The Icebox - 23. The Third Mission

Zafiro

The night before, we were told that we would be going out for another mission the next day.

Normally there was at least a week between missions, so hearing that we’re going so soon was a surprise.

Since it’s still a bit early, I decided to stop by Zee’s cell.

After our little chat and his mentioning of his feelings, I couldn’t exactly ignore it.

Honestly it wasn’t even to talk specifically about that. I just wanted to hangout with someone who isn’t trying to keep a distance from me.

At first he was too tired to get out of bed.

I knocked on his door and slipped inside.

He sleepily opened one eye and simply opened his blanket for me to slip in.

Sinking into that warmth was nice and cozy!

I kept a small bit of distance but Zee would have none of that!

He pulled me close to him and pressed his nose into my hair.

Zee’s not exactly being subtle with his affections now.

I think I’m fine with it?

“We still want Tin Can!”

“But he’s off limits now!”

“Maybe when we get out of here, Tin Can will come back to us!”

I close my eyes and try to ignore them.

They can’t make up their minds at all.

One moment they want me to be with Zee, the next they want Tin Can again.

So annoying!

I don’t know what to do. This is obviously the easier choice. Zee is a lot more flirty which I have learned to like.

He can be awfully sweet and it takes a bit getting used to that.

I don’t know.

I hate thinking about feelings and relationships and feelings that come from said relationships.

Zee’s sighs softly in his sleep.

It makes me smile.

He’s a handsome guy who is nice to look at.

His shimmer is one of my favorite things!

Seeing it appear on his cheeks when he blushed makes me want to go out of my way to make him do that again and again.

It could be so easy to give into him.

From what I remember of him…at least I think…he’s always been kind to me. Zee seemed to always be there right?

I mean…when I think about what I thought was my first day here, Zee was the one who called for me to join them in that cafeteria.

So why is it that I can’t do it?

“You know why?”

I do.

With this stupid rewind of my brain, that included my feelings for Tin Can.

Those feelings for him are still there and they shine like he did.

It hurts that I can’t exactly act on it.

Even if I were free from this place, even if I was to see Tin Can again, I wouldn’t try and ruin what he has now.

I’m not that kind of person.

As much of a shithead I am, I don’t want to ruin what good he’s got in his corner.

I already know that I would ruin things between us if we were to be together.

Why bother wasting his time again?

“I can almost hear them talking to you,” Zee mumbles into my hair.

I smirk and shake my head. “Not so loud right now.”

Leaning back, I look into his eyes.

He still looks sleepy.

“You know, I never really told you how I ended up here,” He says quietly.

I raise a brow in question.

“The first time you visited, you never really asked. You felt it was some unspoken rule where nobody talks about their crimes.”

“When you eventually asked, I didn’t think you’d keep your memories for it to matter. That eventually came true but you used to bug me about it when we were…closer.”

He blushes at that word.

I can’t help but look down to hide my own blush.

It is very strange to know I had a relationship with him at one point.

From what happened this time, I have definitely felt what must have been those past feelings towards Zee.

I mean it was so easy to give into him! It felt natural because…it was for a moment!

At times, it still does.

“Well, since I think things are going to stick now,” He continues, “I helped stop a bank robbery by using my augments. I burned off the tires on the runaway car. When U.U.P.P. arrived, they saw I looked different and my abilities were then deemed too dangerous. Now I’m stuck here for life.”

I pull back and look at him a bit annoyed.

“You’re telling the truth now?”

He nods and laughs when he sees my face. “What’s wrong?”

I roll my eyes and sit up.

“Great so I like another goody two-shoes.”

He snorts and lightly nudges me.

At that, an alarm goes off gently.

Time to go I guess.

~~~

The Burn

I smile as Mikalos runs this way and that. He frantically calls our people from different phones, trying to set everything up to perfection.

“Sir, if you could help me, this will go a lot more smoothly!”

I chuckle at his words and move to stand next to him.

“Relax, Mikalos. Everything will go as planned. You don’t need to fret over every little detail!”

Mikalos shakes his head and closes his eyes, his body trembling.

“I’m not worried about how this night will go, I’m scared of your little monster. How do you know he won’t kill me?”

I don’t. If anything, I’m positive he will do such a thing, but I do not need to tell Mikalos that.

“Do not worry. All you have to do to stay alive is exactly what I told you. They will not harm you if you do as I say.”

He bites on his lips and nods with a shaky sigh.

“As you say, sir,” He says and straightens up. “Then before we begin, I must say that it was an honor working with you.”

I smirk and pat his back.

The man knows he had no choice in the matter. He owes everything to me. His heart is too loyal to disregard my orders tonight.

A part of this sector shall burn. That is guaranteed. Will the entire sector burn however?

We shall see.

In the end, I will get some satisfaction.

