"Well, lets go!" he said to her, waving his arms towards his body. Letting out another sigh, Kristina walked towards the man, her feet shuffling like a teenager who didn't want to move.
"Come on, are you sure I need to be in full costume for this?" she asked back, her eyes staring into and almost through him. The man was dressed head-to-toe in a very scientist-looking olive-green uniform. Kristina was dressed in a two-piece blue, silver and black costume, with black boots and arm sleeves, which went up just past her elbow. In stepping from the locker room, she had gone from being a normal, every day civilian, to the heroine known as Azure, the leader of Epsilon Force.
The man let out a groan at her question. "We've been over this before! This is no different than any previous time you've been in the training room - it's just like a field exercise. It's supposed to be a full battle simulation - you know that," the man replied to her. His name tag read 'R. Harper', which stood for Robert Harper, the head of Epsilon Force's training and medical divisions. He had never been a hero; his time with the FBI as a field agent lead him, like it did with Sapphire, another heroine within the group, to Epsilon Force, where his additional computer engineering degree and coding expertise helped the force launch their training room simulator.
"So take it seriously, Azure." Together they walked down a corridor that lead to a set of double doors, and through it, the paths separated. They stopped at the fork. "Well, this is it. Pass this test and you're back in the field, where I know you want to be," he said to her. "Going after Genesis."
That name made Azure's blood boil. Genesis. The woman was responsible for killing a young, promising heroine named Allura, two training partners... but above all, the woman had fought Azure and won handily, nearly killing her as well. Her only saving grace was that several other Epsilon Force members arrived just in the nick of time, saving her life. Despite their arrival, Genesis had managed to escape, whilst Azure was left laid out with numerous compression fractures of the lumbar vertebrae, severe soft tissue damage to her abdomen, cracked ribs... she was a mess after their battle.
"I know," she replied to him. "Every time she comes into my mind... I want to punch the smirk off her face." Azure's hands began to clench into fists, and her eyes glowed a blue hue. Rage helped serve to increase the strength of her powers - Electrokinesis - though it had the side-effect of causing her to use too much power in too quick a period of time. If she used too much, she would be left weakened and exposed.
"Good. Then go in there, pass this test, and get after her." He placed his left hand on her right shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile and nod. She nodded back, before he turned away, stepping through a set of doors, behind which was a small set of stairs leading to a dimly-lit room. The room lit up and came alive as he walked in, only for the light to be blocked by the door swinging shut behind him. Standing before Azure was the main Epsilon Force training room, where she had honed her skills and powers to become the leader of the team. Reaching out, she opened a set of reinforced doors and stepped through.
"Training room online." A computerized voice echoed throughout the darkened room, but as the fluorescent lights came to life, they exposed a pair of gloss-covered red brick walls, like they had been covered in polish, and a thick concrete wall painted black along the far back side. That left a fourth concrete wall, also painted black, with one large one-way mirror window that hid the control room, where the training room's oft-used drones were controlled, and where Robert was watching this test. In the far back corners, hung from the ceiling, were two black speakers - the voice of the training room's computer. The floor was a matte black painted hardwood, like a basketball court, painted to keep glare from the overhead lights to a minimum. Azure nervously stepped up a small set of stairs and into the training area.
"Azure, it has been a long time since you've been in here. According to my internal records, this appearance is a fitness evaluation, against an Omega-level drone," the computer said. "Medical records indicate you suffered severe injuries to your lower back and abdomen, but Epsilon Force doctors believe you have made a near full recovery. As it stands, this exercise will count against your training room record, which currently stands at forty-five wins and twenty-four defeats. Good luck."
