Self Destructing Messenger

#24 - It's Good That Women Don't Have This

The explosions were more frequent as they pulled up. It was more suburbia, another picture perfect house with the exception of how the far end of it was on fire. Azalea, Cayce and Gia dashed across the front yard, then crept up the side of the house. The blonde peered around the corner and saw Pyro pinned down behind an overturned patio table. At the far end of the yard, the Man in Black and Hunter had apparently teamed up. The duo had donned battle gear. The Man in Black was wielding a shovel and Hunter had a bent trashcan lid duct taped to his body.

Suddenly something began to hiss. Azalea's eyes scanned until she saw a glow coming from a birdhouse, one of those deluxe pole mounted super bird motels.

The Man in Black saw her see this and yelled out, "Run princess! He got to the WMDs!" A whistle tore through the air and the Man in Black swung his shovel. Sparks flew everywhere as he made contact with the rocket and sent it wildly flying away.

"What in the hell did he do to my dog?" Cayce asked no one in particular.

Azalea shrugged. "Let's go."

Cayce ducked across the clearing, joining Pyro behind the table. Azalea and Gia walked out from their cover casually, that is until Azalea knocked the teen across the back of her head and shoved her in the direction of Pyro and Cayce. Alone, the blonde approached the Man in Black.

"Is this the same squirrel you mentioned before or a different one?" She asked.

The Man in Black grabbed her arm with his free hand and pulled her close, the look on his face said that he was going to land this plane safely. "I know how you feel," he said. "I feel it too but we shouldn't both have to die. Not like this. Not at the paws of that- that monster."

Azalea stared at him, brow raised and brain paralyzed with his stupid. Another whistle and without breaking eye contact, he raised the shovel and deflected another round of fireworks. They struck the steel with a bang and explosion of pink flares.

Immediately smoke engulfed the area sending Azalea, the Man in Black and Hunter into a severe coughing fit.

"I need to talk to you about something so hurry up and end this," Azalea said between hacks.

The Man in Black shook his head, fighting back tears. "I can't," he coughed. "I don't even know where to get a sonic cannon at this hour!"

"Figure it out!" Azalea yelled and stumbled towards the patio table, away from the smoke.

The Man in Black took a knee next to Hunter, who was gagging every other cough. "Easy, Reverse Bolt," he said, patting the side of the dog with a metallic clank. "We'll get-" The crazed idol stopped mid sentence as he observed the black shepherd.

"Huh," he said.

The Man in Black stood sharply, dropping his shovel. He bent over, wrapped his arms around the torso of Hunter and picked up the dog so that the animal's back was resting against his chest. After a few uncoordinated steps, he leaned back and began to apply the Heimlich technique to the dog.

"The f#$@?" Cayce said. He'd seen more than enough and hopped over the table to rescue his dog.

And then he stopped.

A few unsuccessful attempts had finally led to the desired effect as Hunter spewed a yellowish fluid. It shot across the clearing and splashed onto the deluxe birdhouse siding. Three blasts and the box melted, buckling before falling off the pole completely. High pitched shrieks filled the neighborhood then went silent. The mess bubbled and fizzed, disintegrating the lush greenery before consuming the earth below it, leaving a clean hole.

Azalea slowly walked back over to the Man in Black as he set the dog down. "Did you... make that happen?" She asked, watching Hunter as he smacked his muzzle like there was something stuck to the roof of his mouth.