~~~

Zafiro

I frown as me and the team flies over the factory.

I see it isn’t only my sector that gets parts of it neglected.

This factory looks old and the neighborhood is run down.

It reminds me of my home a bit, though it’s not quite as skyscraper heavy. At least now here.

This place is full of smaller homes that have a few lights on. It is rather late tonight.

A river divides this neighborhood from the actual big city.

The city skylights shine across the clouded sky, illuminating the clouds

There are a few factories along the ports here since the river leads into the ocean.

Some look abandoned. At least the ones on the neighborhood side.

Some things never change between sectors, huh?

The factory we’re supposed to raid has those green stones from before!

The same clear packages are in some storage units lining the back of the factory.

What are those?

They were farming that stuff on the poison planet. Next they refine it and send it off here? What could it possibly be for?

A bit worrying.

I do see some people scrambling around in that factory.

They move carts filled with those packages.

I’m sure they knew we were coming. I doubt they would run this place like crazy people.

Henson taps my shoulder behind me, pulling my attention from the window.

“Are you going to pull anything like last time, Zaf?” He asks.

I shrug. “I don’t exactly remember what happened last time honestly.”

He frowns and squeezes my shoulder. “I think you need a break after this mission, alright?”

“What? No!” I grab his arm. “I don’t want a break!”

I don’t like being stuck in that prison! These missions are all fun!

I see Gus looking at us from the corner of my eye.

“Zafiro,” Henson sighs. “You are not well. Something is going on up there.” He nudges the side of my head. “We need to work double time on trying to help you, okay?”

He walks off to prepare to set us free.

I groan to myself and glare outside the window.

The view has changed into a forest.

I don’t even remember us parking.

Someone clears their throat next to me.

To my surprise, it’s Blondie.

“Look kid,” She starts. “I know we didn’t exactly have a great start and aren’t close in the slightest, but even I know you aren’t stupid enough to deny help.”

Glaring at her, I roll my eyes.

“You’re right,” I say, with annoyance. “We aren’t close at all if you believe I want help.”

“Yeah! Screw them all!”

“Tell her we help you!”

I shrug at her and put on a smirk. “Those voices you’re all so scared of help me on these missions. Do you really want to lose them?”

She looks at me in surprise and looks as if she wants to say something, but Henson calls for everyone’s attention.

“Alright boys! We are on a time limit here. We have ten minutes to catch our target by any means necessary. Prioritize a capture but If you must eliminate him, you have permission for this mission only.”

A projection appears in the middle of the room.

A man with a metal jaw is shown standing there.

“This will be your target. He is going to destroy the neighborhood down below. It is your mission to prevent that from happening.”

He goes over the areas in the factory he will most likely try to…do whatever.

I’m a bit curious to see what they do honestly.

This whole moon squad thing is about protecting the Earth but honestly, I don’t care for it.

It could explode and I wouldn’t care.

Well that’s not true.

I’d want Tin Can and all my friends off the planet first.

THEN it can explode!

It’s not like that planet did much for me anyway.

We are supposed to split up into two teams.

Me, Zee, Gus, and Charlie make up one group.

Anjak, Dinoyo, and the freaky shapeshifter dude make up the other.

Unfortunately I am then told that after three minutes, I am supposed to separate from the group and look for Mister target on my own.

Seems like a lot to ask from us honestly.

We’re starting from the bottom of the factory.

Blondie will have a team ready in their own ship for if anyone tries to escape from the top.

Zee comes up next to me.

“You ready,” he smiles.

I nod. “I think so. I don’t know. These things are kinda weird for me. It almost feels like I’m not controlling myself.”

He looks almost impressed hearing that. “That would be nice honestly. I overthink things and hesitate too much.”

He cringes a bit. “Plus I get worried about hurting someone.”

I smile at that.

Tin Can didn’t want to hurt people either. Well…kill them.

They really are alike.

The voices practically jump on that thought like starved beasts.

“Let’s marry him!”

“SUCK HIS D-”

“Why not have both!”

“I still prefer Roy.”

“Well I prefer Zee!”

As annoying as they are, I kinda feel the push to maybe see where things go with Zee.

Suddenly a door slams open and everyone is running out of the ship.

I blink in surprise and quickly follow.

We went over the plan already? I don’t remember this!

