2

  Two was walking down the rainy streets of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, silently looking around as he made his way home from his work at the ice cream shop nearby, acting as a clerk. He yawned softly, looking around at the eerily lonely street, and then at the only other person there; a buff looking man in baggy clothes and a cap on, clearly making a deliberate effort to hide his identity. Normally, Two wouldn’t really care about some suspicious looking man hiding his identity, since those existed everywhere and were generally inoffensive or just petty criminals. Only this time, for no reason in particular, Number Two of the Celestials decided to go check him out - be it simply fate or spontaneous curiosity. Whatever the case, Two walked in such a way that he deliberately passed right next to the suspicious man, his eyes flicking up and catching a quick glimpse of the man’s face before continuing forward as if nothing had happened.

  “Oi man, watch where you’re going! Nearly bumped into me…” the suspicious man muttered, but didn’t pursue any further confrontation and instead continued to walk hurriedly. Two tilted his head, memorizing the man’s features before continuing to walk home, unbothered. Just in case, though, the hero decided to open up her computer right as she was clocking out of her office job in Mexico, sighing as she opened up the World State’s criminal database and inputted the features of the suspicious man, raising an eyebrow as she began to scan the faces that popped up one by one. She doubted she’d find anything but… well, she was bored so why not? But right as she opened the database, the very first face that popped up made her eyes widen slightly before narrowing again. Suddenly, Two stopped in his tracks and turned around, staring at the suspicious man walking by with a renewed intensity. He approached the suspicious man again, this time making no effort to be discreet. Five other Two’s rose from where they had been sleeping, spread out around the city of Ashgabat, grabbing their hidden weapons from various caches and hidden crevices, hastily yet silently making their way to the street where the suspicious man was. The man didn’t even take notice of the hero approaching him, muttering something under his breath, clearly in a panic. The Celestial tapped his shoulder tentatively to get his attention. “Sir?” Two asked slowly, making the man turn around quickly in a jerk reaction, pupils fully dilated as if he was drugged. The hero blinked and quickly retracted his arm, quickly realizing that whoever this man was, he was in a very unstable state.

  “What do you want, dude?! You wanna fucking die?!” the man snarled at the innocuous man in front of him, pulling away quickly, eyes darting all over as if to check that they were alone. The hero raised an eyebrow, finally getting a proper full view of the man’s face, confirming that he indeed was probably the man from the criminal database. “Look,” Two said slowly and calmly, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder gently once more, “If you are who I think you are, sir, it’d be wise to hear me out. Just come quietly and I can at least promise tha-” he didn’t get to finish his sentence, the man having punched straight through his abdomen and out the other side, destroying all of Two’s internal organs in an instant before pulling back his now bloodied arm. The man’s teeth grit intensely, his eyes glowing slightly, flicking his bloodied hand to get the droplets of blood off it before giving the still-standing Two a backhand so powerful it sent his body flying into the wall of a nearby store, his body practically disintegrating into a red mist. The man sighed, quickly hiding his bloody hand into his pocket before quickly continuing on, walking even faster than before. Damn civilians!! How did he even know who I was?! Whatever the case, I need to get out of here NOW before more people recognise me!! I will NOT tarnish the Destructor family name by being locked up, no way!!!! But as he was deep in his own thoughts, he bumped into someone else.

  He grit his teeth in frustration, turning around to look at who it was this time with clenched fists, ready to pulverize whoever was in his way. But then his gaze rested on… a child? A small kid, no older than ten. “I told you to surrender already, mister,” the child spoke calmly, suddenly raising his little arm and revealing the gun in his hand. Destructor Jr’s eyes widened as a shot rang out across the city, waking up at least a few residents. The child-hero narrowed his eyes, taking a few steps back as the four other Two’s came out into view from the four cardinal directions, each one holding a military special ops rifle, immediately all pointing at Destructor, who was still standing as if unscathed. A drop of blood ran down his forehead slowly, putting a hand to his wound slowly and wincing at the pain before looking back down at the child, fear slowly creeping into him as he understood just who he was facing.

