Near Absolute Hero finished cordoning off and area around the possibly explosive propane tanks with his cold gun. Now he would just have to return every few minutes and refresh the cold, so there would be no resultant explosions. Now he should cool off the forklifts which used those same propane tanks.
Just then there was a huge Kaboom! Near Absolute Hero felt a rending in his gut and barely managed to wing himself to the ground before he passed out. The last thing he thought to do was to alert Mother Earth Force via a button in his suit.
Mother Earth got to the scene in less than 30 seconds and in that time a couple paramedics had arrived and were trying to stuff Near Absolute Hero into their vehicle, wings and all.
Mother Earth spoke into their radios. “Mother Earth, here! I know how the wings can come off easily!”
The pair of paramedics was out of ideas so they listened. “Press on the wing top. No further out. Yes, there and also lift upwards. Yes.”
The wings rattled to the ground and took the cold gun with it. Mother Earth tried to locate Modern Ninja and Tail to see who would make it on to the scene first. Modern Ninja was closest so Mother Earth told her to get the wings and gun and don’t come to the hospital till that equipment was secured.
Inside the vehicle the paramedics worked feverishly at the wound. They tried to stop the bleeding as well as they could. They used pressure points as they put a temporary wrap on it.
When the paramedics were doing the less important jobs of monitoring his pulse and blood pressure, Mother Earth spoke up. “There’s no need to take off his mask, is there?”
“If you can see us, that means a hacker can, too, doesn’t it?”
“Yes and they can see his face, too. Just think of the child at home with his wife. Suddenly criminals would want to put their lives in danger to nullify this man.”
“Oh, so he has a wife and kids?”
“Everyone has a family, just don’t lift up his mask.”
They got to the hospital. The paramedics rolled Near Absolute Hero to an operating room and gave their notes to the nurses and surgeons. They left and the head surgeon x-rayed the affected area and decided to operate immediately. They tore off the wrapping and eventually took out a piece of metal while closing interior wounds.
Realizing the operation was done, Mother Earth said, “You can remove any clothing, just not the mask.
“What?” Asked the one surgeon.
The head surgeon said, “My operating room, my rules.”
Suddenly the operating room and all equipment went dark for a second. The lights came on again and there was beeping from various machines.
Mother Earth said simply, “My operating room, my rules.”
“Then I won’t operate on your friend to save his life.”
“Then no matter what operating room you are in, the machinery won’t work. For the rest of my life. Or for the rest of yours. You won’t have a career. I will tell those around you why.”
The head surgeon let out an exasperated sigh.
The other surgeon said, “We wouldn’t have taken off his mask anyhow. I’ll just tell the cleanup and admission nurses not to, either.”
Mother Earth watched as the nurses cut off the rest of the suit. They cut from the neck down.
They were wheeling him to a recovery room when Tail joined them. “I’ve been here since the first minute of surgery,” said Tail to Near Absolute Hero.
“He’s still unconscious.”
Eventually it was just Tail and Near Absolute Hero in the recovery room. Later, Mother Earth’s image joined the pair on Tail’s phone. “Did you see the headline?”
“Just the Police?!” read the headline that Mother Earth displayed on Tail’s phone. “It asks if the police are enough security in the Big Smoke. It goes on to say that Near Absolute Hero is injured and in the hospital. Mother Earth and Tail are with him. Meanwhile, Modern Ninja is nowhere to be seen!”
