Brute roared.
He broke through the wall of the warehouse with enough ferocity to shatter the entire building. He was twice his size now, reaching 16 feet tall. He roared with the ferocity of a lion, his veins glowing a bright green.
"Guardian! Take care of him. We can't let him get to Viper and Shadow."
Zack nodded and tripled his size to match the monster. Once it noticed him, it lunged. Zack responded in kind.
Burnscar, realizing she couldn't take down Paulina with her natural strength, switched tactics. She adjusted a small device on her neck.
"Wh.. what are you doing?" Paulina said, noticing her turning some kind of dial.
"Seems we're evenly matched. I'm just turning the tides. You're gonna pay for what you did, you hear me? Pay!" Burnscar shouted as the mutoxin pumped into her veins.
"Pay! I'm gonna burn your fucking face off! Leave you a charred husk of burnt flesh and bone! Are you listening?"
Paulina ignored the ramblings and fired another set of shots at Burnscar. The shots cut right through her opponent's stomach, but she was still standing.
"Pay..." she said, snarling and foaming at the mouth.
"What are you—"
Suddenly, Burnscar caught on fire, her clothes melting in an instant.
"Pay!"
Paulina fired another barrage of lasers at her, but she dodged them and flew toward her. Burnscar covered her arm in an even hotter flame and formed a sword from it.
"Pay...."
Paulina morphed her left arm into a blade of light and flew right at her. She stabbed right through Burnscar's chest a moment later.
"Pay..."
Burnscar returned the favor by cutting off Paulina's legs. She then kicked Paulina to the ground.
"No!" Zack screamed as he watched his girlfriend get dismembered. He pushed Brute away with all his might and turned to help her, but Brute grabbed him from behind and sent him crashing into a warehouse.
Just as Paulina was recovering, Burnscar flew at her again. Now both her hands were covered in flame blades. Paulina knew if she didn't strike now, she was sure to die. She morphed her left arm into a smaller cannon she called her orb launcher. She then fired a small, pitch-black orb right at Burnscar.
The villain dodged it.
Paulina fired more orbs at her, but Burnscar dodged them all, screaming "pay" the whole way. A few seconds before Burnscar reached her, Paulina morphed her right arm into a laser cannon and fired at the ground, the recoil sending her flying away. Burnscar's blades crashed into the ground. Stuck, she tried to pull them out.
Now was her chance.
Paulina morphed her right arm into a sound cannon and fired a high-pitched noise at Burnscar, causing her to scream in pain. Enraged, the girl finally freed her blades and made her way toward her target. However, she fell right into Paulina's trap.
Burnscar noticed the pitch-black orb she had dodged before was now hovering right in front of her.
"Wh.. what?" she said, her senses slowly returning. She turned to see more of the objects hovering around her. "What is this?"
"Sorry about your sister," Paulina said, and tapped the side of her orb launcher.
The orbs glowed a bright pink and fired lasers at her. With the blasts too close to dodge, Burnscar was cut to pieces. She died even faster than her sister did.
Paulina relaxed as her target was destroyed. It was a good thing she had upgraded herself after the battle with the Lost Light. With her legs severed, she couldn't move for a while. Zack was still in trouble, though. With no time to rest, she called her severed legs and they ran back to her.
She then used a small screen on her orb launcher to control the orbs, turning their attention to Zack, who was fighting Brute. She sent them his way to lend him a hand. Then, she morphed her free hand into a welding machine and began welding her legs back together.
With her thoughts clearing, she assessed the situation. Jake was fighting Broker and Ivy was going to help him. Hopefully, Jake could hold his own. She was confident he could. When he woke up, Paulina had given him a quick scan and noticed the blue energy that powered him was as strong as Max's red energy. How that happened was beyond her; how that colored energy even worked was another story.
Zack was fighting Brute, but at least he had her orbs to help him out—especially with his merciful nature getting in the way. She didn't have a problem with killing as long as it was done quickly, like how Frostbite and Burnscar were handled. Zack, on the other hand, hated it. In a situation like this, she couldn't have that.
She then looked up to see a helicopter flying overhead.
News chopper, she thought. She hadn't even noticed it. Maybe all this killing wasn't such a good idea. If the press tried to spin it the wrong way, it could go against the team's reputation. Hopefully, Milton could call in a few favors.
Suddenly, she noticed Max walking away from her.
"Hey! Max! What are you doing?!" she shouted, but he ignored her. Once again, he was doing his own thing. As the leader of this team, she couldn't have him doing that anymore—especially since he was their biggest heavy hitter.
She cursed when she realized this fight would have gone a lot more smoothly if he were more involved, or at least if she could get him to participate. Why did she forget him? Was it some kind of power he had? Or was she just not cut out to be a leader? She was about to send an orb his way but noticed he was approaching a large pile of boxes.