From the corner opposite where Azure stepped up, a large, black-clad drone stepped up it's own set of stairs. The black garb hid ballistics gel "body parts" and small areas of uncovered metal around the insides of its elbows, knees and shoulders. The drone moved in a slightly jerky motion as it stepped, moving into the center of the room before stopping. Slowly Azure came forward, looking over the drone. The "Omega Level" difficulty level it was set at was it's toughest setting, which meant she was in for a tough time, even if she was picture perfect. Omega Level drones were responsible for a good handful of her defeat tally in the room, mostly from them capitalizing on a mistake she made, which further lead to a near unstoppable pummeling and subsequent knockout. Slowly Azure joined the drone in the center of the room, stepping in and leaving herself a good five feet of space between herself and the black-clad robot. She had to be careful. One false move from her, and she was in for a world of hurt.
"Let the battle... commence!" the computer said, officially starting the test. With a few jerks, the drone's motors whirred to life, and it's goggled eyes focused on the heroine standing before it. Azure slipped into a fighting stance, carefully taking a few steps to the side. Abruptly the drone moved forward, throwing all of the heroine's calculations out of whack. She wanted to move carefully and pick her spots to attack, but this drone wasn't going to let her do that. Her eyes opened wide as she was forced to back up several steps, before ducking beneath a wild right hand aimed at her jaw. She rose back up just as fast, launching a counter-offensive.
Bouncing on her toes, she lashed out at the drone, backing it up with a flurry of rights and lefts to it's face. The sound of flesh hitting cloth and ballistics gel filled the room. Azure panted out a few quick breaths as the drone stumbled back several steps, trying to shake out whatever cobwebs was in its computer brain and circuitry. Quickly the heroine pressed the advantage, clobbering it with an inside-to-outside crescent kick with her right leg, landing flush against the drone's jaw that again sent the drone stumbling, then collapsing to its knees. She rushed to the drone's side, reaching for its head with both hands.
Azure was trying to end this fight quickly, by snapping the drone's neck and disabling it. The drone, however, had other ideas. As the heroine's arms slunk around the drone's neck in a chokehold, it's right elbow pulled forward, then drove back. Unsighted, the elbow caught Azure's toned abdomen flush, just above the navel.
"Nuuuuh!" she groaned, doubling over and stumbling back a few steps. Her left arm quickly wrapped around her belly, cradling the area as a bit of pain radiated through the area. Using her right hand, she threw her long mane of hair back over her shoulders - and caught the drone standing right in front of her. There was no time to react; the drone launched a hard left cross that smashed against Azure's jaw, twisting her body to the side with a loud grunt. The drone's right hand gripped the back of her right shoulder to keep her twisted, allowing it to sink a trio of straight punches into her ribs.
"UNGGGH! AAGGGH! NUUUHH!" Azure cried out as the three hard blows sent waves of pain radiating through her side and torso. The drone let go of her body, allowing the heroine to slowly sink to her knees, her head hanging and hiding that her face was twisted in a snarl. Her right hand cradled her abdomen, whilst the palm of her left hand quickly pressed to her ribs, trying to massage the pain away.
"Azure has taken damage to the ribs," the room's computer voice announced. The heroine took in a deep breath of air, a whimper leaving her mouth as she exhaled. "Azure, you must pull yourself together," the computer demanded.
Lifting her head, the pained snarl on her face was still visible. Making matters worse, the drone was standing before her, and it's left hand grabbed a big handful of her brown hair, drawing a bit of a yelp as it dragged her back up to her feet. Her right hand unfurled itself from holding her abdomen and grabbed onto the drone's wrist, trying to pull it free from her head. She gingerly thrashed her body side-to-side in an attempt to aid her possible escape.
The only problem was, her fight to escape the drone's grip was leaving her torso wide open for more punishment - punishment the drone was more than happy to dole out.
"Stop! Let go of-! UUNNNH! AUUUGH! UFFFFH!" Azure's words were cut off as another explosion of pain, then a second and third, filled her abdomen. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, clenching her eyes shut for a moment to re-focus her eyes. The pain in her abdomen radiated, spreading throughout her waistline, and it had the double effect of making the throbbing pain in her ribs worse as well. She doubled over with a groan. Her arms fell limply to her sides momentarily, only to come back to life with the palm of her right hand gently gripping over her navel. The drone had landed three punches to the stomach, unsighted like the back elbow to her abdomen early in the fight, and it had both knocked the wind out of her lungs, and done a fair bit of damage. Azure's knees quaked, beginning to buckle as her body began to slouch in the drone's grip. Its hand let go of her hair, allowing her to fully fall to her hands and knees.
