Chapter 25: A Warm Feeling

PIT PAT

The sound of soft footsteps reverberated in the darkness. They were slow and controlled, evoking a calm rhythm. The young soldier had been walking for a while now. If the light in the distance was any indicator, he'd be reaching the end soon.

Taz couldn't help but think about the earlier portrait. Nobody knew who they were. It was as if their history had been erased. Like their past had been deleted. He decided he would look into it further at a later time.

The bright light eventually washed over the viltrumite. A massive room was revealed. The surrounding material was all silver, from the floor to the walls. Workers moved to and fro in a hurry while assembly lines shipped off products.

The stoic man realized that it would be impossible to sneak around. Therefore, he would do the next best option. Walking in as if he owned the place. A very smart plan.

With his hands behind his back, Taz strolled into the room. He casually walked over to the assembly line and analyzed what they were building. Some of the workers eyed him before going back to their work. It seemed costumed people had made their rounds here before. The cold expression on his face made it much easier to play the part.

"Sir?" One of the nearby workers turned to him with a bit of nervousness. The young elite raised his hand.

"Carry on." He ordered lightly. The man nodded before once again focusing on the assembly line.

The massive group of workers didn't know who he was, but the outfit he wore and his bulging muscles told enough of a story. There was no way in hell that the normal, powerless people would question him. He didn't seem like a nice person either.

Taz scanned what they were packaging and shipping. It was technology, the kind that wasn't from Earth. Alien tech. They created weapons and boxed them up for travel. Who knew where it was headed. The young viltrumite could give a damn. It wasn't viltrumite DNA.

After seeing all there was to see, he moved toward the next room. A massive bunker door with a keypad blocked his advance. His eyebrows twitched. It was the only indication of his growing annoyance. He didn't know the code and he couldn't just ask.

When using his supervision, he realized that he couldn't see through it. The man's eyes widened. This was the first time his x-ray vision failed him. It wasn't enough cause for panic, however. He'd just have to use a bit of force.

He didn't want to waste anymore time. Without a second thought, his arm jammed into the metal. He then grabbed hold of the material inside the door and pulled.

SCREEEEEK RIIP

The sound of metal tearing and scratching reverberated across the room. All of the workers paused to see what he was up to.

"What's his problem?"

"Why doesn't he just use the damn code?"

"Damn supers. Always trying to show off."

With a small tug of his arm, the massive door was ripped out of place. Taz shook his hand which caused it to fall with a loud boom. Hundreds of green and red laser sights immediately landed on his body. Taz couldn't help but scratch the back of his head. A plethora of spec ops soldiers were in the next room. Their assault rifles were aimed at him.

"Freeze! State your purpose!" One of the soldiers roared. The young elite shrugged.

"...Nobody gave me the code. I'm new here. Calm down." He answered with calm words. The soldiers kept their weapons at the ready.

"Negative! Why don't you have the code?! Any member of Team 7 would have a code!" Another soldier exclaimed. The viltrumite's eyes glowed red.

"I don't answer to you, weakling. Lower your weapons or die a useless death. We'll replace you if need be." He growled.

His words held a bit of truth on top of the lies. They were replaceable and he could indeed kill them. The soldiers lowered their weapons. After hearing how he spoke to them, they knew he was definitely one of them. They hadn't seen him before. Maybe he was a new addition to the supers.

"Apologies…sir. We were just surprised." Another soldier spoke up. None of them wanted to get the short end of the stick. They had lives to live.

Taz grunted before scanning the area with his supervision again. There weren't any more doors like the previous one, so he could see everything now. The problem still remained. Where were the DNA blood samples? It wasn't in plain sight.

"You." He pointed to the soldier that talked the most. The grunt soldier felt his heart skip a beat. He pointed to himself.

"Me?"

"Yes you, idiot. Take me to the blood samples. And you." Taz pointed to another soldier.

"Sir!" The second man responded energetically.

"Go request a new door."

"Understood sir!" He roared before scrambling away.

The remaining soldier broke from the pack and led Taz through a series of twists and turns. The spec ops army heaved a sigh of relief once the powerful man left the area. Some couldn't help but sit on the ground.

"Jesus…"

"Did you see his eyes? He was going to slaughter us."

"I almost didn't make it home today..."

"No matter what rank, being a soldier fucking sucks. These damn supers can kill you with a snap of their fingers."

"I wanna go home!"

…

…

…

After a good while, they reached another room. Taz scrunched his face before even entering. The stench of death wafted from the room. The soldier saluted him before speeding away. He didn't want to be anywhere near the place.

The stoic viltrumite walked into the room with a casual gait. A smirk appeared on his face upon scanning the area.