  “H-Horde?!” he exclaimed fearfully, speaking the hero’s nickname, his voice stuttering violently. All the Two’s tilted their heads simultaneously, all aiming their guns at the man and flicking them to full auto as red dots from laser sights appeared all over the criminal’s body. “Last chance,” the child spoke coldly, raising the gun to Destructor Jr.’s head for a second time. The criminal took a step back, looking around at the other four. SHIT!!! I need to get out of here NOW, before more arrive!! He revealed his bloodied hand and in a single movement grabbed the child’s head before smashing it into the ground so hard it made a crater, killing Two instantly. And yet, despite having done all of that in less than half a second, the child had managed to shoot him thrice in the chest. And at the same time, all the others opened fire in tandem as soon as the hero noticed any murderous intent, shooting from all directions at the superhuman in a shower of lead.

  Destructor Jr. winced, already feeling all the bullets hit and pierce his skin, making more and more small wounds all over his body relentlessly. It was the equivalent of being bit by fire ants; not particularly painful on their own, but overwhelming in such numbers. He still shook his head anyway, shrugging off the gunfire and locking onto one of Two’s, rushing towards her as fast as he could - whom, judging from her looks, she was probably the mother of the executed child. The Two’s eventually ran out of bullets right in the middle of Destructor Jr’s charge; after which they all in an eerily coordinated manner dropped the empty magazines from their guns and locked in new ones in such a fast and efficient manner that it made it clear that every last one of them was an elite trained soldier. The criminal didn’t get even two seconds of respite before the hail of bullets resumed. He growled as he neared the woman, swinging his arm forward in anger, only for her to jump up and unto his back with surprising agility, suddenly grabbing onto the back of his shirt and pressing the barrel of her gun directly onto the back of his head, shooting him point blank in full auto. “Give up now. The longer you resist, the worse your punishment,” Two advised him calmly, her face lit up from the muzzle flash. The criminal’s eyes widened, yowling in pain and quickly grabbing onto his assailant, crushing her shoulders before throwing her over his head and onto a nearby building with so much force that she smashed right through the wall and onto the other side, continuing to shoot at her foe until the very moment she made impact with the wall and died. Destructor Jr. was breathing unevenly, looking back and at the other three, who were slowly approaching while continuing to shoot, like a wall of hellfire that relentlessly hunted him down. As he looked into their eyes, he noticed a faint glow in Two’s pupils, insanity and fear having seemingly gripped his mind like a vice. The criminal quickly turned away, holding the back of his head with a pained whimper and running off as fast as he could, his superhuman strength allowing him to be much faster than Two’s top speed; even if every single one of them was as fast as a top athlete.

  Two tsk’d, the three of them lowering their weapons and instead collectively funneling into a nearby skyscraper, huddling into an elevator and hitting the last floor. Meanwhile, Two was currently flying a military attack helicopter through the country from a nearby military base, heading for Ashgabat, aiming for that specific building. The hero took the moment of rest to think for a moment, the other 999,993 Two’s spread all over the world continuing their day as normal. He pondered on the helicopter, looking down at the medal that symbolized him being a field marshal of the Turkmenistan national army. Destructor Jr, the son of the infamous Destructor. Real name; Randy. He doesn’t seem to know where he’s going or what he’s doing; meaning letting him escape and following him to a Rebellion base is futile. Whatever the case, killing him isn’t a good idea either… pissing off his father would be disastrous. Or would it? No, it definitely would. I’ll take him alive. Two spotted the building, the other three spreading out to the corners of the roof so the helicopter would have space. As the helicopter began to land, the other three jumped onto the vehicle before it even touched the ground, the helicopter immediately beginning to ascend again and just as quickly head off, without needing to touch the ground. That was one of the bonuses of having everyone be the same person; no need to talk or coordinate between people, making everything extremely fast and efficient. The hero turned on the searchlights on the helicopter, another one taking position in the helicopter's minigun while the other two - which included the father of the child - grabbed the rocket launchers stuffed into a box in the back.

