Built Different [Cyborg Superhero ProgFant]

Two things immediately struck me upon stepping out into my first challenge.

The first was the breadth and scale of technology used. What once was a large area of flat concrete was now around a dozen buildings. Even with this only being my quarter of the stadium, the size of everything was surprising. Fires raged around several buildings, smoke billowing from windows. The texture of the walls was the typical brickwork you could see on any street within the city, albeit parts were scorched.

Augmented reality. Everything an illusion or projection that looked close enough to the real thing. That said, even if the flames were part of the show, I could feel the heat from them over here standing by the bunker. Faint wisps of smoke made it through my re-breather. I was sold.

The second thing that had me pause in place was that the screen had told me this was a hostage rescue mission. With the fires and disarray, it felt more like a disaster rescue scenario. I didn't exactly have the time or opportunity to seek clarification. Securing innocents and eliminating hostiles was the only parameter that mattered. The fire and potential dangers were just adding to the difficulty and distraction.

Another cry for help came from one of the taller buildings. Difficult to truly pinpoint their exact location from down here. A shell clicked into my gun-arm chamber. While a time limit hadn't been imposed, I knew I had to be conservative with my actions.

With a hum of power, I bolted from my position toward the nearest small building. Only two stories, but currently one of the few suffering most from the fires. I raised my arm as I approached the door at speed and put a Water shot through the empty window. I slid into the door and burst it from the hinges, a wave of heat washing over me as the remaining flames burned hungrily through the fresh oxygen.

The interior was a plain, mostly unfurnished space. Stairs to go up, and some burned wooden furniture in heaps. Stacked like a bonfire, as if it had been placed and set alight on purpose.

I had two advantages in this situation. Gas-mask and goggles that could see through smoke. As my spent shell bounced on the floor, the rescinding fire hissed as my Water seeped across the concrete to put it out. The outlined shape of a prone figure caught my attention. As I bent down and picked them up, they were either dead or a dummy, as they hung heavy and limp in my grip. Smoke inhalation.

With my eyes on the rest of the room, I backed out of the doorway. Back over by my green bunker, two zones were highlighted on the floor on either side. One for me to put hostages, highlighted with a green cross. The other had a blue shield, probably for any criminals apprehended. I jogged over and placed the figure down in the hostage area. Nothing changed, but they weren't exactly being held hostage, either.

The criminals were more likely to be in the buildings that were not on fire. Clearly, they weren't all vacant, however. A test of prioritizing. Having Clara's drone would be too much of an advantage in this instance, able to find out where all targets were located. I just had to do the best of my ability.

Surely the assassination would save me from a potential embarrassing loss in the Arena if I messed this up.

I held up my left arm and fired my grapple. The top of it clipped the top corner of the taller building and held stuck. My legs powered up, and I used my momentum to hop onto the first house that I extinguished. The second jump took me high into the air, and I braced myself. As the grapple pulled me up, my body angled toward the top-floor window.

There was no glass, so I swung through the gap, barely avoiding getting caught on the edges. On the inside were three figures.

I landed into a roll as my grapple detached from the outside. Nerve shot left my gun-arm. All three figures were basic automatons. One sat on the floor, their main plated parts a soft white color. Two stood, with red accents to their metallic form. The handguns they held were also a good indicator that these were the criminals.

They hadn't been expecting me to appear through the window, and it took them a second to turn and raise their weapons. While my Nerve shot wasn't meant to work on non-biological targets, the automaton got the picture and dropped. As I rolled back to my feet, I lashed forward with a kick at the second.

It sent them back to strike the wall, their front plating buckling from the attack. Their gun clattered to the floor as they slumped down, inert.

Hopefully they didn't take away points for damaging the props. I looked down at the hostage. While there were no feature on its rounded head, it looked up at me.

[Do not be afraid. I'm here to save you. Are there any others in this building?]

"Affirmative. There are 'two' other known hostages. Two floors down, unless moved."

The fact that I received a response was briefly surprising, even if it was delivered rather robotically. Not that I was one to judge. I turned my attention to the staircase leading down from the room before looking over at the two criminals. They needed securing, and I was thankful that Clara was insistent that I checked my gear several times to make sure I had everything.

[Remain here until I give you the all clear.]

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"Affirmative."

I used the zip-tie cuffs to restrain the two criminals and put aside the thought of how I was meant to get them outside and to the marked zone easily. Once all the threats were neutralized, I could focus on the difficult job.

From my vest, I plucked off a Smoke grenade and tossed it down the stairwell. Being in an enclosed space felt familiar. Comfortable. With my purpose secured, the rest of the challenge was mostly going through the motions.

The reaction times of the criminal-bots were lacking, to the point where I was worried about the level of lower Ranked heroes. This would probably only be a tough ask of someone without powers, and only basic training. I cleared two buildings of hostiles, firing Water shots at the flaming buildings every chance I got.

Once I was sure that line of sight was clear, I moved most of the hostages to their zone outside. Taking the restrained automatons downstairs and across to their zone was more difficult, due to their reluctance to comply.