'Bullseye.' He thought. Blood samples were everywhere.

A huge machine stood on the opposite side of the room. There was a plethora of young children standing in line. All of them trembled with fear, knowing that something bad awaited them. The orphans only wore a white hospital gown and were barefoot.

At the front of the line was a floating man with wavy blonde hair. There was a red eye mask over his right eye. A black and red skin tight suit covered his body. It was accented with gold. A black and red cape was attached to his golden shoulder pads. Dangerous sparks of energy danced around his body at random.

"Next." He announced in monotone.

A nervous kid at the front of the line walked into the machine. Straps held the boy in place as needles ejected from all sides. The child's face was pale seeing all of the needles.

The machine closed around the kid. All of the needles pierced his skin at once, injecting a blue liquid inside of him. His eyes glowed a bright white as he screamed in pain.

"AAAAAAAGHHHHH!!! It hurts! Make it stop-"

POP

His body exploded. Bits and pieces of blood and gore covered the inside of the machine. Once it opened back up, the floating man waved his hand. The inner organs, intestines, blood, etc flew out of the machine and landed on the side. It joined an ever increasing pile of blood and gore.

The machine was now squeaky clean. The powerful figure glanced at the next kid in line. It was a little girl.

"Next."

Her legs trembled and a yellow liquid leaked onto the floor. She had pissed herself. Understandable in this situation. Seeing that she wasn't moving, the man spoke again.

"Don't you want to become a hero? All you have to do is step inside. If you're compatible, you will be strong. Do not fear. That boy didn't have what it takes. Do you?" He explained.

As all of this was happening, Taz was marking each and every item that contained viltrumite DNA. The machine would be last. He needed to make sure there weren't any tiny pieces that could escape. It would be a clean sweep.

Everything was confirmed in only a few seconds. Meanwhile, the floating man grew impatient and raised his hand. The little girl floated over to the machine.

"Noooooo! Please, I'm sorry! I'll be good…don't put me in there!" She begged with tears streaming down her face. The evil figure smiled darkly.

"A good girl would get in the machine and survive." He responded.

The straps wrapped around her limbs. Right before the machine started up, the floating man noticed a red glow in his peripheral vision. He turned his head and saw a white and grey hooded figure standing in front of the materia.

BZZZZZT

Two beams of intense heat lashed out without warning. It razed the entire half of the room to cinders. All of the important resources were gone in an instant.

"Noo!" The man roared with fury. He burst into motion, accelerating toward the viltrumite.

His palm struck out and stopped in front of Taz's body. An incredible kinetic force slammed against the young elite.

PHOOOM

The ground and wall behind him tore open from the force. The stoic soldier raised an eyebrow at the interesting ability. Unfortunately, it had zero effect. He stood there as if nothing happened.

"Not bad. Still futile." Taz commented.

The blonde haired man frowned. Nobody had ever taken his attack and remained unscathed. This man was strong.

"How dare you?! How did you get here?! Unless you just waltzed right in, I would've sensed you!" He exclaimed. The young elite smirked.

"Don't sweat the small stuff. It's my turn." Taz responded before floating up to him.

His right hand clenched into a fist. The air screamed with vibrations as he forcefully exerted his pressure against it. Pops and crackles resounded due to his raised arm. He swung.

BOOOOM

A hole immediately appeared in the side of his stomach. His body crashed through the steel wall and kept going. Anybody in the injured man's path was obliterated. Scientists, soldiers, and workers were all flattened. Multiple walls were broken down. An alarm went off in the entire facility. This made everyone drop what they were doing and evacuate.

The evil man's momentum finally stopped and he found himself in a hangar. Military grade aircraft carriers and bomber planes littered the area.

"Pfffft…You dare…cause harm to me? You've gained the ire of Threshold. Say your prayers, ingrate." He growled with anger while constantly vomiting blood.

That single punch felt like he was hit with the force of god. An insurmountable force, nuclear devastation. He would fight even so. It was an insult to be defeated so quickly. When he looked up, he saw the hooded figure floating through the hole in the wall.

"...Who? So many names, I find it hard to remember." Taz spoke calmly.

Threshold grit his teeth. The dangerous energy around his body increased its intensity. The stoic viltrumite suddenly felt something entering his mind. His movements froze. As fast as he could, the elite sped his thoughts up to almost lightspeed.

"Pfffft!!" Another mouthful of blood spurt out of the villain's mouth. His mind attack had failed.

"Another interesting ability. They seem to be wasted on you." Taz mocked.