  It did not matter how fast Destructor Jr. was with his enhanced body, there was simply no way he could outrun a literal military helicopter. When he looked up to notice the helicopter following him, Destructor felt nothing but dread rise from his stomach, his face turning pale as he felt a wave of nausea wash over him. Why?? Of ALL the heroes that could have possibly come to stop him, why Two?! It wasn’t that the second among the Celestials was known for being particularly brutal with his enemies or even particularly sadistic, but rather what was truly scary about them was their track record. “Two is unstoppable. It’s as simple as that, no one can ever hope to beat that thing once it’s got you in its sights. Nowhere is safe, no one can be trusted. Personally? I’d just give up,” one of the inmates whom Destructor Jr. had befriended in prison had told him one night as they discussed their past. But even worse than his official reputation, there was the lingering question that every single person had about the Celestial, but collectively ignored out of fear. A question that most importantly the Association and Two themself refused to answer. Where do more of them come from after one of them dies? Conspiracy theories ranged from something akin to mitosis, being grown in a lab, or straight up stealing other people’s bodies. Beyond that, there’s also the fact that I am the only person, besides Three, who can tell at a glance who is or isn’t one of them. Three can tell because Two has a very peculiar psychological profile that she can detect at a glance, but for me it’s a different story. That is because Two has a very defining feature, even if it is almost impossible to tell to the untrained eye; his eyes indeed do glow - just in a very peculiar way. Two’s irises don’t glow with power or emotion like those of normal people, but rather there is a strange glitter-like effect in his pupils that intensifies a small amount whenever they are agitated or are exerting themselves. Still, it is nearly imperceptible.

  Destructor Jr was currently debating with himself the pros and cons to surrendering, but his thought process was interrupted when he suddenly felt himself be pelted by a barrage of bullets, Two opening fire from the minigun from the helicopter. The criminal winced in pain, the dozens of projectiles burrowing into his skin painfully as he dodged into an alleyway. The hero stopped firing the instant he was out of sight, not wanting to cause collateral damage by shooting into the residential buildings. The sound of bullets striking the streets was finally enough for the general population to start waking up and wondering what the hell was going on, and it didn’t take long for the first citizens to spot the helicopter with a machine gun flying above, the Association insignia engraved on it. He’ll try to blend in with the crowd. Two thought disdainfully, maneuvering the helicopter around to cut the ex-convict off on the other side of the alleyway. I need to find a way to corner him before the crowd panics. The Celestial turned to look at the buildings on either side of the alley he currently knew Destructor was in, turning the minigun towards the walls and opening fire. This would accomplish two very important things, despite the high property damage that firing a minigun at two residential buildings would cause. First, it would be suppressing fire to keep the criminal from coming out. And second, it would encourage the people inside said buildings to panic and get out of there as soon as possible. The faster the people get out of those buildings, the sooner I can capture Destructor’s son. Thankfully, the hero’s prediction wasn’t off. The people inside the buildings were in quite the rush to get out of there as soon as they realized that their building was getting shot at, despite the fact that 10 times out of 10 it is safer to remain inside a building being shot at than to try and escape it. But humans are panicky animals who act irrationally. The Celestial thought with a mental shrug, trying to spot where Destructor Jr currently was. One of the Two’s with a rocket launcher had been constantly staring at the starting end of the alley while the other had been analyzing the other end, which meant that the hero could confirm that the criminal hadn’t left through either end. Climbing and escaping from the roofs was also out of the picture, seeing as the helicopter was in the sky and therefore he would be spotted immediately. And finally, the sewers were also impossible, since the hero had long since memorized the layout of every important city in the world and he knew there was no manhole in that alley.