I was halfway through transporting them, with two buildings left to go, when a large buzzer blared through the air.

The opaque walls obscuring the crowd faded away to being invisible again, revealing the cheering masses. I looked up at the Natural Disasters, and they seemed mostly positive. Internally, I wasn't sure if I was meant to fully clear everything in that time. A hero's job wasn't one half-done.

"Congratulations to our heroes," the host's voice echoed around the arena. "Let's give them another round of applause as they return to the center stage."

That seemed rather impossible while these buildings were… As I thought this, part of the terrain flattened itself. A strip of land eight feet wide sunk, bisecting some of the buildings to form a path at ground level from here to the middle.

I gave the criminal-bot a pat on the shoulder and left him there. As I walked down the created corridor, I gave the crowd a wave. Although I didn't particularly care for fame and attention, it couldn't hurt my chances here. Especially once the dust had settled. Winner or not, we were all fighting for the same slice of validation and career-advancing approval from the general public.

Now almost at the raised area in the center, the return of the surrounding arena was slowly sinking back to ground level. Fires extinguished as buildings of all sizes submerged into the floor of the stadium. From a brief glance, it appeared as though the other three had their individual arenas set up the same as mine.

One of them seemed to be a lot more on fire, however.

"Please gather round while we get prepared for the second challenge," Gary said, his flashy smile dazzling as he looked around. "We'll go over the current results, which I'm sure you're all eager to know!"

I stepped onto the stage and flexed my fingers. From the looks of the other three here, they were hoping that I was a massive failure. Blue Bulwark was covered in soot, and Maestro might have just spent all his time practicing his annoyed glare. It was objectively impressive.

The host adjusted his suit, waiting for the final rooftops to sink below our current level before continuing. He raised his arms open, and the sound dampening lowered the clamor from the audience.

"Looks like somebody needs to double-check their equations, as in last place we have Snake-guy! Forgot to carry more than the one, maybe!"

I pulled a face. Was I out of the loop on a joke?

"Third place—due to some unfortunate doorway dimensions—is Blue Bulwark."

The hero crossed his arms and shirked the rest of us on the platform. Maybe just putting on a show, as it was far too early to start getting emotional about the prospect of losing. We had only just begun, and there would be plenty of chance to-

"In second, Gunquake!" Gary gestured to me. "The machine man clearly has a soft heart, as he protected the most innocent lives… not to mention saving some property damage!"

I was wrong. This was over. One look at the foulest shit-eating grin I had seen in my life, and suddenly the applause of the crowd wasn't enough to hype me up. Maestro looked as though he had just been told he won the whole thing, not just the first round.

"With a tiny margin, Maestro is our winner for the first challenge!"

Unsurprisingly, he played it up for the crowd, bowing and rubbing it in. My eyes were already scanning the crowd for a different reason.

//Clara: Nothing to report.
//Dubs: Keep on recon, I shouldn't require you for the challenges.
//Clara: Understood.

The help of a drone would either be minimal or overpowering. Even if she was my sidekick and an integral part of my cybernetic herodom, I wanted to win this on my own merits. If I could even win.

Gary waved the audience to silence again as he spoke. "Our next challenge will test both the mettle and the metal of our entrants. Strength and agility laid bare before your very eyes!"

To the southern end of the flat stadium floor, another bunker room emerged. This one wider, near the south-east corner.

"If our four heroes could kindly go to the waiting room, we will get the Arena set up!"

I didn't need telling twice. Before he had even finished his sentence, I was a step off of the platform and on my way. Something was itching at the back of my mind and irritating me. More than just Maestro's smug glare boring into the back of my hood. With how much magic and tech radiated from the surroundings, it was overwhelming for my senses. It was hard to take stock of individual strands of power like I usually could.

While the rest of the heroes showboated a little before reaching the bunker, I arrived there first and entered. Much like the smaller one from before, it was plainly decorated inside. A single screen, currently inert. A handful of chairs and a desk. Bulwark crouched down to fit in the door, with the other two following close behind.

As soon as they were in, the door slid across and clicked shut.

Maestro wasted no time in stepping up to me, confidence radiating from him like a sickness.

"Nerves get the best of you?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Not the initial showing you were hoping for, I assume."

[Are you really gloating so soon? Is being insufferable one of your powers?]

The man was unflappable. "Survive till the end and they might throw us in a duel to decide the winner. Then you'll find out exactly what my powers are."

[I would not advise a fight with me.]

"Oh? Do you think your robot parts could protect against my magic?"

[Better than you could defend against a bullet.]

Blue bulwark cleared his throat and grunted at the screen. We looked over to see the message now displayed on it. The next challenge was an obstacle course. We'd be competing against each other like a race. First to the finish line won.

Abilities were allowed, but no direct combat. Ten seconds until the door opened. Maestro gave me a sneer and stepped away. Out of ball-kicking range, which was probably a good idea. No doubt he wanted to use these last few seconds to come up with some ways of setting me back once it began.

"Hiss," Snake-guy said. The actual word.

My right eye twitched as I rolled my shoulders out and turned toward the opening door.

I was ready for a long holiday after this.