"Azure has taken internal damage to the abdomen," the training room computer said. The worst, however, was yet to come.
Coughing on the ground, she blindly reached up with her left hand, holding on to the right pant leg of the drone's clothing, using it in an attempt to help pull herself upright. The drone had other ideas. It's hands clasped together and at the same time, it bent over at the waist, it's motors audibly whirring as both motions happened. Abruptly the clasped together hands hammered down, crashing across Azure's lower back with a very audible thud.
"NNNAAAAH!" Azure let out a deep cry of pain. With her medical records in the system, the drone knew of Azure's back injury, just as it knew that there was, and forever would be, lingering damage in the area. The blow easily flattened the beautiful heroine down onto her chest, only for Azure to quickly roll onto her left side, arching and twisting her body. Her right hand reached around, gripping the small of her back. Unlike the pain that had been radiating over her abdomen and ribs, the pain flowing through her back was absolutely debilitating. Squirming desperately, Azure turned back onto her chest and rose to a hand and knees, trying to crawl to get herself over towards a wall, so she could get back up to her feet. The drone was having other ideas, grabbing onto her left boot. Again she flattened to the ground, smushing her ample chest into the cold concrete with a short yelp. Quickly she twisted, fighting the throbbing pain in her body to roll onto her back, then back in the opposite direction and onto her chest, throwing a kick with her right foot as she rolled.
To her surprise, the kick landed solidly across the back of the drone's head, and it stumbled away, letting go of the heroine's foot as it did so. That gave Azure the precious seconds needed to press up with her hands and crawl back up to her feet. Facing the drone, she slipped back in to a fighting stance, though with a wince, she hunched over slightly, her right hand grabbing the small of her back again. The pain was continuing to flow from where the drone had landed its hammer blow. Hurt, this was going to be an even tougher battle for Azure now.
Getting its bearings together, the drone quickly began to close on the heroine once again. She was showing weakness, an area it could effectively target to defeat the her and end this battle. It reared back its right hand and unleashed a straight right at Azure's jaw, but the heroine could see it coming. The drone had telegraphed the punch, and it gave her more than enough time to spin out of the way. Azure utilized the spin to add additional momentum to a spinning backfist, which clattered across the drones jaw with a very loud smack. The drone's arms fell to its sides for a moment as its feet shuffled back a step, head hanging, only for its whole body to jerk back upright - and attack Azure again!
Azure's eyes grew wide as the drone closed in again. This time the drone kept its attack a bit more secret, only unleashing a wild right cross at the heroine at the last second. Like an expertly trained fighter, the heroine ducked forward beneath the blow, leaving the cross to sail harmlessly over her head. The punch had done its job, however; as Azure sprung back upright, a massive wave of pain from her back overwhelmed the heroine.
"AAGGGH..." She very visibly winced, her right hand quickly returning to the small of her back. She slowly began to sink to her knees, only for the drone to grab onto her shoulders, holding her up. Its arms slowly slipped around Azure's slender waist, grabbing its left wrist with its right hand. Azure's eyes opened wide, and she immediately began to desperately struggle.
Through the pain that had been flowing all over her torso, she had forgotten that she was within the drone's reach, and its arms had trapped the heroine on her own two feet! It was a patented bearhug, putting pressure directly over Azure's lower back, right over that lingering damage. She bit her bottom lip, struggling to not let out another cry as she felt the pressure beginning to build on her body. Her arms frustratingly pressed against the drone's shoulders, but with very little success. She could feel the metallic arms crushing down on her waistline, and it was becoming difficult to breathe. Suddenly, the drone's arms jerked, pumping a squeeze of immense pressure down on the heroine's lower back. The squeeze drew a muffled CRUNCH as one of the lumbar vertebrae took damage, giving in to the pressure.
