The Fall of Righteousness

Chapter 6: Return of the dreaded Eclipse

The guards posted outside the facility desperately babbled into their communicators as a black Porsche roared out, its tyres screeching, Bombstrike Boundrise behind the wheel. More cars raced out, jeeps this time, carrying armed men. They raised their guns and pulled triggers, bullets whizzing past the Porsche and denting its sleek bodywork. Bombstrike floored the accelerator, increasing the speed to almost 80mph, and the jeeps became nothing more than a speck in the distance. He sighed. He was finally out.

A sudden smash caught him off guard, and he peered out of the window to see what remained of the wing mirror – the bullet had blown right through it. Dented metal and smashed glass were all that was left. Five motorbikes speeded alongside him, each with a passenger riding pillion. One had positioned himself behind the car, and Bombstrike looked back to see him lifting a large structure behind him. As Bombstrike noted what it was, he gasped, but as he looked forward, he saw that he had not escaped – there was a giant fence encircling the large collection of buildings behind. He slammed the brakes down, twisting the wheel until he was facing the barrage of vehicles rushing towards him. He raced towards the motorbike, the passenger squeezing the trigger on the large contraption heavily laid out in front of him. A white streak rushed towards him, but he continued his advance. As it drew ever closer, he ducked suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and the object rushed through the car, smashing its windows and wrecking its bodywork, but fortunately, its driver was unscathed.

The motorbike's driver twisted his vehicle around, but he was too late – Bombstrike's car smashed into it, shredding the bike, and scattering its riders.

He twisted the Porsche around so that it was facing the fence. About 5 bikes remained. Flooring the accelerator, the Porsche leapt for the fence, but the motorbikes were gaining. Exactly what Bombstrike had planned. They positioned themselves so that they were squeezing Bombstrike between them. The riders reached behind them and brought out four large guns – one for each of them. The fifth bike was behind him. But suddenly, so suddenly that no one could have predicted it, he braked. And so the bullets that were supposed to hit Bombstrike embedded themselves into the opposite rider's chests. The fifth rider was caught off guard, and as he hit the Porsche, he and his bike were enveloped in a ball of flame. The five bikes tumbled into each other, and a fiery flame consumed the fence. Bombstrike now had a big enough hole for him and his car to get through.

"Stop them!" It was such a shrill cry that Bombstrike just had to look around. The two kitarchi were chasing after him – and they were gaining. Bombstrike desperately tried to outrun them, but the kitarchi were trained specially by the General – and they weren't going to let Bombstrike escape. So he would have to improvise.

Grabbing the two grenades on each side of the belt that he had retrieved from the Porsche, he threw them out of the windows, smashing them and detonating them just as the kitarchi caught up. They fell back, their suits absorbing most of the impact; but it was clear that they were out of the fight. The Porsche sped out, and no one was able to do anything to stop it.

***

Following the events of the volcanic battle with Crawler, Bombstrike worked with Lila and Eclipse to build a new Sonic Jet – bigger and better than before. It was parked on a landing strip just outside the Fortress of Justice. Luckily, Bombstrike found that the Porsche had just enough fuel to make it from Crawler's facility to his base.

Reaching the Fortress of Justice, Bombstrike was relieved to finally be with civilisation once again, instead of being stuck in an unrecognisable facility.

Discarding his Night Raider suit and replacing it with an ordinary T-shirt and jeans, Bombstrike brought out the special activation device for the vehicle – a circular black disc. Pressing his thumb on it, a door opened on the jet, recognising Bombstrike. He walked in.

It was very different from the original Sonic Jet. It didn't have any flip computers, and Bombstrike had installed a secret room for monitoring communications. Unlike the original jet, it was much bigger and bulkier, with two floors – the top one consisting of the control room, as he called it, with the holo-table and weapons decorating the walls, and the cockpit, and the bottom one containing upgraded Lazer Lightzest vehicles: the Sonic Car, Sonic Sub and a special edition that Bombstrike had added – the holo-cars: vehicles able to travel underground, underwater, on land and in the air. He hadn't finished the modifications on it yet.

Entering the control room, Bombstrike tapped the disc again, closing the door. Reaching for another gadget, one that controlled the Fortress of Justice, he pressed a button which showed a building, with a diagonal cross over it. Pressing it and reaching for the controls, as the Sonic Jet flew into the sky, the Fortress of Justice disappeared.

                                                                                                     ***

Eclipse's holiday couldn't have gone any more wrong.

It was late at night, and no one was looking out of their windows to notice the suspicious figure lurking around the crash site of a Caribbean beach resort. Bombstrike Boundrise would have liked to keep it that way.

There was nothing left of the hut, except planks of wood lying in pieces all around. Now Eclipse knew that with the help of the General, Crawler had caused a massive tornado, ripping apart not only Eclipse's hut but everything else in the bounds of the beach residence. It was clear that Crawler and the General wanted to wipe out the last of Lazer Lightzest's team – but he hadn't counted on Bombstrike escaping. It was very likely that the General was hunting for him. Suddenly, he sensed movement. Pressing the Sonic Jet's controller disc, he pointed the front of the aircraft straight at him, activating the electro-balls: stunning weapons, in the sense that they stunned. He quickly stepped out of its path.

The sand was suddenly moved apart, a figure emerging from it. As sand leaked out of his clothes and his ears, Bombstrike tapped the disc again, deactivating the electro-balls. Stunning this person wouldn't be very useful for him.

Eclipse Power stepped out of the shadows.