He put his hand by his mouth, in an overly-theatrical stage whisper, “But let them waste all their MP trying to get through.”
Gus squinted, trying to read if Mengele was bluffing.
“Guys, give him all you got!” Gus yelled and started activating his abilities, trying to focus them on one section of the shield. Before being lost in the flashes and explosions of color as energy splashed over the egg-shaped dome.
Mengele folded his arms, calmly. His expression said it all. I’ll wait.
When the first barrage died down and there he was, affecting a large yawn before checking a non-existent watch.
“You see that was just foolish. But ‘heroes’ always have to try. Right? So what have you accomplished?” He counted the items on his fingers. “One, you have revealed your abilities to me by your attacks. Those who held back are obviously support for the team. I just need to find the healer. Probably that poor fellow that’s totally drained. Yes, your expression just betrayed you. You all need to get some reins on those emotions, or they will drag you broken and bloody to parts unknown.”
He turned and stared at Harmony, shaking a finger and frowning. “My thoughts are my own, voyeur. A mind as weak as your own could only dream to understand anything you could manage to find.”
Harmony’s eyes bulged and then she swooned. Her nose began to bleed as if punched. She folded and fell to the floor, only partially caught by Aurora.
Mengele surveyed the motley rescue team. “You tried your best, and yet I remain unscathed. Now I will show you what it’s like to tangle with a true master. With someone who wields the power to bend the very fabric of reality. This was entertaining for a while, but it has become tedious, and I fear you have nothing left to teach me. I have work I must finish.”
Without warning, he spun in a circle, outstretching an arm. Trails of energy fanned out, targeting the supers.
Prime deftly dodged out of its way. Aurora flew quickly upward while Darik formed some portals. He reversed the attacks’ trajectory back to Mengele, diverting the two heading for BoJack and Harmony. Unable to form one for his own in time, he slapped at the connection as his MP, stamina, and HP began to quickly drain, funneling back to Mengele.
Gus dashed laterally to avoid the attack aimed at him, stopping near Grimdark and pulling him out of the way.
“So tasty.” Mengele licked his lips as Darik’s energy transferred. The trail winked out as Darik staggered drunkenly and fell hard on his rump. He then swooned and fell onto his back, arms spread wide.
Prime crouched, pulling something from her belt. She trained the cylinder on Mengele and fired. A concentrated green beam shot out of the end, and actually hit Mengele, eliciting a small yip. As he moved quickly out of its path, Prime tried to regain the angle. Mengele waved his hand slightly and the beam refracted far to his side.
“Nice try. Most lasers have too much divergence to even cause any damage. Easily countered though with a little dimensional folding.”
Prime had to quickly disengage the laser as Mengele had twisted the beam back toward her. The energy curved and slingshotted back toward her, and she barely had time to disengage the beam before it sliced through her.
While she was dodging, Mengele flung another hand, first at Prime and then at Aurora. There was a scream and Aurora crashed into a table, clutching her face, blood pouring through her fingers. She didn’t reappear after falling behind it, out of Gus’ view. Prime retreated into cover, her suit shredded and torn in multiple places. Multiple thin bloody lines bled on her skin and soaked areas of her pink fur crimson. After she had ducked into cover, Mengele turned back to Gus.
“So here we are again, Gus. That was the group coming to rescue you, yes? I’ll bet you looked up to them. Admired them. But look at them, broken, bloodied, and weak. Once I deal with you, and clean up this… untidiness… I will have even more playthings to examine. And I will make you watch it all, Gus. Even if I have to cut off your eyelids. You will watch it all!”
Chapter Eighty-Six
Sometimes the Good Guys Finish First
None of my abilities are working against him… Gus thought frantically, trying to find some weakness. Something he could do. None of my abilities are working… Why did that set off that familiar tingle?
Deep in Gus’ brain, hybrid-Nth formed a chain, and rerouted an impulse along a new pathway, connecting axons that had never communicated with each other. Becoming a living conduit as neurons fired in a new way.
Like the damn turret!
Gus made ready to activate Krackle, but he took it slower now. Upon activating the ability, he saw the ether weave and dance, forming the structure of the projectiles. They looked like a cockle burr, with the spikes growing and shrinking as energy moved about the outer skin. He could sense the step when the outer shell was complete and the ether construct was to be filled. He flexed his legs and tried to let the energy in his red pathway fall into the empty construct.
The process was not easy. It started to comply, but Gus had to force it out. Pinpricks of pain began to add to the wounds Mengele had given him, but he could barely feel it through the adrenaline. It was like uprooting a large weed or pulling your own hair out at the roots. With a heave, Gus directed the energy into the spiky containers, which flared to life with a ruby light.
He launched them toward Mengele but found that once primed, the energy was coming out, and he had no way to stop the flow. So he kept activating Krackle and building more containers to catch the energy spilling out. He had completed three sets of the balls and was forming his fourth when the