His eyes glowed red. Two intense rays drilled toward the evil man. Unexpectedly, they curved around his body and hit the ground. It was as if there was a film around him that redirected light. Threshold gave a bloody smile full of disdain.

"Useless." He said.

"Your ego is…incredible. Do you not see the state you're in?" The powerful viltrumite questioned. He then shook his head.

"No matter, physical attacks then."

As soon as his words finished, he was upon the villain. His powerful arm reeled back.

BOOM

Taz's fist connected with an invisible barrier around the man. The force still caused him to sink into the ground. Threshold's veins bulged out of his skin. It was easy to see how hard he was trying to survive the onslaught.

BOOM BOOM

Constant fists crashed into the villain, making a crater that expanded with every blow. The barrier quickly shattered like glass. Taz's deadly strikes started to reach flesh.

"Come onnn, I'm barely trying!" He exclaimed while reigning blows on top of the evil man.

Each hit left a hole in the man's body. The young hero mutilated Threshold's frame. His eyes glowed red once again, blasting lasers to accompany his fists. Death was coming for the villain.

"Kfft…Aghk." Threshold could only croak as his lungs disappeared. His organs were smashed all the while, as the destructive beams of heat cooked him alive.

"Come on! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT ME!" Taz roared in frustration. The mind attack left him a bit peeved.

It was only after a few more minutes that he stopped swinging. Looking down at the enemy, all that was left were chunks of flesh. The villain had already died seconds after his barrier shattered. Taz had been pummeling a corpse.

After taking a slow breath, he calmed down. His body was covered in blood once again. It seemed to be an inevitable occurrence at this point. The young soldier rose to his feet. He only needed to break that machine and he'd be done with the place.

Taz's feet left the ground as he flew back through the destruction. It only took a moment for him to reach the starting point. As soon as he walked through the hole in the wall, the young children's heated conversations died down. They all stared at the man who was covered in blood. It was almost as if they were waiting for orders.

The viltrumite strolled over to the machine. The little girl was still being held by the restraints. Practicing his bioelectric aura once again, the straps crumbled to dust. The girl only watched him with evident fear. The two stared at each other for a second.

"Move." Taz muttered softly.

The girl quickly got out of the machine. The stoic soldier wasted no time and dismantled the contraption. The orphans watched silently as he did his work.

Once he was done, he glanced at the kids once again. There was honestly nothing he could do for them. He'd leave it to the police. They'd probably get placed in foster homes. As Taz floated into the air, he prepared to fly through the ceiling.

"Mister!" A young voice exclaimed. The young elite turned to the young girl.

"Hmm?" He grunted. A pure, innocent smile graced her face.

"You saved us…Thank you mister!" She continued. The soldier shook his head.

"It was nothing-" His words were interrupted by all of the children.

"Thank you, mister!"

"Thank you so much!"

"We'd be dead if it wasn't for you!"

"You're a real hero! Nobody else ever came for us."

"Thank you!"

"Mister, what do we call you?"

Taz paused for a moment. A tiny smile eventually appeared on his lips.

"...I'll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret." He said. The children raised their fists with vigor.

"We won't tell anyone! You're our savior!" They exclaimed in different ways.

"Yea!"

"We'll never tell!"

"We promise!"

The viltrumite closed his eyes for a moment. Once he opened them, he was back to his stoic expression. The smile was gone. His waist cape fluttered for no reason at all. He was like a god in the sky.

"I'm Absolver." He announced.

Immediately after speaking he flew through the ceiling, leaving a hole in each floor. As he got closer and closer to the surface, he could still hear the continuous cheers of gratitude from the orphans. Some of them cried in the middle of their words. Even when he was long gone, they continued to thank him. Taz popped another smile.

'That…felt pretty nice.' He thought.

Looking down from the clouds, he could already see red and blue lights converging on the orphanage. Absolver flew out of the atmosphere, burning off the blood in an instant. The cheers rang in his mind as he traveled all the way back to the dorm.

…

…

…

The window quietly slid open. Taz floated into the pitch black bedroom. He could see Mark passed out on his bed on the other side of the room. The young soldier casually took off his suit and put on some shorts.

He wasn't really tired, but he knew this sleep would be a good one. As he sat on the edge of his bed, he realized that it was occupied. Lexi was fast asleep, her body wrapped around his pillows.

'She snuck into my bed? This woman is so…" He tried to find a reason to be annoyed but gave up. It didn't bother him too much.

"Whatever." He muttered.

Getting into the bed, he took a few pillows for himself. He then pulled her body on top of his bare chest. The blonde mumbled in her sleep before wrapping around him like a new pillow.

Taz's arm wrapped around her slim waist as he slowly drifted off. It had been a long day.