by Wyatt Kane
Time and time again, the monstrous villain turned up at exactly the wrong time and done his best to cause Ty and the women he loved serious bodily harm.
When last they’d met, Lilith had taken her rage out on the man, and inadvertently removed part of his arm along with the device he had worn. The device Ty wore now.
Ty had expected the man to be out of action for some time, but as well as being impossibly strong and durable, the monstrous man also seemed to recover from injuries irritatingly quickly. Not that he’d regrown his missing limb. Whatever powers of recuperation he possessed didn’t extend that far. But he showed no sign of weakness or pain as he stalked forward.
In fact, he seemed bigger, stronger, and more powerful than ever. Nearly eight feet tall before, now he seemed closer to ten, a true giant with muscles that made Ty think of beach balls jammed into a sock.
In the past, Ty had compared the man’s physique favorably with that of the Rock. Now, he could have been the model used when designing the Hulk.
Ty didn’t need to be told that he was another who’d dosed himself with AZT-407.
Nor was that the worst of it. Always before, Bain had worn his device on his left wrist. Now, he wore one on his right, and there was something grafted onto his left.
Ty wasn’t sure what it was. A tool or weapon of some kind, he had no doubt. In these days of cyber technology, anything was possible, and Ty feared the worst. He knew in his soul that it would be something devastating. Something that would enable the monstrous man to take out both him and Tempest without breaking a sweat.
Before, Tempest had been Bain’s match, and then some. With Ty’s upgraded shield cannons and the strength and durability afforded by his technology, Ty himself had fought against the man and come out on top. Even Lilith, who liked to avoid conflict if she could, had bested this monster one-on-one.
But now, it was like they were facing Bain 2.0. A bigger, stronger, angrier version of the earlier villain, and it was all Ty could do not to panic at the very sight of him.
The monstrous man planted his feet and did something to activate the cyber device on his arm. Ty could hear the motor inside start to warm up, and feared what it could be.
Still, Ty hesitated. He cast a glance at Tempest, wondering what they should do, and knew at once that the blonde superhero intended to act.
It all happened very quickly. Tempest didn’t need a big run up to reach her best speed. She simply crouched low like a sprinter, then launched herself at Bain with her fists out in front of her, as if she intended to punch straight through his chest.
As for Bain, he saw the blonde woman coming, and shifted his weight to meet her. Until then, the cybernetic prosthesis looked like no more than a metallic point, as if his arm was made of metal and been sharpened with an oversized pencil sharpener. Now, that point split in two to release a roiling, unsteady column of orange energy. That column seemed to twist and shift about like a candle flame in a breeze, but that didn’t minimize how dangerous it was.
Ty recognized the weapon. It was an industrial plasma blade, designed for carving through thick sheets of steel.
“Tempest!” Ty shouted. But it was too late. The blonde superhero had crossed the distance between them as Bain’s weapon was revealed. Whether she couldn’t pull out in time or if she simply chose not to, Ty never knew.
All he knew was that Bain swung his new weapon down at just the wrong moment.
“Got you, you irritating blonde bitch!” Bain said as Tempest let out a scream of agony and fell to the ground.
The sight of Tempest hitting the ground was enough to break Ty out of his paralysis. No longer did he fret over what he should do. He just reacted out of hate mixed with fear for Tempest’s safety.
Ty let out an inarticulate cry of fury and launched himself toward the monstrous villain, using his shield’s ability to skim along the ground faster than he could have run.
The image of Bain’s plasma blade swinging down was burnt into Ty’s brain. He wanted to go to the woman he loved and check on the damage, but knew in his soul that would have to wait. His first priority was Bain.
Even now, the monstrous man laughed as he raised his weapon. Perhaps he intended to use it against Tempest again, or perhaps he wanted to meet Ty’s charge with it. Either way, Ty didn’t give him that chance.
He came to a halt half a dozen paces away from the man and unleashed the full fire and fury of his shield cannons at once, directing every last ounce of power he had at the man who had struck down his love.