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  Two took the opportunity and got off the minigun as soon as he was certain nobody was still inside either building, the other two mounting their rocket launchers and getting into position, firing simultaneously at either building, immediately beginning to reload their weapons before the rockets even made contact. An explosion resounded across the entire city as the rockets came into contact with the buildings, the structures collapsing diagonally, falling into the openings for the alley; essentially walling off the small strip of road. The other Two, the one who had been in the minigun, was already currently rappelling down a rope that was hanging off the helicopter, carrying a swat shield and wearing extremely heavy infantry armor. The rocket launcher wielding hero’s not far behind while the helicopter driver approached the smoldering debris while keeping an eye out for any sign that Destructor Jr had escaped the alley. The three of Two on the rope jumped off as soon as they were above solid ground, the helicopter gaining height to keep a bird’s eye view while the other three quickly took up positions. The one with the shield and armor slowly approached the alley while walking downhill from the pile of what remained of one of the houses while the rocket wielders set themselves up on the high ground, prepared to fire at any sign of movement within the cloud of dust.

  And then, suddenly, the armored Two was sent flying backwards, slamming into the rubble with a massive dent in his swat shield and vomiting blood all over his armor. Immediately, the other two fired their rockets at where the attack had come from, the loud booms rocking the floor from the sheer strength of the explosions, sirens now wailing all over as the police and ambulances were probably getting nearby. I have to end this soon, lest I get civilians involved. The Celestial thought grimly, standing back up despite the damage to his body and putting up the shield again. The rocket explosions had cleared the dust cloud, revealing a very bloodied and burnt Destructor standing in the middle of the alley, his eyes glowing intensely as he spat out a tooth. The hero in the helicopter raised an eyebrow, both surprised and somewhat amused. He’s just like his father, the resilient meathead. But… Jr, you still have a length’s to go before you can truly rival your dad. Two pondered, half proud of the young man and half disappointed that he had chosen this path in life. Destructor Jr roared like a beast, charging towards the rubble pile where the rocket launcher wielders were, but was stopped in his tracks by the armored Two smashing a taser baton against the back of his head as well as slamming the edge of the shield against Destructor’s foot mid-sprint, causing the beast to trip and fall. Before he could get back up, Two put his shield up and jumped backwards, just as a couple more RPG rounds suddenly made contact with the criminal, once more a shockwave erupting all over the alleyway as all three bodies that the hero had in active combat were sent flying back slightly. Even still, they quickly stood back up and took up positions, waiting for the enhanced human to get back up. But then Two’s eyes widened in surprise, as by the time they had recovered from the blast, Destructor Jr was already on his feet and had sprinted to where they were, suddenly smashing his fists down and crushing both rocket wielders in a single move - one with each arm - while the armored one was just barely out of reach. He quickly swung at the remaining hero, who quickly shielded himself with one arm while with the other picking up one of the RPGs the other Two’s were carrying, the impact of Destructor Jr’s punch obliterating his defending arm and sending him flying to his imminent death, but not before getting one more rocket off.

  Despite Destructor Jr’s insane durability and titanic strength, Two could tell that taking five rockets straight to the face as well as dozens of bullets had taken a severe toll on the criminal. His entire body was smoldering with burns all over, all of his hair completely singed as well as bleeding from multiple places. Destructor was on his last legs, and yet the hero was almost all out of bodies as well. Two thought for a moment, multiple of them getting up from whatever they were doing and heading for their nearest mode of transportation, but the hero hesitated. Even the next of them nearest to the battle was still at least a whole city away, and would take at least an hour to get here. I don’t have fifteen minutes, much less an hour. There’s no point in trying. All the other Two’s therefore returned to what they were doing previously, apologizing to whoever was nearby for acting strange. Instead, the last one in the helicopter circled around Destructor, making up his mind and grabbing one of the guns laying around the helicopter. He gripped the gun and the controls of the chopper tightly and looked at the criminal who was now glaring up at the helicopter with bared teeth. Something had snapped in Destructor’s son, much like what happened when his father used his power in his youth.