I quickly sprint after Zee and the others.

~~~

Zee

This feels a little more scary than usual.

The stakes are higher than our last missions. We weren’t supposed to worry about anyone innocent getting hurt?

I mean does that really happen though?

These people are just like most of the ones on the moon.

Short on money and not a lot of options.

I bite my lip as we reach our zone to enter.

We are to wait for Henson to give the go ahead when everyone is in position.

Our group is at a gate that has the lowest traffic.

At the moment it is locked tight and too high for us all to leap over.

I’m supposed to carve a hole for us to get through.

My hands are shaking and I try to calm down.

Gus looks a bit on edge like me. Charlie not as much but I know he’s playing it off.

Zafiro…well he’s being Zafiro.

While me and the others are pressed against the gate to keep hidden, Zafiro is sort of humming and dancing to himself.

I smile since it does help a bit to take the edge off.

Plus he’s nice to look at in that suit.

That tight glossy look on those legs are…phew!

Double checking that my gun is set to stun, I focus on my breathing.

Everything is going to be alright. We’ll win and none of those families are going to get hurt!

I just hope we don’t have too many casualties for the ones working in the factory.

With Zafiro here, I know there will be some.

He’s unfortunately too strong and doesn’t seem to know how to pull his punches.

Granted, he’s incredibly deadly with his pistols.

My god it’s like watching a robot aim with those things.

I’ve discovered how he does it though.

His little acrobatic moves he loves to do aren’t just for show. He is scanning the room for targets as he spins in the air.

He has some crazy ass eyesight to spot where to shoot while spinning. Let alone firing as soon as he lands on the floor again.

It makes me equal parts terrified, equal parts jealous.

It would be nice being able to do these missions without care or worry.

I jump when Henson’s voice comes through my earpiece.

“Go get him, Moon Squad.”

I move and rest my hands over the gate.

My palms heat up slightly before a large oval shape begins to burn into the metal.

I wait till it turns a bright orange before pushing forward.

The metal falls backwards into a melted puddle.

Charlie pats my back in approval and slips through the opening.

We all follow him.

It looks like this was where they docked those green stones.

There are so many storage bins full of them here!

One man sees us as he places one of these stones carefully into a box.

He breathes in as if he is about to scream but before he can do it, a blue gunshot goes off behind me.

It hits him square in the forehead and he falls backwards.

I stare wide-eyed at Zafiro.

He smirks at me and gives a small salute with the gun.

The guy is cute but damn he’s a little scary sometimes.

At least he hasn’t turned off the stun setting again.

Charlie breaks open a door blocking our way.

We keep close behind him.

Zafiro keeps track of anyone trying to notify on our breaking in, trying to keep us hidden for as long as we can.

I help open doors that Charlie finds too hard to break open.

Gus helps blind people for Zafiro so they don’t see him coming.

Overall I’m kind of proud we work well!

I will say though, Zafiro does most of the work with taking people down.

It makes me feel bad but also grateful.

As we’re checking another room, the lights suddenly turn red!

Alarms start blasting about intruders.

Shit!

“Zafiro, it's time.” I hear Henson say.

Looking for him, I see him across the hallway. He’s also looking at me with a smile.

“Brace yourself,” He shouts.

I get confused until he starts running for me.

Oh god!

He runs so fast, I get a bit worried!

He cartwheels just before reaching me and pushes off the ground, his hands push off my shoulders at the same time as he flips over me onto the floor above us.

As soon as he’s out of sight, I hear gunshots.

I hear a voice shout between gunshots, “It’s the crazy one!”

I frown at that.

Looks like he has a reputation among their crowd.

I’m starting to realize he is the Alentian replacement of our group.

They seem to like throwing him out on his own. I’m pretty sure that’s what they did with that one feline alien.

I mean we are all supposed to be his replacement, but Zafiro seems to fit the mark better than the rest of us.

Hearing the chaos following him makes me a bit worried.

~~~

Zafiro

As soon as I take out the three up here, I immediately shut off the stun setting on my guns.

Silly Henson!

I noticed they had tried to put a lock on the stun setting but that was pretty easy to reprogram.

Do they want this done well or not?

I run down a hallway, kicking open each door I fine.

There are mostly a few scared workers in here and I simply ignore them.

Anyone who fires at me doesn’t live for very long though.

Self defense!

I kick open a door and find an empty bathroom.

Frowning, I use my grapple hook to pull me down the hall.

Someone walks into the hallway and I swing my foot for them.

They get knocked out immediately.

As they fall to the ground, I see what looks like a flash of pink neon lights.

Is it happening again?

“Fun time! Fun time! Fun time!”

I blink and I see colors slowly making its way along the walls.

I grin and follow them.

“Open fire!” A voice shouts as I turn a corner.

As soon as the first bullet goes off, time seems to slow.

A bundle of voices whisper into my ear to dodge this way and that.