"NNNGGGAAAH!" Azure let out a shrill cry of terror. Her arms fell limply to her sides as the cry subsided and turned into a constant moan of pain.
"Azure has taken critical damage to the lower back," the computer announced. The heroine was very close to defeat, and it seemed as if she was totally and completely finished. The pain coming from her back was radiating out through every inch of her body, and every time she took in a vital breath of air, it caused the aching to worsen. Slowly her head fell back, eyes fluttering and closing. By all measures, it looked like Azure was giving in to the pain.
The heroine was not done, however. Azure's eyes glowed a faint hue of blue, visible through her eyelids, and a bit of energy crackled in her hands. Even though she was hurting - and quite badly, at that - she still had her powers. Weakly her right hand reached up to the drone's face. She let out a groan from the movement, which was making her back throb even worse. Azure grit her teeth. She had to be careful. The drone had multiple options to keep her from firing a blast of Electrokinetic energy into its face and body, and it immediately did one of those options, squeezing another pump of pressure down on the heroine's wounded back.
"AAGGGGH!" Azure groaned, her body stiffening. There was another muffled CRUNCH as the already damaged vertebrae shifted around and took more damage. Slowly her body slackened in the drone's arms, her right arm falling to rest on its left shoulder.
"Warning, possible serious damage indicated. Azure, you must fight back," the computer pleaded, "Or we will have to end this test and keep you sidelined from active service."
Azure's head lulled back, bouncing several times as she fought the pain to stay conscious and continue the fight. She pulled together every ounce of energy she had to lift her head and look into the drone's face. Azure grit her teeth, grunting as she again closed her eyes tightly, then opened them, re-focusing her eyes and clearing the double-vision the pain was causing. The blue hue had grown in intensity; they were a bright blue hue, almost like they were on fire.
Taking in a deep breath, heroine exhaled and let out a shrill cry, her voice rising in pitch. Her right hand reached back up to the drone's face, a big ball of blue energy crackling in the palm of her hand. Then, and very suddenly, she thrust the ball of energy into the drone's face. It spasmed and twisted, its circuits overloading temporarily. Its arms let go of Azure's waist, dropping the heroine onto her feet, where she immediately crumpled onto the ground, whimpering. The drone fell to a knee, then keeled over onto its side, continuing to spasm as servos and motors functioned without the central computer telling them to.
"Azure, well done. The drone has taken critical damage to its internal circuitry and computer," the training room computer announced to her. The heroine weakly crawled to a wall, using it to help steady herself as she slowly pulled herself to her feet. Gingerly the palm of her right hand gripped at her back as she limped to the drone, which had finally stopped jerking from the massive amount of energy she had shot into it. The blue hue in her eyes had faded. She was mostly drained of her Electrokinetic energy, but it was a necessary evil - had she not done it, she would have been crushed until she was unconscious.
Falling to a knee, she grunted as she grabbed the drone's heavy body to sit it up. Her left arm wrapped beneath its head in a rear chinlock to help steady the body, before moving her left hand to cup its chin. Azure's right hand pressed to the back of the drone's head. Her eyes glowed a faint hue of blue, before slowly she closed them, taking in a deep breath. With a grunt, her left hand pulled the drone's chin, whilst her right hand pressed down and twisted, severing circuits and disabling the drone with a snap of its neck. No longer functioning, the drone fell back over, the heroine giving it a bit of a shove.
"Congratulations, Azure. That was an impressive display of your powers," the training room computer said to her. "You shut down most of its circuits and damaged its computer with your blast of energy, and then completely disabled it by snapping its neck. Well done. Let the record show that you now have forty-six wins, and twenty-four defeats."
With the battle over, Azure slowly limped to the door, opening it with her left hand. Her right returned to gently gripping at the small of her back, trying to nurse the pain out of the area. Stepping down the stairs and through the double doors, she was greeted by Robert, who was stepping out of the training room's control room.
"Kristina, that was well done. You were in a lot of trouble there, but you did what you needed to do to get out of it. I think you know what this means."
