by Drew Hayes
Misdirection let out a yelp of pain as the rocks struck and her focus was shattered. The rest of Elemental Fury faced their opponent, uncertainty creeping into their faces for the first time since he’d stepped in the room. The man who was supposed to already be out of the fight was standing there, unharmed, with his eyes unwaveringly trained on them. Despite the politeness he’d shown them, each felt a kernel of fear form in their gut.
These five weren’t the first to find themselves sensing their mortality as they stared down a man who was called unstoppable. It was instinct, the kind that lived in the primitive part of their brain and told them when they’d drawn the attention of something far more dangerous than them. That kind of instinct was old, it was impossible to ignore, and most of all it was correct. They were right to be afraid.
Titan’s counterattack had begun.
46.
Elemental Fury was caught off guard, but recovered quickly. They’d seen too much action to let one thing going sideways break their focus. Unfortunately for them, Titan was no rookie either, and he knew how to capitalize on small windows of opportunity when they appeared. At this point, it all came down to dealing with the threats in order of their importance, and the top spot on his list was set long before he’d even managed to punch free of the tornado.
Bracing his feet against the cracked wall he’d slammed against, Titan shoved off, firing himself through the room at speeds only Spring could have matched. This assumed, of course, that she was dumb enough to get in front of several hundred pounds of super-strong Hero, which she wasn’t. He cleared half the cell in one bound, landing only a few feet from his target. The sound of crackling energy and rumbling steps filled the air as Birdsman’s summons and Granite tried to stop him, but neither was quite fast enough.
“You’re down,” Titan said as his mighty hand wrapped around the mask-hidden skull of Misdirection, who was still pulling herself off the ground after his rubble assault. In assessments like this, most Heroes were willing to play by the honor system, acknowledging a situation where they would have been knocked out or killed and removing themselves from the fight. It was proper etiquette and saved on accidental injuries, but Titan still kept his grip until he heard Misdirection’s agreement.
“Looks like you got me.” Misdirection finished pulling herself up and jogged back toward the protection offered by the clear barrier. “But the others won’t be so easy.”
A streak of avian-shaped electricity descended from the air as soon as Misdirection was clear, grabbing onto Titan’s face and attacking with all its might. Damage-wise, the technique was a waste of time, but it did succeed in obscuring Titan’s vision and hearing, which he assumed was the real point. They’d clearly formed a backup plan to keep him off-balance in case Misdirection was taken down; Titan’s respect for this team was growing by the minute.
Granite slammed into his back, sending Titan sailing across the room. The electric bird maintained its grip, pecking and slashing at Titan’s face. Through the crackle of lighting, he heard the wind whipping as Gale prepared for another attack. Getting out of her tornados was doable, he’d already proved that, but getting bound up in one would give the rest of the team time to regroup. That was something he couldn’t afford, not at this juncture, so Titan steeled his resolve. It was time to do some damage.
He grabbed the summoned creature in front of him, ignoring the shrill screech that tore from its beak. Like he’d explained to Hexcellent only weeks before, for something to be able to touch you, you had to be able to touch it. Bouncing around the room like a pinball during the defensive phase hadn’t been fun, but it had given him the chance to verify that these creatures were making contact with him; they weren’t just bird-shaped energy. They had a physical presence, and while he was barred from countering during that part of the exam, no such restriction existed anymore.
It took a lot more effort than he was expecting, but Titan managed to keep a grip on Lightning Falcon and tear it in half. They was a boom and a burning crackle that washed over him as he landed, so loud it nearly drowned out the painful yelp that Birdsman let break through his lips. Summoners had it better than a lot of Supers in that they didn’t have to get their own hands dirty; however, their power still had a risk. Destroying one of their summons caused mental feedback that hurt like hell; it could even knock the weaker Supers out entirely. Birdsman wasn’t quite that frail; he shook off the pain and focused on the other two circling birds, planning his next attack.
Bad as he was, Birdsman wasn’t the next target in Titan’s list of priorities. That honor fell to Spring, the super-speed Hero who’d tried to wrap him up like an early Christmas present to her team. Her attacks wouldn’t do anything to Titan, but she wasn’t functioning as offense in this battle. No, she’d clearly been given the same task as Misdirection: field control. Just because wrapping him had failed didn’t mean she didn’t have other tricks up her sleeve. In fact, after reading up on her reputation, Titan would have been genuinely offended if that was all she brought to the party.
Granite had reoriented from his charge and was barreling toward Titan, just as Gale unleashed a blast of wind that would no doubt take him off his feet and send him hard into a wall. The attacks were good, clean and focused in a way that theoretically left him nowhere to go but back, which was a delay at best. In fact, it was how polished the maneuver was that tipped Titan to what they were trying. At this point in the battle, things should have been more chaotic. Any tactic that clean was rehearsed, which meant the real goal wasn’t to hit him with either; it was to pressure him in to making the move they wanted. Titan had no idea what was waiting for him if he stepped back; he just knew it wouldn’t be fun.
