Learner Avenue lit up in flames. Riley detonated the Naysmith Pharmacy building and everything in it, including the lair, super soldiers, and even Riley himself.
After Alex lured him out onto the street, Riley revealed that he was the mastermind behind the super soldiers. It was all part of his grand plan, and Alex had nothing to do with it. But then, much to everyone's surprise, he blew it all to pieces.
The explosion could be seen for miles. Its flames nearly scorched Alex, Yvonne, Louis, Christopher and Gary, the horse. But they stood across the street, a safe distance away, watching one of the oldest buildings in Baltimore burn to a crisp.
Ken Stokes arrived at the scene just in the knick of time. "Holy shit. He blew it all up."
Confused and astonished, Alex could not remove his eyes from the sight in front of him. "Yes, he did."
Yvonne watched as the bricks of the old building turned to dust. Then, she experienced a bout of temporary breathlessness as ash rained down from the sky, leaving a dusting much akin to a dirty snowfall. "Is Riley dead?"
Alex's mouth slackened, still in disbelief. "I think he is."
Debbie looked forward with an unfocused gaze. She couldn't quite comprehend what was going on. "Everything is gone. The super soldiers… the labs… the cyborgs. Did he just destroy everything, after all of that trouble?"
Alex absentmindedly rubbed the side of his arm. "He knew there was no way out, and he wouldn't accept losing to me."
Yvonne leaned back, still staring at the destruction in front of her. "So he lost to himself."
Alex nodded. "Exactly."
"Unreal," Yvonne said. "Well, I guess he died as he lived, a jerkwad."
Ken Stokes rubbed his hand over his mouth. He couldn't help but think of what this would do for his career. "Yeah, but this jerkwad is going to be the story of the century. I'm going to become a reporting legend."
"Maybe so, Stokes," Alex confirmed, patting the reporter on the back.
Stokes glanced over to Gary. The impressive stallion was glowing in the light of the explosion. The majestic sight gave him a thought. "We'll do a piece on the horse too. The viewers love animal stories. He'll become a hometown hero."
[SFX: Police Sirens]
The crew turned their head toward the sound of sirens. The Baltimore Police Department finally decided to show up.
Bursting with a wrathful rage, Chief Zebell hurdled out of the police car before it came to a stop. "Ambrose! Put your hands in the air!" He obviously still riled up from their showdown earlier that day.
Agitated, Alex held a hand out to the explosions. "Come on, Chief. It wasn't me!"
Zebell pulled a gun from his holster. "I find THAT hard to believe. The pharmacy of your enemy goes up in flames? That has Ambrose written all over it. Surrender!"
Yvonne jumped in front of Alex. "He didn't do it! I'm a witness!" She gestured to her friends standing behind her. "We're all witnesses."
Zebell refused to put down the weapon. "Step aside, little lady. This punk isn't worth risking your life for."
Stokes raised his hand. "Chief Zebell, I'm Ken Stokes, Channel 16. My camera crew has footage of Riley Naysmith confessing to the creation of the super soldiers as well as being behind the destruction of the city of Baltimore. Then, he blew up the building, along with everything and everyone in it. Mr. Ambrose, here, saved the city. We're all indebted to him."
The police watch commander ran after Zebell and ripped the gun out of his hands. "We'll need a copy of that footage. Thank you, Mr. Stokes."
The chief threw a tantrum, stomping his fist and waving his arms like a child. "It doesn't make sense. I know you're behind this, Ambrose! You won't get away from this. And I swear, I'm going to take you down."
The commander put his arms around Zebell and led him back to one of the SWAT cars. "Alright, Chief. I think we had enough for today. Why don't we have you head back down? Sound good?"
Alex leaned toward Christopher and Louis. He whispered low enough so that no one else could hear him. "We have to figure out a way to get him fired."
Meanwhile, another officer ran to Stokes. "Mr. Stokes, can we secure your tapes and bring you down to the statement to get a statement? Mr. Ambrose, you're free to go. The city of Baltimore is indebted to you. You saved us again. If we need anything else, we'll call."
Alex stood tall, proud to serve his city. "Excellent. Why don't you get some of the boys out here to block off the damage? We have to make sure no one else gets hurt."
"Good idea," The officer replied. He shuffled back to the crowd of policemen gathered on the street.
