Dystopia: Endgame

Aftermath

Axel, Shark, Lioness, King, Hawk, Paine, Spydah and all other characters in this story are copyright of Disney or Jetix. I did not create any of them and none of them are my intellectual property.

Two Years Later…

Lioness stood in the light rain that continued to fall despite the sun shining overhead, looking at the simple gravestone in front of her. Beside her Axel and Shark both stood silently, looking at the same tombstone as Lioness.

Mr. Lee
At last you are free
Of the darkness that
Tried to bind you.
Thank you for
Sacrificing yourself
To save us.

“It’s less than he deserves, isn’t it?” Lioness said quietly, not really expecting anyone to answer.
“Still, I think he would have liked it.” Shark said as a slight breeze blew over the hill they were standing on.
“Mama!” a young voice called out as King walked up the hill carrying a small baby girl. In the two years that had passed since the destruction of Lee’s bases, Lioness and King had married and had two children. They had brought the older of the two here while the youngest stayed with a babysitter until they returned.
“Come here, Mari…” Lioness said; reaching out to take the little girl from King as the child started giggling, “Look, Mari, this is where Mr. Lee is, you remember me telling you about Mr. Lee, right?”
The little girl nodded enthusiastically, probably not really remembering anything about Mr. Lee, but she was still young. Besides, this grave really didn’t contain a body; the actual Lee had been cremated to prevent anyone from using his DNA for experiments or other depravities. This gravesite, not even known to any but the ATOM team and a few government agents, was merely a memorial dedicated to the real Mr. Lee who had sacrificed himself so the ATOM team didn’t need to kill him or Paine. The Mr. Lee who had worked diligently to make sure that the team could stop his dark side’s plans.
“So, does anyone know if Hawk is going to show up?” Shark asked as he put an arm around Axel. The two of them were still together and as dedicated to each other as they first had been. Although they still lived at the center with Lioness and King, they had finally officially moved in together about a year ago now. Since that time, Axel had been training Shark in Jo-Lan martial arts while Shark continued to improve his swimming ability. They usually acted as babysitters for Mari while Lioness and King were out, and the little girl seemed to enjoy hanging around with her “uncles.”
“No, I don’t think he is. Last I heard he was on assignment.” King said as he put a small statue of the Lee Industries tower on the ground in front of the memorial. Driven, or perhaps inspired, by his experiences with the covert ops teams, Hawk had joined the CIA, finally leaving the ATOM team for good after wishing them a fond farewell and promising to visit when he could. Samantha Paine had disappeared soon after, following Hawk into a career as a covert operative and eventually started dating him about three months ago according to the letter they had received. None of them could even imagine how they relationship would work out.
True to her word, Agent Lena had disappeared and had not bothered them again, although she had sent them a letter of congratulations. The remaining members of Paine and Lee’s gangs had also disappeared; Landmark City had not been attacked by anyone of the super-villain inclination since around the time the team had returned from their final mission against Paine. As for Landmark City itself, most of the city had been rebuilt by this time, although many new bridges had been built to allow road access to the city across the ravine created by Lee’s Containment Wall during the Year of Lee. Overall, the city was recovering nicely, all things considered.
The team was recovering nicely too, with the exception of Shark no one had been too severely hurt during the attack on Lee’s base. Axel had needed stitches and a back brace to help heal the gash Lee had given him, although the back brace was more to prevent him from pulling the stitches than anything else. Shark had several fractured vertebrae and had needed to wear a back brace as well, but he had healed up just fine after a few months. Lioness had not suffered any injuries during the attack, although she had fractured her hand during the escape, and King had suffered a broken arm when Lee attacked them. After they had fully recovered, Lee Industries had been more than happy to let them continue testing new vehicles, although with a much higher salary than before.
A quiet rumble sounded off to the west, a precursor of the approaching storm that already darkened the sky behind the group. To them though, the storm had already passed, Lee and Paine were gone and the future looked brighter than they had known it before.
“Well, storm’s approaching, we better get under cover.” Shark said as he flipped up the collar on his dark grey trench coat to better shield his neck from the wind.
“And we need to test out those new jet skis that Lee Industries built.” Axel added as he held his hat down to prevent it from being blown away.
“Yeah, we have to get back to Mark anyways.” Lioness agreed as King nodded as well, the four of them heading back down the hill.
“Goodbye, Mr. Lee.” they whispered in turn as they departed, lightning flashing overhead as the limousine slowly drove down the cemetery roadway.