"The SUMMONING"

"The Summoning"
(Part I)

PRESENT DAY

The warmth of the day had been captured by the overhead clouds, encasing Arlington Falls' night in a smothering blanket of humidity. Quite possibly, it was the worse feeling that one could have. Your clothes stuck to you; your hair felt matted and melded to your forehead from the copious amounts of sweat your continually exude from every pore. Only the comforting embrace of air conditioning would get rid of that moist discomfort.

Right about now, Lindsey Burks wanted nothing more than to do just that: strip down to her barely unmentionables, crank the AC up and bask in the frigid air of a Thunderstryke Thundercool 7000XT. She had just left the restaurant and was making her way down the sidewalk, trying her hardest to keep her hair from slapping her in the face. It was somewhere in the realm of ninety degrees, the last weather report stated. Almost ninety percent humidity, as well.

"Eww!" She said as she pulled her uniform from her back. It was only five blocks to her apartment: five blocks to her air conditioned comfort zone and a nice cold Corona.

Lindsey noticed that the intersection of Lexington and Fifth was a lot more busy than usual. It was ten-thirty-ish. Traffic waned around ten. Still, the honking of several cars was quite apparent. The closer she approached, the closer she got to see what was the cause of all the ruckus.

In the middle of the intersection, a person was standing under the traffic lights. From Lindsey's vantage, he was just standing there. A black clad individual, standing almost two heads taller than her. His fingers flexed in dark gloves. Some form of twisted mask, similar to a knight's faceplate, covered his features. A monstrous visage of metal spikes, steel blades, and ebony raiments, the man just stood there, every heaving breath making the metal of his outfit clink softly.

Lindsey raised both eyebrows and got a little closer. People were honking and screaming at the guy, every obscenity in the book being flung at him. However, no one moved from the cars and Lindsey thought that was a good idea.

Or it would have been a good idea for everyone to stay in their cars had it not been for the rather obese man getting out and earthquaking his way towards the evil-looking guy. He started to shout at the black-clad man, gesturing back and forth and, Lindsey couldn't be sure...but he made some sort of passing reference about the guy's questionable heritage. Then, in a moment of utter stupidity in Lindsey's opinion, the fat man pushed the black-clad man.

The black-clad man's flexing fingers stopped flexing, all of them curled into a fist. The grille of his mask turned and looked at the fat man who, visibly, swallowed. He took a few steps away from the monster, a distance of a few feet that the monster quickly closed, grasping the man by the throat. To those watching, the fat man (who looked close to four hundred pounds) was hefted from the ground with ease. The monster cocked his other arm back and Lindsey could see three six-inch spikes extend from his gloves, menacingly.

"N-N-No...H-Help...," the fat man stuttered. "P-Please. Got...kids..."

His pleas fell on deaf ears. The last thing he saw was the fist coming towards him.

A gasp from Lindsey issued forth as the spikes pierced the man's face, skull, and protrude from the back of his head. In a show of his superior strength, the monster released the fat man from his grip around his throat and held out the hanging body. The body, being dragged by gravity, slid downwards from the spikes, before coming off completely and landing on the ground.

Screams echoed in the night air and cars backed up, quickly, plowing into one another. Lindsey, herself, was already in full run around the corner to get away from the scene. She could tell that this wasn't going to be a good night for Arlington as she saw the monster burst the driver's side window of another car and pull a frightened woman out.

Not good at all.

The special sirens filled the air as five black armored SUV's rounded the corners. They expertly dodged the reversing cars and screeched to a halt near the intersection. Scripted across the sides, a stylized thunderbolt split an "A" and "D". The doors opened on the SUV's, spilling four similarly black-clad individuals out from each one. These were the Arlington Defenders, a specialized policing force charged with the defense of Arlington Falls from abnormal threats.

The monster turned around and roared at them. The Defenders reached for their sidearms, Mark III ZetaMax Photon Pistols. Four others hefted meter-long devices unto their shoulders, cocking them once and leveling them at the monster. One of the Defenders, the obvious leader with his crimson shoulderpads, stepped forward and pressed a stud on his collar. It activated the PA systems in all the SUV's.

