Crystal Ch. 14

*****Hi dear readers, it's DM23 with a new chapter waiting for you. For those of you are still confused as to what Sorceress' powers are, let me explain before you read the story. Just like Dictator Jones her powers affects the mind of whoever she attacks. However, unlike Dictator Jones, Sorceress' powers of illusion focus heavily on the five senses: sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell, with sight being the most she uses and smell being the least. When someone 'pays attention' to the illusion, their mind depicts it as reality, which makes the person's nerves react in a certain way depending on whatever they see. Which means, in vice versa, if someone is able to ignore Sorceress' illusions and focus on something or someone besides the illusion, then her powers has little effect against them, if any at all. I really do try to come up with a different illusion for Sorceress to use, although it's getting tough now that I realize that I've used her favorites. With that being said, I hope you like this story and don't forget to leave your comments about what you thought of this story. –DM23*****

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Heroes/Heroines mentioned

Commander Shinobay – Force fields, Eye vision

Osprey – Bird-like abilities

Ghost – Invisibility, Intangibility

Zipper – Enhanced Speed

Shell – Bulletproof, Enhanced strength

Jasper – Pyrokinetic, Flight (Temporarily Suspended)

Dark Matter – Dark Matter Manipulation

Crystal – Cryokinetic, Hydrokinetic

Hyper – Flight, Hyperbeams

Cherry – Teleporter, Martial artist

Dot – Cat-like abilities

Dr. Walton – Multitasking

Parents of Heroes/Heroines

Solarium – Light Manipulation, Flight (Hyper's father)

Icicle – Frosting, Minor Weather Manipulation (Crystal's mother)

Reaper – Healing Factor, Super Strength (Shell's father)

Raptor – Enhanced Speed, Throwing Knives (Zipper's father)

Cinnamon – Teleporter, Martial artist (Cherry's mother)

Sorceress – Illusion Manipulation (Dark Matter's mother)

Villains/Villainesses mentioned:

Dictator Jones - Mind control

Asphalt - Concrete-like skin, Enhanced Physical Abilities

C4 - Ninja, Explosives

One-Eye - Sniper, Intangibility

Acrobat - Echolocation, Flight

Dr. Genie - Mad scientist specializing in splicing

Ruthless - Enhanced strength, Martial artist

Mistress - Telekinetic, Flight

Giggles – Invisibility

"I should've known you guys wouldn't have been able to bring her in yourselves," Dictator Jones sighed as he looked over the mentally wounded villains that had attempted to attack Sorceress. "Clearly, that was a rash decision on my part, which I heavily apologize for. What we need to do is come up with a plan that can counter Sorceress' ability without tipping her off what we're about to do."

"Can't we just shoot her?" One-Eye offered.

"You had the chance and you missed," Giggles laughed.

"Actually, I didn't get a chance to fire," One-Eye corrected.

"That's still the same thing," Giggles shook her head. "The moment you shouted out for us to take her on simultaneously, she took care of you."

"You were also incapacitated, let's not forget that," One-Eye reminded her.

"I sure was, but at least I got a hand on her, unlike any of you guys," Giggles pointed out.

"And yet she chased you away with a pack of dogs," Ruthless sneered. "Obviously, she wouldn't have used that illusion on me since I wasn't going to cry like a bitch and run with my tail between my legs."

"You want to say that again?" Giggles demanded.

"I sure will," Ruthless glared. "You weren't laughing when that illusion was making you scream for me to come help you."

Giggles automatically turned invisible and a second later, a knife was embedded in Ruthless' shoulder as Giggles stabbed her. Ruthless went down to one knee momentarily, but was back on her feet in a heartbeat as she did kicked out into the empty air before her. Giggles knew Ruthless was aiming for her, and with her invisibility, Ruthless' kick was a bit too high, giving Giggles room to duck underneath the villainess' leg. However, she didn't expect Ruthless to follow up with a second leg attack and was kicked straight against Dictator Jones' desk.

"Only a coward would fight from the shadows," Ruthless mocked as she took out the knife from her shoulder. "It takes true guts to stand and go toe to toe with me."

"And this desk costs over two thousand dollars," Dictator Jones glared at both of them. "I may not have paid for this in cash, but that doesn't mean you can break it. Now, regarding the counter measures against Sorceress, if you can successfully shoot her, One-Eye, then go ahead. The rest of us will distract her so you can make the shot. We only have a handful of opportunities so let's not waste them."