Ken Stokes shook Alex's hand. "I don't know how you do it, Ambrose, but I'm grateful. If you ever need anything, you give me a call."
Alex smiled as he shook the reporter's hand. "Same goes for you, Ken. Best of luck."
As Ken walked away, Christopher gathered the crew, Gary, included, for a huge bear hug. "We did it, guys! Not sure how, but we did it!"
Yvonne chuckled as she held her friends close. "So, what now?"
Alex took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before releasing it. All the tension left his body. Joy filled his heart. It was finally over. This was what he fought so hard for. "I say we head back home and celebrate. I think we could take some time to ourselves before we clean up the city."
Gary whinnied in response. Alex hopped on his back and extended a hand to Debbie. "What do you say, milady? May I offer you a ride into the sunset on my valiant steed?"
Debbie put her hand in Alex's. She flipped her hair, which was somehow still just as radiant as ever. "Don't mind if I do."
As Alex lifted her onto the horse, she gasped with delight. Butterflies filled her stomach. She wrapped her arms around Alex. "Ready to go, everyone?"
Louis jokingly swept up Christopher as if he were a bride. He charged forward, with Christopher in his arms. "Away we go!"
Everyone laughed. The fight was over. All was well.
Or so they thought.
Far underneath the ashes of what used to be Riley's lair, Riley escaped.
He sprinted through an underground tunnel, wiping ash and soot off his face. Sure, he was a little burnt and bruised, but he would heal in no time. His fake suicide was merely a diversion. After realizing he let Alex get a little too close a little too soon, he needed to do something to get his nemesis out of the picture. Luckily for Riley, his spur-of-the-moment plan worked.
He looked over his shoulder into the dark, smoky tunnel. "DANGLES! Hurry up! I don't have all day!"
Toddrick Dangles, Riley's assistant, miraculously survived the explosion. He ran toward Riley, holding hefty cardboard boxes filled with paperwork, instructions, and vials of serum. Budge the cat sat on top of the boxes.
Riley rushed toward Dangles. "Wait, here! Give me…" He picked up Budge. "My pretty kitty."
Dangles lowered the boxes, revealing his face. He wore an eyepatch over his right eye. A considerable scratch was visible underneath it. "Your pretty kitty ripped my eyeball out."
Riley scratched the top of Budge's head. "That's right, good baby."
"Excuse me?" Dangles said through his clenched jaw.
Riley turned his gaze to Dangles, looking at him as if he were a fool. "That's a very evil thing to do. We just have to direct his evilness toward the right crowd, and then he will be the perfect little minion."
Dangles let out an exasperated sigh. "If you say so, Boss."
"I do," Riley insisted as he continued to walk down the dark, dingy tunnel.
Dangles struggled to carry the boxes. "What now? We killed all the super soldiers, the animals, our whole lab, and the whole team. We have nothing. Everyone is dead. What's going to happen with–"
Riley sneered at Dangles' assumption. "We are not dead. Plus, we still have the serum. And, most importantly, we have all of McManace's research in those boxes. We'll be fine. It's just a little bump in the road."
He turned around to face the assistant. "Need I remind you? I have complete monopoly on the underground city of Baltimore. We could rebuild anywhere. We'll have everything we need this time. HALLE can reconstruct our security system and help us rebuild. It can write an algorithm to solve the rapid aging process. We can do this bigger and better. It's all going up from here."
Suddenly, a ringing noise came from the stack of boxes in Dangles' arms.
Riley put the cat down and ran to the boxes. "Shit, shit, shit. That better not be who I think it is."
Dangles set down the boxes. Riley pushed him away and ripped over the box. The screen of a cell phone flashed as its ringtone blared throughout the tunnel.
Riley's eyes widened. He looked up at Dangles. "It's him."
The color left Dangles' face. "Pick it up, quick."
Riley did. "Hello, sir. Great to hear from you. How are you?"
The voice on the other end sounded stern and disgusted. "Riley, give me one good reason why I shouldn't come kill you right now."
Riley's body was trembling. "I, uh, sir, I made it out. I have all of the information, and all of Dr. Ozzy McManace's studies. Sadly, we lost him in the midst of all of this, but he figured everything out. We just have to execute it. I was just telling my assistant. It's just a small setback."
"A setback that cost me millions of dollars, Naysmith," the voice replied.
