understand this sad little man before him. Then, to everyone's surprised, including himself, Jake walked up to Ace slowly. Looking into his eyes the whole time he took a step. Once he got close enough, he stopped and brought himself down to Ace's level.

Then, lifting one arm from Ivy, carrying her with the other, began shaking it wildly until his blue aura engulfed it completely. Then with a single thrust...

All Ace saw was darkness.

And then there was light.

A red and blue flashing light approached him, temporarily blinding him. Once he came to his senses though, he recognised a figure sitting next to him, a little boy to his left, and a young girl to his right.

Both unconscious.

That's when he recognised them as the civilians the kid was with. He tried to move, then instantly remembered he had only an arm left. His legs and other arm burned off in the explosion.

Hey.. you're awake. You mumans are a resilient bunch after all." Luther said to Ace who barely registered what he heard.

Then the lights stopped moving closer and stopped abruptly.

Hey, don't worry, it's an ambulance. Found a pay phone nearby and called it once Jake dropped us off here. Now we're home free."

W..where is he?" Ace asked, a weakness in his voice.

The bloody fool went back into that madhouse to fight that monster. He's clearly got a deathwish. Honestly I.."

But Ace stopped listening his ramblings and thought about Jake for a moment.

He reminded him so much of...

Her.

The woman he once loved, back when he felt love for the first time.

And the last, after he took her life.

After he took all their lives.

Suddenly his focus shifted to the ambulance. A figure emerged from it. Several of them. Wearing black. They ran out of it at break neck speeds and took Luther and the two unconscious victims with enough force for Ace to know these guys were no medical personnel.

Then, another figure emerged from the ambulance. One he recognised instantly.

The man who supplied Mr E with all his tech and even imported the Advantagem for him from another country. Something deemed incredibly illegal by the Commonwealth government.

A man who was their ally. Until Mr E stole his recently imported Black reactor.

Well, well, well... looking a little worse for wear Ace. Now, where is your boss? I need to have a chat about this little plan he refuses to tell me about." He said, staring at the island from afar while mobilising his men.

Ace didn't notice this however, since everything went blank.

To be continued...