C4 stared in wonder at the villains that fought Sorceress. From his point of view, it seemed as if they just got a little mud on their clothes from around on the ground. Seriously, he knew she had a mental power similar to Dictator Jones, but it seemed less powerful than his. Sure, he had observed it first hand when he first encountered her, but seeing the villains now after their confrontation makes it seem ridiculous that they were beaten in the first place.

As the villains left his office, there was a seismic crash as a turret was shove through the farthest wall. Smoke and dust blew in as the scientists on the ground floor rushed to the safety hanger.

"JONES!" shouted Sorceress as she stomped her way inside.

"You guys know the plan!" Dictator Jones ordered.

Seeking revenge for being the first one to be brought down, Asphalt jumped to the ground floor and rushed at Sorceress to give her a taste of his fist. When he was a step away from her, she vomited scorching, hot magma right on his face, making him automatically fall to his knees as he howled in pain. Taking this as his cue, One-Eye fired at her instantly, but he only hit an illusion. From a different location, a pair of lasers were fired and hit One-Eye in the leg, making him lose his balance and fall off the stairs to the ground below.

Seeing how ineffective One-Eye's plan was, the villains rushed to where they saw the lasers being fired from to confront Sorceress. The moment they were close, Sorceress made the ground split open and the villains, aside from Acrobat and Mistress, fell into the ground. Acrobat attacked immediately as he swooped down grab the heroine. She dodged skillfully but was immediately grabbed by Mistress once again. This time, Sorceress made a construction beam get loose and swing low, bashing Mistress in the face and send her crashing right into Acrobat. With no one else to stand in her way, Sorceress walked up to Dictator Jones' office, this time to put him away for good.

"Mom, where are you?" Dark Matter called as he and the other heroes stepped through the hole made in the wall.

"Damn it," Sorceress muttered to herself.

The reason being was because the moment the villains heard Dark Matter call for his mother, they snapped out of the illusion and climbed to their feet, ready to get their revenge on Sorceress for, yet again, defeating them with her illusions. One-Eye was the first on his feet and he fired at her as he had originally planned.

This time, instead of missing the shot, the bullet hit a shield placed by Commander Shinobay, who fired his own lasers at One-Eye, forcing him to turn intangible and move to find cover. Asphalt ran up to the stairs and began to pull it down but Shell rushed ahead and crashed into him. Asphalt backhanded him, but Shell stood his ground and they began trading blows, uppercuts coming from Shell and left hooks to his unprotected jaw from Asphalt. Mistress was the one who brought down the stairs as she tore it apart to throw at the heroes. Dark Matter blocked the huge pieces with his shield, giving Hyper the chance to hit Mistress with a hyperbeam.

Acrobat saw his chance arise, so he flew at Sorceress as she climbed an illusionary stairway. The moment he got close though, Osprey cut him off. Weighing his options, Acrobat realized he had a better chance at defeating Osprey than Sorceress and kicked the hero in the guts. Instead of falling to the ground as Acrobat had hoped, Osprey stayed in mid-air long enough to retaliate with a punch of his own and sent them both to the ground.

Nearby where they landed, Crystal was on the defensive as Ruthless brought on a relentless attack. She knew Crystal's ice shield could only take so much damage before it breaks, so it was only a matter of time before she got to punch her rival's light out. One punch later, the shield shattered, but it was Crystal who, beat her to the punch, surprising the villainess with a punch to the face that sent her stumbling back, giving Crystal the chance to go on the offensive. She made her iconic ice hammer and swung up, catching Ruthless in the chin and sending the villainess back a few feet.

Suddenly, the scientists that fled for safety rushed out to the scene with new weapons they had been working on, clearly showing whose side they were on. They fired at the heroes, forcing them scatter and find cover from the random projectiles aimed at them. Everyone except Cherry, that is. She teleported behind the scientists and immediately disarmed a few of them, taking the gadgets for herself. When the other scientists turned to face her, Dot and Zipper moved in and took them out from behind like Cherry did.

With all the combat going on, Ghost was keeping Giggles from critically injuring his comrades, knowing they couldn't see her due to her invisibility (though Dot could smell her scent). Even though her primary target was the Commander, she deviated from her usual task and went after Crystal first. Ghost chased her down before she could make it over to the heroine and pulled her away from Crystal. Tired of his interference, Giggles stabbed at him but he dodged and quickly put himself between Crystal and Giggles.