At the last moment, Titan made his choice, breaking left, away from Gale’s attack and right into the massive stone monster know as Granite’s crushing path. The Hero’s rocky eyes widened as he realized Titan had caught on to their plan, but no amount of realization was going to stop the momentum of a charging creature whose weight measured in the tons. He tried to defend, but it was already too late. Titan slammed his fingers into Granite’s chest and flipped the stone monster over his shoulder, right onto the spot where he would have stepped if he dodged their attacks per the plan.
No sooner had Granite hit the ground than he was knocked a few feet upward by an explosion that coated his back and the floor in green goop. He tried to free himself, but whatever the substance was, it seemed to be difficult to break away from.
“If it had been you, that would have been enough force to stick you to the ceiling,” Spring said, suddenly behind him. “Pretty smart, realizing it was a trap. Course, you did leave yourself open during that throw.”
Titan barely had time to register the explosion that came from a small device stuck to his back before it sent him stumbling headfirst into a far wall. In the brief time he spent with his head smashed against the concrete, he felt hands moving impossibly fast, placing more charges against his body.
“This is for tearing my capture sash. Mending that thing is a bitch.”
This time Titan barely even heard the explosion; his ears were filled up too quickly with the green goop as it cascaded over him. One of these bombs had been enough to lift Granite’s massive body off the ground and stick him to the floor. The five that Spring had stuck on Titan drove him half a foot deep into the wall and coated his back from head to toe in the stuff.
Even for someone like him, it was a less than ideal situation.
47.
Titan couldn’t hear what they were saying on the other side of his gooey tomb, but it was no doubt Gale re-explaining the one minute rule to those watching, maybe adding an addendum about the limitation being for his own good, lest he suffocate. He tested the goop carefully and found it stronger than he was expecting. It was well-designed, a material that was both flexible and tough. Spring used the charges freely, as if she weren’t concerned about the supply. These were probably either made in house by some retired team member or p
urchased from a freelance tech-genius. One of the countless benefits of having a legacy team and a budget.
Of course, even if it were the most powerful binding goop in the world it still had a fault: it might be indestructible, but the material it bonded with almost certainly wasn’t. If they’d caught him in midair with this stuff, it very well could have been a different story, but they’d trapped Titan against a solid wall, and that gave him leverage.
He began pulling himself backward, keenly aware of the resistance that the goop was imposing. It was strong stuff, no doubt about it. Pity the same couldn’t be said for the concrete it was fastened to. When he’d gotten far enough away to move his arms, Titan pressed his hands carefully against the surface in front of him and gave an open-palmed shove.
A tremendous cracking sound filled the air as Titan tore himself and a considerable chunk of concrete free from the wall. Spring was nearby, glaring at him with a mix of shock and annoyance, Birdsman seemed focused on keeping his summons ready to act, and Gale was flat-out glowering. That last expression told him he’d made it before time was up, though he doubted it was by a lot.
Titan didn’t waste a second now that he was free. What he had at the moment was just a hunch, but it was better than nothing in a situation like this. He charged through the room, goop on his back and concrete stuck all over him, on a path straight for Birdsman.
“Cocky.” Birdsman made a quick motion. Plasma Hawk soared through the air, putting itself between Titan and his target and lashing out with a beam of energy. Titan barely had seconds to act: only the fact that he’d been counting on the interruption let him move in time. He quickly twirled around on his heel, a move more graceful than many would have suspect the large man of pulling off, and turned his goop covered back to Plasma Hawk. He drew his left arm in to his chest just as its beam hit.
The bad news was that the rest of Titan’s shirt was effectively decimated in the hit, the force of which caused him to stumble forward, but the upside was well worth the tradeoff. That burning hot plasma had seared right through the green material coating his back, scorching it off into liquid and an almost-certainly toxic green mist.
“You’re smarter than I was expecting,” Spring said. “Most of your type just know how to smash and get punched.”
“I’ve picked up few critical thinking skills during my years as a Hero,” Titan shot back. “Using an enemy’s assets against them is a good one, but my personal favorite has always been field advantage.” At that, Titan lifted his leg and slammed it down, striking on of the many half-melted sections of flooring left from his earlier battle with Birdsman. The weakened concrete fractured, splintering off several feet in three directions. His next attack sent more tremors out, widening the already broken gaps and creating four new ones.
“Cute, trying to make it hard for me to run. Don’t think we’ll just let you do what you want, though.”
Spring had barely gotten the words out before the column of wind struck Titan from the side, hurling him against the far wall. This time, he twisted in midair, making sure his back slammed into the concrete. This meant he was face-to-face with Spring as she tried to catch him from behind once more. Unlike Granite, she was more than capable of redirecting her speed and swerved off to the side rather than be caught in a clumsy grab from the giant man.
Normally, being backed into a wall was a bad thing, but at the moment it was actually one of the better places Titan could find himself. Gale wouldn’t be able to batter him about so easily with a solid surface right behind him, and Spring was smart enough to avoid getting close enough to be caught. That only left Birdsman to attack, which would be an annoyance at best. Sadly, this situation also meant Titan had almost no opportunity to bring them down either, since moving away would destroy his defensive advantage. Were he the type of person to worry about defense, that might have actually worried him.