Did he notice something she didn't?
"What are you doing?" Max said to a quivering Simon, who hid behind the boxes.
"N.. no... I uh.. how did you—"
"See you? I'll admit your ability to mess with people's minds so they don't notice you is impressive. Luckily, when I'm exposed to an ability, my red energy adapts to it and prevents it from working again."
Simon gulped and started shaking.
"Why did you lie?"
"What?"
"Why did you lie? You know that man was innocent. I was the one who killed your friends. Why did you lie?"
"I..."
"Let me guess: so our teams could fight?"
"Wait—"
"And kill each other?"
"Please—"
"While you hide away?"
"Stop!"
"Then when it's all over, you head back to base and take control of Broker's operation?"
"I said stop!"
Max smiled and grabbed the boy by his neck. "I could see it coming a mile away. Lucky for you, it was the most fun option for me, so I let it happen since it helps a friend of mine get stronger. You know he's just as strong as me now? Anyway, maybe it's time I finish what I started."
Simon used his mind abilities on Max then and there. He tried to erase his entire memory, down to his basic functions—how to use his ability, how to eat, how to talk, how to breathe.
Max scoffed. "If this was the first time, you would've killed me with that. It's a good thing it isn't, right?" Max said, as his mouth morphed to form several rows of sharp canines and expanded so he could swallow a human with ease.
"Please stop! I'm begging you! I'll work for you! My powers are extremely rare! Tracking people down using their brain waves, mind control, memory erasure—I can do it all! Please don't kill me! I'd be an asset to you!"
"Oh, well that's exactly why I'm gonna eat you!"
Max then consumed the boy, biting off his head and swallowing his body in the span of a few seconds. The cracking and squelching of his insides filled Max with glee. He noticed he was becoming more monstrous with every foe he consumed. He didn't care; his humanity meant nothing to him.
He then noticed the black orb hovering near him. He put his finger to his lip and smiled. It flew away right after.
Paulina had seen everything. Heard everything. She was an AI, and feeling emotions was hard for her. Zack was one of the only things that made her feel, and now Max was another. Because he made her feel fear.
"Hey," Max said, as he suddenly appeared behind her.
Paulina jolted. "Uh.. hi," she said, struggling to find words for the first time. She only felt this way when Zack made her flustered. Now, she was afraid.
"You saw all that, right?"
"..Yeah.. I was just checking what you were doing and—"
"Save it in your hard drive or whatever. I'll be back for it."
"Oh.. uh.. okay."
"Good. Crazy what happened to Luthor, right? There's literally nothing left of him."
Paulina didn't know what to say to that. She barely knew him, so she wasn't as furious as Jake, Stacya, or Ivy. What didn't help was that she barely felt anything for anyone except Zack.
"No answer? Figures. You barely knew the guy, so I don't blame you. I did know him. Real stick in the ass he was, but he was still fun to be around. I'm gonna miss him."
Paulina was silent. Her mind raced on what to do or say.
"At least I can avenge him. I'm gonna go help Jake. Is that okay, oh great team leader?"
"No.. wait.. yeah. Go."
"You sure? Your boyfriend seems like he could use a hand and Sharkwoman isn't anywhere in sight. Speaking of her, she's taking quite a while to deal with her opponent. Want me to—"
"It's fine. Just go."
"If you say so," Max said with a mock salute and prepared to leave. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to her again. "That's weird."
"What?"
"Are you a robot or a cyborg?"
"Uh, cyborg."
"Well, I can't read your mind."
"J.. just go!" Paulina shouted, prompting Max to disappear soon after. She let out a sigh of relief. Who the hell was this guy?
Paulina cleared her mind. She focused on Zack, who was still fighting Brute. She wanted to use her orbs to even the playing field, but he kept screaming at them.
"Don't interfere! He's mine!"
She didn't want to, but she obeyed, keeping them as cameras and hoping he would pull through. Then she remembered Stacya. She sent one of her orbs into the water to see if she was alright.
Underwater, Stacya had dealt with Mighty Mole. He had been cut in half. Paulina's camera turned to see Stacya facing off with a new threat—one they had dealt with before.
"Opperculus!" Stacya screamed as she lunged for the Atlantean. "What are you doing here?!"
"Came to help out," Opperculus said as he caught her hands and threw her into a bed of rocks. "But it seems you've got things covered. Seems you can be ruthless as all hell when given the chance," he continued, pointing at Mighty Mole's bisected corpse.
"The scum deserved it for what they did. But that's not the point right now. I defeated you. We sent you to prison! How did you escape?" Stacya said, charging him again with her spear in hand.
"Broker sent his Tinkers team to deal with me on my way to prison. They said my team was a disgrace and had to be deleted." Opperculus caught her attack in his hands and threw her to the side, sending her spear flying. "They killed Anaconda and Mamba, but I escaped. I swore vengeance then and there."