Azure gave him a bit of a wince, breathing out slowly. "That I get a massage and some time off? Ooh... I think that drone might've cracked something..." She grimaced a bit more, twisting at the waist to stretch.
"Well, probably that... and you can get back to action," he said to her. "Come on, lets get you to Medical, we can patch you up." As he spoke, a klaxon sounded. Red light bulbs that lined the hallways next to the ceiling began to flash in tune with the siren.
The heroine let out a bit of a sigh. "...shit. I can never get any time to relax."
Fighting the pain, she moved as quickly and as gingerly as she could to the medical area. She sat down on one of the raised beds and moved a mobile computer and monitor unit towards her, turning it on. A few screens popped up on the monitor, showing a battle going on in one of the parks of the city. She hissed as she saw what was happening. It was two-on-one, a female fighting against a male and female duo.
"Looks like Sypha and Jezebel are back at it," Robert said. His hands held a few bits of medical equipment - a syringe, needle, and a few vials of different substances. He stepped to the other side of the bed, behind Azure, setting the different pieces down. "This is gonna be a bit cold," he told her, opening a rubbing alcohol packet. The heroine hissed as he wiped down an area around her lower back, before returning to his medical equipment. Her eyes focused on the screen, tapping through to look at different surveillance cameras around the park where the fight was taking place.
"Yeah, and Sapphire is the one in the middle," she replied to him. On the screen, the feed went a bit fuzzy momentarily as Sapphire let out a burst of Aerokinesis. In a flash, it was only Sapphire and Jezebel remaining - she had blown Sypha clear across the park, several acres away! Away from the cameras, the villain had crashed against a large boulder, smacking the back of his head against it, which served to knock him unconscious temporarily. Meanwhile, things began to get dicey for Sapphire. Azure watched as Jezebel tackled the heroine into a tree, before landing several hard knees into the Asian beauty's abdomen. The feed went fuzzy again. Sapphire had pushed Jezebel away with another blast of Aerokinetic energy.
Unfazed by what was happening in the fight, Azure tapped away the feed and pulled up a map, where an icon flashed to show where Sapphire was. She was very much capable of taking care of herself, at least for now. If Sypha got back up, she was going to be in real trouble. Suddenly she took in a deep breath as Doctor Harper pushed a needle filled with a concoction of pain relievers and classified substances into the small of her back, and then injected it into her. The pain radiating through her torso almost immediately went away.
"There, all set. As you know, be careful for the next twelve or so hours, yada-yada." She nodded to him.
"Yeah, thanks." She slipped off the bed and stepped out to the door, swinging down the hallway to a set of stairs, which lead to the roof. She bounded up the stairs and smashed her way through the door, stepping out onto the roof. She was greeted by bright sunshine and warm air, which felt good on the skin not covered by her costume.
She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Energy surged into her body as she replenished what she had used against the drone in the training room. It helped to reinvigorate her entire being, and when she opened her eyes, they were a fiery blue hue once again.
"Okay, Sapphire... I'll be there soon," she said to herself quietly. With a short burst of energy, she levitated, then took off into the daytime sky, heading towards Sapphire's position...
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Finally got the nerve up to post one of my shorts - the first part of what I hope will be a longer series, chronicling the adventures of Epsilon Force: a group of superheroines, led by Azure (AKA Kristina Heald) as they attempt to stop various villains and ultimately take down their major foe, the ultra-powerful Genesis. This piece is an homage to the Next Global Crisis series - both in name and setting, a training room with a computer that announces damage suffered and implores competitors to fight harder.
This may not be the last time I'll use the "Training Room" setting, either, but for now, it makes a good starting point: Azure is trying to show she's fit to return to active duty, and it comes at just the right time, as two villains make their appearances known...
Anyway, hopefully it's liked! Let me know what you all think! I've added a pair of images of Azure's look - comic and real life. For those of us who are Heroine Legends fans, that costume will look familiar... xD
- Azure Color Final 300x360px.png (319.52 KiB) Viewed 1469 times
- AzureRealWorld.jpg (151.36 KiB) Viewed 1469 times