Bracing his feet against the wall, Titan shot himself forward, replicating his attack from only moments earlier as he barreled toward Birdsman. The old summoner wasn’t the most important threat to stop at the moment, but he’d have to go down eventually. Taking him out would leave Elemental Fury with only two pieces on the board—three if Granite pulled himself free—and Titan was confident he could bring them both down given enough time. It would be easier without those damn bird distractions, though.
Plasma Hawk darted into Titan’s path again, but this time the charging Hero didn’t bother to turn, dodge, or avoid the creature in any way. He kept right on going, taking the beam of energy that shot from its beak head on, his chest smashing into the avian energy creature only seconds later. As it swiped at him, Titan grabbed Plasma Hawk in his right hand and squeezed as hard as he could. This one was smaller than Lightning Falcon, and he just barely managed to get its body engulfed between his fingers. As it turned out, barely was still enough.
A wave of heat washed over Titan as the summon was crushed into non-existence. Birdsman let out a grunt as he staggered back. A small bit of blood trickled down from the older man’s nose, falling to the broken floor as the he tried to keep from swaying on his feet. With enough time, he might have been able to get Fire Eagle in place as defense, but Titan showed zero sign of slowing down. There was no time for anyone to act. Anyone save for a person with super-speed, of course.
Spring appeared on his left, keeping pace as she reared back with what appeared to be another bomb. She thrust forward, her coordination incredible given the speed she was moving at. Just like few people could throw a well-aimed punch while sprinting, super-speeders also had to slow down to attack a foe. Their slow was still fast, it was just in the range of humans. That was most super-speeders, anyway. As Spring’s hand drew closer, Titan realized he wouldn’t be able to grab her, no matter how quickly he moved. It was all he could do to flip his arm around, but flip it he did, and as Spring’s hand smashed against him, Titan’s face lit up in a victorious grin.
“What the hell!” Spring pulled against the green goop that was binding her hand, and the bomb still clutched in it, to his arm. “This got burned off!”
“I kept a little safe. Thought it might come in handy.” Titan jerked to a stop, feet sliding against and cracking the already-shattered concrete, then grabbed Spring’s head in his hands as he’d done with Misdirection. “By the by, you’re out.”
“You dick,” Spring muttered. She reached down and undid the fastening on the yellow glove that clothed her hand, leaving it and the bomb still on Titan’s forearm but releasing her arm from its imprisonment. Then she was gone, zipping over behind the safety barrier and leaving no impediment between Titan and Birdsman.
“Do I need to do the theatrics?” Titan asked
“No, you’ve clearly got me. I can still concede when I’m bested,” Birdsman admitted. “Good show, Titan. Nice to see you haven’t lost your touch. Next time we should play on a bigger stage, though. I think my fourth bird might just have changed the outcome of this assessment.”
“Well, it isn’t over yet,” Titan said. He looked into the air, where Gale was hovering as she waited for Birdsman to get clear. She was one of the biggest threats on the field, but he’d purposely saved her for last. In a small cell like this, with teammates around, she wouldn’t really be able to cut loose. Now that it was just the two of them left, he hoped Gale would finally come at him full force.
No matter how it went, he was settling this matter for good.
48.
The small pieces of debris near Titan’s foot began to move first, followed by the larger chunks as the wind picked up. Across the room, he saw the remaining members of Elemental Fury pulling the clear barrier to the wall and anchoring it firmly. Whatever Gale was conjuring up, her team knew enough to take precautions, which meant it was likely to be a doozy.
“You’re powerful. More powerful than I expected, I’ll give you that.” Gale wasn’t bothering to use her wind-whispering or whatever she’d done when he was in the tornado. She belted these words through
the air, for all those watching at home to hear. “But you’re reckless; you take too many chances that could get people hurt.”
“No disrespect meant, but sometimes we have to take risks to get the job accomplished. It’s not something I do lightly; it’s just something that occasionally has to be done.” Titan noticed that the roar of the wind was still increasing; he’d had to raise his voice midway through the reply to be heard. His already-burned and torn pants flapped against him furiously.
“I disagree; well-laid plans and execution can minimize risk and overcome any obstacle.”
“Looks like we’re going to have to agree to disagree.” Titan readied himself as he saw her eyes shift about the room. She was buying time with the conversation, which had been fine for the first few moments, but Titan had no intention in getting swept up in whatever she was planning. If he went into the air on her terms with no bystanders to worry about, there was no telling when he’d finally hit the ground again.
As quickly as he could, Titan raised his right foot high off the ground, pointed the toe of his reinforced boot downward, and thrust it into the concrete below. Unlike with his shattering stomps against Spring, Titan wasn’t trying to spread the force out to ripple through the stone. He wanted it all concentrated in a single point.
A mighty crack of splintering concrete filled the air, audible even over Gale’s storm. Titan’s foot sank through the floor past his ankle, effectively anchoring him. Fast as he’d moved, he was still barely in time. The blast of wind that struck his chest was tremendous, so powerful he nearly slipped out of his boot as he was lifted up. Thankfully, his foot covering held and he remained rooted in place.