Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Final Battle?

"Yipe!" There was the sound of something heavy hitting the water very hard.
"Brute is down!" shouted a voice directly into the heroes' minds, "he's definitely uncon--Ambassador says she's on it."
The telepathic voice's owner turned in time to see the boulder just before it struck him, but not in time to evade or deflect it. He actually shouted out loud and not directly into the minds of his teammates, something he never did in the middle of a fight.

In an instant he had changed from a tall and fit young man in white and gold--the image of himself he projected--into what he really looked like. Short, fat, and even younger than he seemed, wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and with just a ski mask to hide his face. He was obviously out, or at least unable to focus enough to use his psychic powers, long before he hit the ground. There was a loud crack; he rolled and his arm stuck out at an unnatural angle. He did not get up or make another sound.
The villain, a barely-humanoid mass of solid earth and stone--advanced on the psychic with a wicked grin splitting his face.
"Get away from him!" shouted another man. His brown military-style outfit was torn and bloodstained, and some of his shoulder-length blond hair had come loos from its ponytail during his last failed assault. He charged forward again nonetheless, and he was again batted aside without effect.
Still, he had bought a few precious moments for his allies.
An incredibly powerful burst of energy struck the villain. He looked up. The twins, in blue and red. Individually weaker than their allies, they drew power from each other and created a whole much greater than the sum of its parts. Had he not been so resistant to both of the kinds of energy they used they may have even been able to hurt him.
He smirked. He'd made a point of keeping both of his feet planted firmly on the ground specifically so they would think they were relatively safe in the sky. They weren't. They were close enough to him that a single bound brought them all face-to-face. He placed on hand on each of them, forced them apart, and pushed them toward the ground with such fury that he launched himself another 30 feet into the air. "Divided you fall!" he cackled as they slammed into the Earth before they had any time to reverse their direction.
As he touched down again, he noticed the sound of chanting and felt an ominous rumble deep within his body. The witch was sell-hidden behind some trees. He couldn't even see her. But he had an idea where she was and she was in contact with the ground. Fool. Although perhaps it did make sense. Had she been flying he'd've been able to see her. And maybe she needed to touch the Earth to cast the indirect spell on him. Anyway, she was touching the ground, and so was at his mercy. He looked at the trees and closed his fist. The pull on his chest ceased, as did the chanting. The woman screamed.
The dirt and sand she was crouching on attacked her, a swarm of tiny needles biting into her skin even as she sank to her waist in the softening mud.
He tightened his fist, grinning and focused on the spot.
BOOM!
He staggered back, rubbing his jaw. His focus was lost.
Dr. Priya Pradhi was on him. Her hair was loose, her coat was torn, her lip was bleeding, and she had abandoned her broken Go-Board. But her gauntlets were apparently working just fine, and her face was set and determined. Her next punch sent him stumbling back several steps.
"Doctor!" he said gleefully, "I should have known you'd still have some fight in you."
She took another swing at him, but he grabbed her wrist. "Those gauntlets of yours magnify the force your hands can output," he said, "but they don't help much if I grab your arms, do they?"
He held her small shoulders in his much larger hands and pinned her arms to her sides. Then he squeezed, and her pain was clear on her face even if she never made a sound. "And your defensive machine doesn't protect well against pressure, does it? I know hour your toys work now, girl."
"I've..." gasped Priya, "I've made improvements."
"Liar!" he roared, hurling her to the ground. A mass of rubble and loose stone tumbled onto her. She raised her hands quickly enough to hold the rock tomb at bay, but it was too much weight. Her knees buckled and her gauntlets whine under the strain.
"Just hold on there, Doctor," the monster said with a laugh. "I'll get back to you after I've taken care of your friends. I think I'm going to break your dolly."
He came over to wear I lay. I struggled to move away, but I still couldn't manage it with my broken limbs. He grabbed my leg and dragged me over rough ground until I was directly in front of Dr. Pradhi.
He raised a fist... and that was the last thing I remember before today.

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