She threw multiple knives at him to make quick work of him, but Ghost turned intangible just as fast. Suddenly getting an idea, Giggles turned and threw the knives at the other heroes, knowing that Ghost couldn't protect them all. Despite it being a good idea, the knives didn't hit any of their targets due to the constant movement. With her back turned, Giggles didn't anticipate Ghost to take the initiative to tackle her to the ground and apply handcuffs to her, gladly appreciating the fact that she couldn't turn intangible like he could.

Back at Sorceress, she was having a tough climbing her illusionary stairs with all the hazardous projectiles aimlessly flying in the air. When she did make it to the top, she burst into Dictator Jones' office where he was waiting for her with a mind blast that made the heroine crumble from the unexpected attack. Being mind-controlled, the Widow pulled out her sword to end Sorceress' life, but a black cloak instantly covered Sorceress, protecting her from the fatal stab that the Widow was about to perform.

Dictator Jones sent a mind blast at Dark Matter as he came into the office as well, but he didn't fall. Instead, he ripped the door off its hinges and threw it at Dictator Jones and the Widow, forcing both of them to jump to the side. No longer being attacked, Sorceress stood back on her feet and made the walls be blown away and allowing a giant scorpion to stab at the villain. Not falling for the illusion completely, Dictator Jones fought to gain control of Sorceress' mind and end the illusion before he was truly 'convinced'.

As for Dark Matter and the Widow, despite being in the same room, the two of them were not aware of the illusion. The Widow was focused on getting back to Dictator Jones' side and eliminating Sorceress since she was a threat to the dictator. Dark Matter was protecting his mother, knowing that the Widow would end his mother's life if given the chance.

The Widow pulled out dual 9mm pistols, firing them automatically and forcing Dark Matter to set up a shield. With the shield still up, he made sticky strings shoot out from the shield in an attempt to web the Widow to the wall behind her. Like the expert she was, the Widow dodged every one of the strings and even managed to get quite close to the shield before Dark Matter made it push her back. Movement in his peripheral vision made him set up a shield in time before an explosion knocked him to his feet and caused him to have a headache.

"This is the best present I could have ever received," C4 grinned stepping through the doorway. Dark Matter made another shield immediately, this time separating Sorceress and Dictator Jones from him and the villains before him. "You being killed by me, IN FRONT of Dictator Jones. That should make me more useful in his eyes."

Drawing a sword, he rushed at Dark Matter and swung his sword at the hero. Dark Matter made a sword at the last minute and parried the attack. Dark Matter wanted to make his own attack, but C4 moved first as he spun and swung his sword again, aiming for Dark Matter's head. Again, Dark Matter blocked the attack, then lunged at the villain, although he knew it was going to be to no avail. Of course, C4 sidestepped the attack and kicked the sword from Dark Matter's hand. In the next second, he slashed at Dark Matter's arm, only to be blocked by a pair of gauntlets the hero made. Struggling against C4's attacks, Dark Matter was unaware of the Widow's movements, giving her the chance to sneak up and put him in a headlock.

"Blow up that shield!" the Widow demanded of C4.

Using his powers, Dark Matter flipped the Widow over his head and sent her straight at C4 before he could pull out his explosives. He didn't get a moment to rest, unfortunately, since the Widow and C4 were back on their feet before he could catch his breath. Taking the initiative, Dark Matter rushed at C4 first and slammed him into the wall. The Widow jumped back and fired her pistols, hitting Dark Matter in his legs.

"Take down that shield!" the Widow demanded again.

Grunting in agony, Dark Matter took control of her pistols and sent them flying into C4's head. He was too late, though, as the ninja had already dropped a grenade, which exploded with an even bigger blast that sent the villains and the hero flying to the back wall. Not only that, the walls and ceiling actually collapsed this time, helping Dictator Jones break out of Sorceress' illusion of the giant scorpion. He raised a gun to her face, but she slapped it out of his hand and punched him square in the face that sent him to the ground.

"Let's go, Dark Matter," Sorceress said. Painfully, Dark Matter made a wheelchair for himself and had it roll out the door, followed his mother as she made the ramp for them to go down. Calling to the other heroes and heroines, Sorceress said, "Let's get out of here!"

"Dark Matter, what happened to you?" Crystal asked as she rushed over to him.