  Bloodlust could be seen flooding into Destructor Jr’s body, his sclera turning into an irritated red from the sheer rage. It seems I succeeded anyway. He’s not going to try to escape any time soon. Two propped the gun against the controls of the helicopter, the machine slowly turning towards where the criminal was standing. Two walked away from the controls, going to the back of the helicopter and grabbing the final rocket launcher. I should have brought anti-tank weapons instead of rockets. He chastised himself, grimacing as the helicopter kept descending, aiming straight for where the escapee was standing. Destructor Jr’s eyes widened as he realized what the hero was planning, snapping out of the bloodlust momentarily and turning around, looking at the walls of debris to his left and right, realizing the only way to escape the suicide atack would be by running the other way. Just as he turned around to make his escape, he heard the telltale whistling of a rocket, looking up, the world turning to slow motion for him at that moment as he saw the rocket fly above him, aimed directly in front of him. If he continued to run at the same pace he was going, that rocket would hit him dead on. If he slowed down, the helicopter would crash on top of him. It’s checkmate. Both him and Two thought at the same time.

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  It didn’t matter what Destructor Jr. chose to do at that moment, since Two never got to witness it. The last one on the helicopter died almost immediately after firing the rocket, since to get a clean shot he had had to jump off the helicopter and fire mid-air, dying upon landing. But the Celestial was confident that they had hit their mark. Just in case, though, one of them that had been previously relaxing and getting ready to sleep turned on the TV, switching over to the news channel for Turkmenistan. Effectively, she turned off the TV as soon as she saw the criminal’s body being lifted onto an ambulance. If he lived or died wasn’t a very big deal, but the hero was somewhat hoping he’d survive; if only to spare them the wrath of his father, and perhaps due to the little pity the Celestial could muster up for his foe.

  Two sighed and walked out of a local fast food place, taking off his uniform despite his boss angrily asking him what the hell he was doing. The hero ignored the man, not caring that he’d lose his job, his eyes set on the Hero Association building in Mumbai. Just a bit ago, as he had been preparing some burgers, he noticed the small and old TV that the restaurant had for customers to entertain themselves with had suddenly changed to the news channel, showing a squad of professional heroes show up to the Association HQ. Two immediately realized something was wrong, considering that the leader of the squad was well respected and part of the Heavenly Hundred. The Celestial ordered a taxi off the street and arrived at the HQ just in time to notice a small portal opening up near the entrance of the building and for a grinning Six to step out from it. Eight - who had been on her phone just outside the HQ - looked over at Six, recognising the man and sighing, shooing away the leader of the hero squad from earlier. “Six, I assume you saw the news,” she stated, her intense violet eyes focused on her subordinate. Six nodded and chuckled, suddenly teleporting behind her and leaning on her back with his own, striking a pose. “Why yes of course, dear Eight! And I immediately rushed here, just like you asked me to do in case of an emergency of this caliber! This is of course despite my urge to just rush in and deal with whatever is going on myself… even though I definitely could.” Eight rolled her eyes and took a step forward, making Six lose his balance for a second before he teleported to his feet and smirked. Eight retorted, grabbing her phone and dialing the agent she had sent to give Four a mission earlier, “Don’t play around so much, this is a serious situation. Let’s see, the portals I need you to open up are… So Ten is visiting his hometown so he’s probably en route to his local airport after hearing the news and Nine is probably doing the same thing, so just open up portals there respectively and I’ll tell the association agent at each place to direct them to where they have to go. Seven is already there, since it's where he lives anyway. I was just told Five is currently en-route to an airport in the Tierra de Fuego since she was in Antarctica, so you can open a portal at an airport down there too. I’m currently sending an agent to where Four is, but I’ll have him go over to his nearest airport as well. Three is currently going AWOL, having left only a text message a few hours ago saying she’s going to work overtime…” Eight groaned in frustration and Six eyed her radio, smirking devilishly while nodding along to what she was saying. Eight continued, “I’ll tell everyone to give her a call so she realizes this is urgent. As for Two-” Suddenly, Two lifted his arms and placed one on the shoulders of each of his fellow Celestials, cocking his head, the almost imperceptible glitter in his pupils glowing ever so slightly. “I’m already there.”