He then made a beeline for her spear.
"Once I heard about the challenge he gave you, I knew this was my one chance at revenge. No one calls me a disgrace. No one!"
Stacya swam at her maximum speed and caught up to him. She grabbed him by the neck and bit his shoulder. "Let me go so I can kill him!"
Opperculus responded by kicking her away. She used the momentum to swim toward her spear. The two grabbed it at the same time.
"And what's stopping you from going after my friends?" she said, trying to pry it from his hands.
"Oh, nothing much. Hell, I was going to do it right after," he said, trying to pry it from hers.
"Then it's decided. You won't leave these waters alive. Not while I'm here."
Paulina watched the two struggle with the spear; they seemed evenly matched. She then ordered the orb to shoot a laser at Opperculus, and it did just that.
"That can be arranged."
Opperculus then rotated his body, sending Stacya into the path of the laser, which cut a hole through her leg like butter.
"You know, I've got a small confession to make..." he said with a playful smile.
She screamed and let go of the spear, prompting Opperculus to draw it back for an attack. "I missed you. I've longed for the day I get to kill you. Who knew it'd happen so soon?"
She raised her arms to block, but the spear sliced through them and sent her flying. She was just a few inches away from losing her arms entirely.
"Now let's make sure there's no outside interference."
Opperculus turned to Paulina's orb and, before she could fire another blast, he sent a bolt of lightning at it, destroying it instantly.
Stacya crashed into the rocky seafloor again but wasn't content to give up. She grabbed the nearest rock, liquefied it, and drank it. Opperculus, realizing what she was planning, sent a lightning bolt her way using the spear.
"Still resisting? That's why I missed you! Your Atlantean spirit shines so brightly within you! If you weren't so fixated on defending these godforsaken humans, I would've asked you to be my wife!"
She quickly swam to the left, dodging it, but winced in pain right after. Before Opperculus could send another bolt, she spat a barrage of stone pellets at him. Opperculus used the spear to create a shield of electricity, which blocked them all.
"Nice one! C'mon then! Don't keep me waiting!"
Stacya remained silent. She swam toward him, but her speed was slowed due to her injury.
"You're losing blood, my dear! You'd better hurry."
She knew he was right. She was losing blood fast and needed to end this quickly. Opperculus sent another lightning bolt her way, but she dodged it, and in seconds she was on him, grabbing the spear.
"That's my girl!"
Stacya was still quiet.
"What? Got nothing to say to me? Fine then. Let's see if you can pry my spear from me."
The two struggled again, but Stacya knew she'd eventually lose due to blood loss. To remedy this, she ordered the spear to shock him with a lightning blast. Opperculus saw this coming and did the same. The spear ended up shocking them both, causing them to let go. As they floated away, still reeling, Opperculus took his chance.
He reached for the spear, but Stacya, expecting it, shot a stone pellet she kept in her mouth right at his neck, cutting through it just like the laser had to her leg. He grabbed his neck and started choking. Since Atlantean gills were found on their necks, he began to suffocate from the blood in the water. Stacya took the chance and grabbed her spear.
"And I would've refused your advance even then. Even if I didn't love humans so much, I would've never found myself with scum like you! You're everything I hated about my people personified. Bloodlusted brutes with no decency or empathy. I left that life behind when you all banished me for being a muman. I'm a super now. That's what I'll always be. I hope you remember that as you sink to the depths of hell."
Opperculus lunged at her in a final act of defiance, but she responded with a lightning bolt, knocking him unconscious. He sank to the seafloor right after.
Paulina kept her eyes glued to the water, waiting, hoping, and even praying for Stacya to emerge victorious. Realizing it might not happen, she sent another orb from Zack's side to check on her. Once the orb entered the water, a grey hand held it and pulled it back up. It was Stacya.
"Oh, thank God you're alright," Paulina said to the approaching Stacya. "When he blasted my orb, I thought.."
"Next time, if I'm in a duel, you'd do well not to interfere."
"Noted."
"You were pretty ruthless back there. Mighty Mole..."
"Deserved it. They killed Luthor. My friend! They killed his family. Honestly, they deserve much worse."
"That doesn't sound like you. I've never seen you so bloodthirsty."
"Then you don't really know me."
Stacya then noticed Zack still fighting Brute. "Does he need..."
"No, let him handle it. I've been trying to use my orbs to help him, but he kept swatting them away. I've decided to keep them as cameras for now."
"What about Jake and Ivy?"
"They're out of my range. I can't see what's happening with them."
"Well, what about Max?"
"Oh... he's gone to help Jake. But Stacya..."
"Yeah?"
"I.. I think we need to have a long talk about him."
"Why is that?"
"He's a monster...."
To be continued...