"I fought two villains at the same time," he muttered as he rubbed his throbbing legs. The wheelchair followed the heroes to the out the hole in the wall and raced with them to the rendezvous point set up by the other Superior Squad members. "I hope I never have to do that again."

"It's not easy is it?" Shell asked.

"You did the same thing?" Dark Matter replied.

"Yeah, back when we had that big fight with Pollen and her forces," Shell told him. "I can honestly say that I was beaten to a pulp that day. You have it easy."

"I don't think so," Dark Matter smiled. "It might hurt, but I rather get that than get shot."

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"That brought back a lot of memories," Reaper smiled as they arrived at the Heroes Tower. "Just like back in the day, Sorceress, you would rush in, make a ruckus and we'd follow to make sure you didn't get hurt."

"Yeah, but she would do half the work for us," Cherry laughed.

"Hey, if the plan works, why change it?" Sorceress shrugged.

"What plan?" Commander Shinobay requested. "From what I saw, you left us in the dust. When we got there, you had temporarily put down every villain there."

"Amazing, right?" Sorceress smiled.

"That wasn't a compliment," the Commander argued. "Sorceress, you must realize that you're not a one-woman army. Since you're a heroine, you're on a team. I can't have you acting on your own without me knowing what you're about to do."

"Come on Commander," Sorceress smirked. "Do I really have to tell you everything I'm about to do?"

"Regarding the safety and well-being of the citizens and anything dealing with the villains, yes," Commander Shinobay replied. "Remember, the Superior Six is a retired team of heroes and heroines. If you want to go back out onto the field, you'll have to follow by my rules."

"He's right, Sorceress," Solarium agreed. "Even we take heed to his instructions and we came before him. It's not right to disrupt his authority because it'll set a bad example for the younger heroes and heroines, not to mention it'll be harder for the next person in authority."

"So, what I did was bad, right?" Sorceress asked.

"In a way, yes," the Commander shrugged. "If you had shared the information about Dictator Jones' secret base, I could've come up with a well-engineered strategy and bag all the villains at the same time instead of defending you in a hit and run tactic. Now, because of what you did, Dictator Jones will definitely be gearing up for revenge, which means we'll have to stay on high alert to be ready for when he comes."

"If he knows what's good for him, then he won't," Sorceress replied.

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The hideout was in ruins. The hole that Sorceress had busted through was the same hole that she came through before, only this time it was a bigger than before. The stairs that was ripped in two pieces was bent, twisted, and definitely unusable. Half of Dictator Jones' office was gone after C4's grenade exploded. Fortunately, the monsters weren't present or else things would've gotten bloody real quick.

And that was the state of the hideout that Dr. Genie returned to.

Due to Sorceress exposing the hideout so quickly after it was recently acquired, Dr. Genie had taken it upon herself to find a more appropriate location to place their secret base. Despite her earnest search, all that she could come up with was the desert and she was NOT going there. Of course, along the way she had taken her pets (Pterror, Skinny, the Yeti, Bigfoot, and the Eradicator, also known as Baby Pookipums) and her Silver team to scare away any wandering eyes, but (un)fortunately, there were no incidents during her trip.

Of course, that's what she had thought before she returned back to the hideout. Dr. Genie was only naturally surprised when she made a breakthrough in some sort of scientific way, but at the moment, she was definitely surprised right now. Literally, the turrets outside were CRUSHED as if a giant had simply grabbed it. At least now she knew not to depend on technology.

There were bullets everywhere, villains and villainesses lying on the ground and being ignored by the scientists who were taking inventory of all the gadgets and weapons lost in the battle.

"Dr. Genie, where were you?!" Dictator Jones demanded.

"Why? What'd I miss?" she asked, directing Pterror and Skinny back to their cubes.

"Sorceress breached the base again . . . with the heroes following behind her," Dictator Jones gritted his teeth.

"Then I'm glad I wasn't here," Dr. Genie replied.

"What does that mean?" Dictator Jones demanded.

"Jones, you know I don't do all that violence," she shook her head. "That's why I make creatures that can."

"You could have provided a little bit of resistance," Dictator Jones said.

"And possibly damage myself?" Dr. Genie asked. "No thanks."

"And yet I'm supposed to acquire scientists for you to use as bait and experiment on, right?" Dictator Jones demanded. "How am I going to keep them coming in if you keep using them as you see fit?"