The blast was incandescent. As bright as a thousand suns condensed into a solid stream of power that burned and sizzled through the air. Ty’s shout of fury and rage was joined by the song of power produced by his shield, and he threw everything he had into his efforts.
He wanted to burn the monstrous villain into dust. Wanted to blast him into his constituent atoms. Wanted to open a hole in reality, throw the man through and seal it up behind him.
It was like the Kamehameha wave to end all Kamehameha waves, and it should have fried Bain to his bones even if his flesh was made of solid titanium. Such was Ty’s fury at what Bain had done that he called on his power for nearly a minute, only stopping when he feared he might burn out his projector discs with his efforts.
He stood in the street with the ruins of the Concubine Club to one side, and breathed deeply as he let his power fade.
In front of him, Bain still stood. The massive man had raised his arm to shield himself from Ty’s fury. Nevertheless, much of Ty’s power had got through. Bain’s skin on his hand and face, as well as large parts of his torso, were burned raw. None of his clothing from his waist up remained, and wisps of smoke curled up from what was left of the man’s hair.
Yet Bain still stood. His durability had always been impressive, but now it defied belief. Somehow, he’d managed to hold his plasma blade away from Ty’s blast.
Astonishingly, the monstrous man lowered his hand and weapon and managed to leer. He should have been no more than a barbecued corpse, but he was very much alive.
“Is that the best you can do?” the monstrous man demanded.
12: Ty’s Secondary Skill
Ty stared at Bain in complete disbelief. The blast he’d fired literally was the best he could do. And yet, Bain shrugged it off as if it was inconsequential. It was like fighting Steam again, and yet, different as well. Steam could go insubstantial, and Ty’s best efforts couldn’t hurt him. At least Bain gave him something to aim at.
Ty snarled in anger. His only option was to get closer to the monstrous villain and let loose again. He did so, approaching to within no more than a couple of strides, and let loose a blast just as powerful as the last. He glimpsed the monster raising his arms to protect his face once again, and reasoned that he wouldn’t be able to us his plasma blade while he was focused on defense.
With that reasoning giving him confidence, Ty stepped forward, doing his best to concentrate his power at a single point on the man’s chest.
Ty was doing his level best to punch a hole straight through Bain’s sternum. At the same time, he wondered how he could gain even more power. Would a few extra power converters do the trick? Would he need to reinforce his projector discs as well?
Either way, it was a question for the future. Right now, he had one goal in mind, and that was ripping the monster’s heart out of his chest. With his teeth clenched, Ty put everything he had into his effort. He intended to keep going until he ran out of power or Bain collapsed at his feet.
But he’d forgotten about Concussion.
Tempest’s attack had been devastating to the clap-happy villain. Yet the man was a long way from dead. In the time Ty had taken to launch his attack against Bain, Concussion had worked his way up to his knees.
With a broad, malicious grin splitting his face, Concussion brought his hands together in a sudden, convulsive movement.
The unbalanced villain had aimed his shockwave directly at Ty. Once again, it wasn’t enough to actually hurt
him, but it blew him backward, away from his target. The concentrated beam of power Ty had been aiming at Bain briefly lit up the sky before Ty let it go. He tumbled about before coming to a rest face down on the ground.
The impact seemed to catch Ty at just the wrong angle, and even though his shield protected him from the dirt, he flinched at just the wrong moment.
It was enough to rattle his brains in his skull. He was stunned, and for a few critical seconds, he could do nothing but lie face down on the ground.
If he’d been fighting for only himself, he might have just lain there to gather his strength. But he was fighting for Tempest as well, and for all of the people who’d been inside the Concubine Club when Concussion brought it down.
With a grunt of effort, Ty forced himself up to his knees.
He was disoriented. He didn’t realize he was facing the wrong way until he heard a scuff of movement behind him. As fast as he could, he spun around to find Bain looming over him.