"I am Commander Gene Skullovitch of the Defenders," he said. "Cease and desist! Lay face down on the ground with your hands extended!" In his heart, Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch knew that that was an impossible. A year on this job and in the fifteen monster encounters on record, none had given up. He wanted to append the rules; make it known that monsters weren't known for their ability to give up. But his employer wanted to give them a chance, even a remote one.

Gene watched the monster roar again and strike a threatening pose. Gene issued another warning - a final warning - before pressing the stud again and closing the system. "Hold your ground, men. Rodriguez, Marino, Franks...take up position at three, six and nine o'clock. Hold your fire until I give the word. I think this is going to be a real bastard to bring down."

Highly trained former members of the United States Armed Forces ducked around to the sides of the monster whilst the other Defenders kept the monster's attention.

"FIRE!" Gene ordered and the pistol-packing Defenders fired at the monster with photons jacketed in an energized field. The photonic bolts crashed into the creature, dissipating along its armor. The spikes of its gloves extended along with every other spike on its body. It rushed the Defenders. The bazooka-toting Defenders primed their weapons, training them on the monster. Gene ordered them to hold their fire as the monster hit them at full force. Several Defenders went flying into the air, crashing into the SUV's and other parked cars. Gene rolled out of the way, opening fire when he got to a vertical base. Five charges per second flew from his barrel as he moved in a circle around the monster. It was quick, but Gene was quicker, rolling out of the way and still firing.

Dale and Smith rushed in with their guns blazing, joining their commander and several others who recovered from the monster's initial attack. The monster turned towards the men, barely being constrained by their energy bolts.

"Focus on his upper right quadrant! Keep up the energy and maybe we'll crack his armor!" Gene ordered and pointed his gun at the monster's left shoulder. Several other beams of energy did the same. The Defenders were rolling out of the way, dodging the monster's every attack at they had been trained to do. One of the last photonic blasts had staggered the monster.

"It's working!" Uhle shouted.

More of the energy kept the monster from moving forward. He growled and snarled, each photon bolt bringing him closer to defeat. The monster knew better - knew that his time was over. One last surge for his master and bring down that obnoxious Defender commander.

Roaring, seemingly drawing energy from some outside source, the monster rushed towards Gene. Even as the gunfire increased, it mattered not. He would kill the Defender commander, even as he broke through their ranks to get to him. He could feel as each fleshy creature got impaled by his spikes as they tried to stop him. The Defender commander would feel the same.

The monster's massive spiked hand drew back and Gene, immediately, dropped to his back.

The punch missed him completely.

Gene thumbed the control knob on his gun from "Auto" to "Full Stream".

The monster recovered and drew his other arm back.

Gene held up his gun and depressed the trigger. A full-force stream of photonic energy cut into his weakened armor. Gene saw the energy beam exit out the monster's shoulder, the air filled with the smell of burning...something he could only assume was flesh. The remaining Defenders increased their shots, driving the visibly damaged monster back, further and further away from them.

Gene pressed his communicator to his other Defenders. "FIRE NOW! FULL STREAMS!"

The bazooka-toting Defenders, who kept their weapons trained on the monster since being ordered to, followed their orders again without hesitation. Three massive columns of bright blue power erupted from their bazookas, concentrating on the monster.

The monster released another roar, feeling the power killing him. The energy collapsed his armor, vaporized his flesh and extinguished his life force. In a moment, the monster exploded, bright curls of purple filling the air - a thundering boom joining the disintegration.

The force of the blast threw the Defenders into the air. Gene slammed into a wall, feeling something “pop” in his leg. He groaned loudly and opened his eyes.

It was gone.

And that was all that mattered, he thought to himself. Still, he brought his eyes upon the smoldering bodies of several of his comrades and let out another groan, placing a gloved hand to his head.

All that mattered…

Part I / Part II / Part III

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