The bullets drift past me, so close to hitting my body but I quickly move around them.

I laugh as I dance around these bullets.

When it looks clear enough, I quickly sprint for the group of henchmen firing at me.

I open fire as I flip in the air above them, taking out three with easy headshots.

As I land behind them, I smile as I see parts of their bodies have a slight yellow glow.

Quickly I take aim and shoot into them.

They all fall over dead.

I grin as blue sparks fly into the air from where the bullets pierce through!

This is amazing!

Suddenly I hear Dinoyo’s voice, “We found him on the eighth floor!”

Without missing a beat, I run for the elevator doors at the end of this hallway.

I’m sure Zee and the others will be using it.

Pushing the claws of my gloves into the crack, I use my strength to force it open.

Leaning in, I look up at the skeleton of the factory.

Well I guess time to kill the guy!

~~~

Zee

I drum my foot impatiently as the elevator lifts us past the fifth floor.

Fuck I’m so scared for those people out there!

I jump when Henson’s voice comes into our ears.

“We’ve got three more minutes! Pick up the pace, Moon Squad!”

Gus squeezes my shoulder.

“We’ve got this,” He says to reassure me.

Something feels very off about tonight. I don’t like it!

Ding!

The elevator doors slide open and I see the other half of our group.

“C’mon man!” Dinoyo shouts up a set of stairs. “You don’t have to do this!”

I have to walk forward since the stairs go higher than the ceiling of our hallway.

We quickly catch up but Anjak motions for us to stop moving when we reach the stairs.

My eyes widen when I see our target.

He stands with a gun aimed at us and his other hand hovering over a holoscreen flashing red. It sits on a table.

Behind this table is the opening of the factory. It overlooks the neighborhood below the hill.

The computer’s voice keeps repeating. “Push when ready to proceed.”

“I…I can’t!” The man, MIkalos, cries out. “He’ll kill my family if I don’t do it!”

Henson’s voice can be slightly heard in Dinoyo’s earpiece.

He’s giving him instructions on what to say.

“U.U.P.P. knows the whereabouts of your family. They can offer protection if you step away from that holoscreen!”

Mikalos has tears in his eyes. “You know as good as I do that, that is bullshit!”

He wasn’t saying that to Henson. It was to all of us.

We do know that U.U.P.P. wouldn’t go through with his wishes.

“This is from me, man!” Charlie speaks up. “I get it, they can be real pieces of shit but don’t throw your life away for this! You think the Burn cares about you now? He must’ve known we were coming! He is throwing you at us just to save his own skin!”

I see the conflict in MIkalos’ eyes.

Charlie’s words are working!

“Y-You promise nothing bad will happen to me?” He asks.

Charlie shakes his head slowly. “All I can say is that if you stop what you’re doing, they’ll go a lot easier on you.”

Mikalos shakes his head before he chokes on a small laugh with tears falling down his cheeks.

“That fucking bastard,” He says, staring down at the holoscreen.

My heart feels like it stops beating as he look at it.

Charlie and Dinoyo slowly make their way up the stairs. They do it quietly to not grab Mikalos’ attention immediately.

“He’s right across from us, you know?” He suddenly says with anger in his eyes. “In that abandoned factory by the river. The one closest to that neighborhood.”

Charlie nods slowly as he makes it halfway up the stairs. “Yeah. That neighborhood with families just like yours.”

Mikalos stands up straighter and nods to himself before stepping back, his hand leaving the holoscreen.

I breathe a long sigh of relief.

Gus chuckles next to me and pats my back.

I frown when I realize someone is missing.

As I am wondering where Zafiro has gone, a door suddenly breaks open.

Zafiro sprints for Mikalos.

He moves so fast he is almost a blur to the eye!

My eyes widen and I shout for him to stop but it’s too late!

He leaps into the air and his feet aim for Mikalos’ head.

The force of the hit knocks Mikalos’ head against the holoscreen with Zafiro still standing on him for a moment.

“Initiating the spark,” The computer’s voice says.

Zafiro leaps off of Mikalos and the computer. He leaps onto a cable hanging from the ceiling just over the edge of the factory floor.

My gut drops seeing him hang from there, spinning around as if he is some kind of circus show.

Suddenly the ground shakes as green explosions erupt across the neighborhood.

We all stare on as the destruction spreads from house to house.

It isn't very hard to figure out what’s happening. What else would the burn need those green stones for?

I sink to my knees and stare at Zafiro in shock.

He continues to dance with two cables as if they are ribbon hanging from the ceiling, all while the green fires continue to burn behind him, not at all caring for what he just did.

We failed.

We failed and I don’t think I could ever look at Zafiro the same way again.