Riley squeezed his eyes shut. "I promise you. We're almost there."
The voice scoffed. "This is your last chance, Naysmith. If you screw it up, Alex Ambrose won't have the time to find you before I do. Understood?"
Although the man couldn't see him through the phone, Riley bobbed his head, nodding at a lightning pace. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. You have my word. We'll make it work this time, sir."
The line went dead. Riley gasped, trying to catch his breath. He looked at Naysmith, who was making a meal out of his fingernails.
"We're fine," Riley said. "But we're not letting Ambrose get in the way this time. We have a mission to execute."
Dangles, unable to stay still, picked up the boxes and kept walking forward.
Riley calmed down. He was determined. He fixed his gaze forward. "Alex may have won that battle, but I will win the war."
Budge meowed. Riley smirked down at the cat. He picked him up. "You will win the war too, Budge."
***
After leaving the city, Yvonne, Christopher, Louis, Debbie, Alex and Gary reached the edge of the forest. After all that had happened, the crew had mixed feelings about returning to Alex's so-called safe haven.
Yvonne put her hands on her hips. "So, Alex. When are you going to move?"
Alex, still perched atop Gary with Debbie holding onto him for dear life, shook his head. "Not yet. I've grown pretty fond of this forest. Maybe I'll stay."
Yvonne mumbled under her breath. "Sounds like a trauma bond to me."
Alex nudged Gary with his thigh. The horse trotted at a quicker pace. "Come on, guys. I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use a nap."
"I think I'm going into hibernation," Louis added.
Everyone followed behind the stallion.
As the day turned to night, the forest grew louder. Yvonne heard the crackling of twigs and leaves. She whipped her head around.
Alex noticed. "Hey, Yvonne. It's probably nothing."
Yvonne pursed her lips. She didn't feel too secure in the woods, especially since it had only been a handful of days since she had been attacked there.
The rustling started up again. It got closer and louder. It sent a chill up Debbie's spine. "Alex, it's freaking me out too. You should go check it out."
Alex sighed. He desperately wanted to get back home. "Whoa, Gary." He jumped off the horse. "Okay, I'll go, just to calm your nerves."
Alex crept into the forest, toward the direction of the rustling noise.
After looking around a few trees and under a few bushes, he found nothing. "Alright, guys. Nothing to see he–"
A super soldier jumped down from the top of a tree and wrapped itself around Alex's shoulders. Its massive legs choked him. He struggled to breathe.
The women screamed at the top of their lungs.
Christopher and Louis rushed to Alex's defense. Louis held Alex while Christopher ripped the super soldier off of Alex's back. He hit the soldier with a solid punch, and the creature stumbled backward.
Once Alex regained his balance, he pushed his friends away. "I got this. Go stand by the women."
The super soldier returned to its feet, ready to fight. Alex looked down at his fist, remembering all the strength he could muster earlier that day. He whispered to himself. "Okay, let's do that punching thing again, Alex."
He squared up, facing the super soldier. As the beast lunged toward him. Alex focused all of his energy on the punch, and BAM! He struck the super soldier with unbelievable force. The deformed beast went flying. Its body crashed into a massive pine tree, splitting it in half. The tree fell down, crushing the soldier in the process.
Pleased with himself, Alex clenched his fist. "Yeah! I did it!" He turned around and faced his friends.
Everyone's jaws hung open, with the exception of Gary, who wasn't easily impressed.
Debbie rubbed her hands over her eyes to make sure what she just witnessed was real. "Alex, what was that?"
"Oh!" Alex said, realizing his friends had no idea what he was capable of. "I discovered I could do this while I was fighting a French robot."
Yvonne stared forward. "So you could super punch people?"
Alex bit his bottom lip. He didn't love the phrasing, but he figured there was no better way to say it. "Yeah, I guess so."
Louis pressed his lips together and nodded, admiring Alex's skill. "Nice."
For some reason, everyone's intense gaze made Alex feel a bit embarrassed. He stood up straight, putting on a false sense of confidence. "So, ready to go?"
Yvonne turned around and kept walking. "Sure. I just hope that was the last of those things. They're boring at this point. Like we get it, you're super jacked, super ugly, and super angry. Just get a hobby."
When the crew reached Alex's house, a sense of relief washed over them.
Alex smiled. Even though half of the house was burnt to a crisp, it was still his home.