The monstrous man was grinning in triumph. He gave a grunt of effort and brought his plasma blade down, aiming for Ty’s head.
Ty had no time to lurch to the side or otherwise get out of the way. All he could do was bring his arms up to catch the monster’s arm, beneath the glowing orange energy blade itself.
Without his shield, Ty wouldn’t have had the strength to hold the monster back. As it was, it felt like being struck with a sledgehammer. Yet his shield held. Bain’s expression turned from triumph to anger and he tried to force his arm down with all of his considerable might.
Ty gritted his teeth and held on.
“You little fucker!” the monster said. He balled his free hand into a fist and hammered Ty in the face.
The force of the blow was considerable even through Ty’s shield. It was all he could do to hold the monster’s blade back and glare at the villain as he wound up for another blow.
But holding the monster back wasn’t the best Ty could do. He didn’t need his hands to fire his shield cannons. He could do it with no more than a thought.
He did so, unleashing with all of his strength yet again.
Perhaps, at this range, it might have done some good. But Bain hit him again and again, and Ty couldn’t maintain his concentration. His power faltered, and Bain hit him again.
“I’ve had more than enough of you and your band of women!” the scorched villain said. “When I get through that shield of yours, I’m going to crush your head into pulp!”
As he spoke, Bain kept smashing at him again and again. Ty tried to keep hold of his anger and rage over what the man had done to Tempest, but he was starting to get rattled. He knew that sooner or later he would release his grip on the man’s arm, and that would be it. He had no clue if his shield would be proof against the plasma blade, but even if it was, it might not be enough.
Plasma blades operated at several thousand degrees. Ty could feel the heat of it against his face even now, and knew that it would be enough to cook him in his shield.
As soon as Ty lost his grip, he would be done for.
Again and again, Bain smashed at him with his remaining fist. Ty tried once more to use his shield cannons, but the monstrous villain wasn’t giving him time to think. There was nothing more he could do.
Except…
Ty’s shield wasn’t the only weapon he possessed. He also had a new skill.
That skill seemed to operate best when Ty was under the influence of the AZT-407 drug. It had been some hours since he’d taken his last dose, and the effects had started to fade. But there was still enough in his system that Ty thought it worth the risk.
Between one hammer blow and the next, Ty deactivated his shield.
Instead of hammering him again, Bain took a moment to gloat. “Ha!” he exclaimed.
But Ty hadn’t given up. With his hands on the base of the plasma blade, Ty willed his skill into action.
Technological assimilation.
It was surprisingly quick. One moment, the plasma blade was bonded to Bain’s stump, and the next it was not. Ty had partially absorbed it.
Before his eyes, the plasma blade flickered and died, and Ty kept his power active until the weapon was completely gone, absorbed in its entirety. Where it went, exactly, Ty didn’t know. Were its constituent atoms now somewhere within his arm? Spread out throughout his system?
It didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that the blade was no longer an issue.
“What the hell?” Bain said, a look of pure astonishment on his face. Then, with a roar of frustration, the huge man shook Ty loose from his damaged arm and swung his fist once more like a club.
Ty only just managed to activate his shield before the monster hit him again.
This time, he didn’t have to struggle. Didn’t have to hold on. He let himself collapse away from the man and knew that while he might not be able to win this fight, he also wasn’t going to lose.
Ty’s best efforts couldn’t hurt Bain, but Bain didn’t have the strength to get through Ty’s shield. Without the plasma blade on Bain’s arm, it was a stalemate.
And that was a victory of sorts.
Ty staggered back to his knees. He wanted to unleash his power again, perhaps at Bain just to irritate the huge man, but perhaps at Concussion instead. Ty might not be able to win either, but that didn’t mean he was done. He was a long way from the person he’d been before gaining his device. Despite Bain’s monstrous strength and Concussion’s power, Ty Wilcox didn’t plan to give up.
He gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand straight. He was going to hurt the villains as much as he physically could, and keep hurting them until they were done.
But before he could focus on unleashing his power, the air was split by a wailing cry that could have been that of a banshee.
13: Tempest
The banshee wail was a cry of primordial rage let loose by a normally gentle soul. Ty recognized it at once, having heard it before. Lilith was the nicest person he knew, but she was also incredibly powerful.
Universal field control. Effectively, she could do anything she put her mind to. And what she put her mind to at that moment made Concussion’s shockwave seem inconsequential.
All around Ty and Bain, the world started to shake.
The monstrous man’s expression turned into one of shock. He looked around with a flinch, like a rabbit searching for danger, and Ty saw the man’s eyes go wide as he spotted the demon woman floating in the air.
Despite the punishment he had received at the man’s fist, Ty experienced a moment of relish. Bain might not have been scared of him or even Tempest, but he had a history with Lilith. He knew what the demon woman could do. And he knew she had a reason to do it.
The pavement started to crack under the force of Lilith’s power. It was enough to cause Bain to stumble. He wrenched himself back upright and let out a primitive noise that sounded like a growl mixed with a curse. Then, as pieces of masonry started to tear themselves away from the buildings on either side, Bain favored Ty with a baleful glare.
“This isn’t over, you little shit!” he spat. “Next time we meet, it’ll be the last!”
Ty wanted to pound the man’s head with a brick, or perhaps a manhole cover. He wanted to shove one of his projector discs into the man’s mouth and let rip. Instead, he just held onto the unsteady ground as Bain turned and staggered away through the increasing gales of Lilith’s unfettered rage.
The demon woman still hovered in the air like a being of power. Her face was a mask of pure fury, and it was apparent to Ty that she wasn’t yet done. If she had the control, no doubt she would have flung large chunks of masonry at Bain and smashed him like he was a bug.
If it had been Ty, he would have done all he could to rip Bain apart. Perhaps he would have teleported in close and torn his other arm off, or maybe his head.
But Lilith wasn’t so vicious. Or perhaps she simply wanted both Bain and Concussion to leave.
Perhaps she wasn’t hardened enough to
want to kill them.
Either way, she glided after the man, flinging her fury at him with surges of power that hit him with force.
It was all Bain could do to stay out of her reach.
Ty waited until the shaking in his immediate area had stopped. Putting Lilith, Bain, and even Concussion out of his mind, he forced himself to his feet and tottered unsteadily back toward Tempest.
The blows he’d taken had affected his balance, or maybe it was the remnants of Lilith’s ongoing quake. Either way, he stumbled, landing on his knees. He took a moment to look for Concussion, but the maniacal clapper was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had used the distraction of Bain and Lilith to make good his escape.
Ty didn’t really care either way. To him, there was only one thing that mattered.
“Tempest,” he breathed, and stumbled the rest of the way to the fallen hero’s side.
As soon as he reached her, Ty’s breath caught in his throat.
“Tempest!” he said again. He’d known she was injured from the moment Bain swung his plasma blade, but hadn’t been able to tell how severely. All he knew was that he’d never heard her screaming in pain before, and only once had he seen her take any damage at all. That was when she’d been clobbered by Massive hard enough to knock her unconscious.
Beyond that, Ty had thought of her as largely invulnerable.
But a plasma blade could cut through solid titanium.
Bain’s had cut through Tempest as well.
“Tempest!” Ty shouted, his heart filled with horror and grief. Tempest wasn’t dead, not at that moment, but she was wounded more horribly than Ty could believe. She lay on her back with a rictus of agony twisting her face, her jaw clenched as she breathed in short gasps. Her body was shaking in shock and her right hand was clenching and unclenching into a fist as she stared up into the sky.
Her left hand was missing. As was her entire arm, shoulder, and a good chunk of her torso. Bain’s plasma blade had cut her from where her neck joined her shoulder and carved away the flesh and bone from that point to her hip.