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Have You Come To Meet Your Match Chapter 7: Independence Day 4
🕑 Added 2024-10-04 22:47:45 +0000 UTCIt said something about the durability of the beast that the brutal, crimson light—supposed to melt through steel like hot knife through butter—barely made it past its thick blue hide. Sure, it bubbled and scorched something fierce but that was it.
My heat vision was only leaving deep, charred streaks across his chest
Still its concussive force slammed into Desmond like a wrecking ball, driving him backward.
BOOM!!!
The hallway reverberated with the impact, the far end of the corridor exploding into debris as his giant hulking form crashed into it.
Stone cracked and dust billowed out in choking clouds, filling the air with the stench of burnt flesh and rubble, as he was pushed further and further through the walls. My heat vision carved out a path of ruin, driving him backward like a drill pushing through layers of concrete.
His response was a roar. A roar of pain, guttural, feral, and filled with rage. It reverberated through the very air, rattling the very floor beneath my feet. The sheer sound of it almost drowned out the roar of the beam still blazing from my eyes. He brought up one thick, muscled arm, trying to shield his face from the onslaught. His skin charred beneath the beam, blackening inch by inch, but at a rate far too slow to truly kill the beast.
His eyes, burning with something primal, locked onto mine through the red haze of heat. His mouth twisted into a grotesque snarl, teeth bared like a cornered animal.
Then he moved.
Time stretched in front of me, my perception expanding into those endless microseconds. I felt the air ripple, the pressure of his incoming blow bearing down on my senses. Every particle of dust seemed to hang suspended between us, and I could track the twitch of every fiber in his muscles as he moved—so fast.
When you can stretch a single second into an eternity, when the world bends to your will and time slows to a crawl, and they’re still moving—still a blur in the edges of your vision—there’s only one explanation:
He was fast.
—The moment of impact was brief but overwhelming, like a star exploding behind my ribs, pushing air out of my lungs in a single violent rush.
The next thing I knew, I was airborne, shooting through ceilings
Desmond’s punch had sent me rocketing upward, my back smashing through the ceiling with the sound of tearing concrete and metal. The impact ripped through the building like a cannon shot, shards of stone and steel spinning away in a chaotic burst as I ascended through the structure. The force of the hit carried me up like a ragdoll, and I barely had time to orient myself before—
BOOM!
There went the second ceiling. My body crashed through it with such speed that I barely even felt the material giving way under my back. The world spun violently, shards of glass and hunks of stone tumbling around me like jagged stars in a blur of destruction. I was tearing through support beams, leaving a trail of wreckage in my wake.
CRACK!
Another layer of concrete broke apart beneath me as I continued to smash through the sublevels. Each impact sent tremors through the building, pieces of debris raining down in clouds of dust.
Focusing past the ringing in my ears, past the feeling in my gut. It took me a second to register this feeling. That for the first time in what felt like an eternity, I had actually felt pain.
At that thought, it took but a flex of my metaphysical limb to stop my ascent, stabilizing in midair
The world around me came back into focus, the chaos falling away as I hovered above the wreckage I’d carved into the building.
I looked down.
The sublevels beneath me were a mess. Chunks of it had collapsed entirely, leaving gaping holes in the parts of the ceilings where I’d smashed through. Dust hung thick in the air like a fog, swirling around the shattered remnants of the floors. But through all of it, even with the dust still settling, I could see it.
Three levels below, standing amidst the rubble like a titan risen from the earth. Its chest heaved with each breath, massive shoulders rising and falling. Hide still smoking, the charred black scars my heat vision had left cutting across his torso. Its eyes—furious—were locked onto mine
For a second, neither of us moved. We just stared at each other through the ruin we’d created, the dust still swirling between us in. At least it seemed that way, beneath the visible world my metaphysical limb, a force that defied physics, coiled and coiled and coiled
Then a piece of ceiling dropped from the level between us and that seemed to be signal.
We charged.
BOOM!
My metaphysical limb, a force that defied physics, coiled and snapped outward like a slingshot, launching me downward with enough speed to crack the air with a sonic boom.
Desmond moved with equal ferocity, though his method was different. His massive leg muscles bulged, veins popping beneath his skin as he crouched for a split second, coiling like a spring. The ground beneath him shattered with a thunderous crack as he propelled himself upward, his hulking form tearing through the air like a missile. The sheer weight of him, combined with that raw, primal strength, left a crater in the floor where he’d stood.
The impact of our simultaneous movements sent shockwaves rippling through the air, the sheer force of it displacing the dust that had been hanging between us in a violent gust. The world around me became a blur of grays and reds as I shot toward him, the fragmented floor rushing up in a blink.
For a brief, surreal moment, we were both suspended mid-motion—hurtling toward each other with the force of two meteors on a collision course, the air between us practically shimmering with the heat of our combined speed. Time slowed. I could see every detail of his grimace, every rippling muscle, the way his eyes burned with unrestrained rage. His body still smoked, charred scars streaking across his chest, but his will to retaliate remained undiminished.
And I was coming at him with the same intent.
Our collision was cataclysmic.
BOOM!
Flesh met flesh with a sound like thunder cracking the heavens. The force of our impact sent a shockwave so strong it rippled outward, ripping chunks of stone and steel from the nearby walls, reducing them to rubble. The air vibrated, distorting around us as our fists connected
I didn’t let up grappling his hands midair
I drove my knee into his stomach, lifting him clean off the ground with the impact. His massive frame folded around my leg, the wind forced out of him in a violent gasp. I followed up with a savage right hook, my fist crashing into the side of his head, sending him careening through a nearby wall. The stone exploded outward as his body tore through it, the room beyond filled with dust and debris
He grunted, punching out at me again, only to be caught by the wrist and back handed with the back of my fist, snapping his head to the side as blood flew free of his mouth. Twisting his arm, I punched up, my fist slamming underneath his elbow, and with a pained cry, I dislocated the joint before kicking him in the gut, sending him flying away.
The beast Desmond had become was very powerful. There was no denying that.
However, for all his speed and size, he couldn’t match the strength and, more importantly, the durability of a Kryptonian.
And so when my fist met his face again, it came away stained with his blood.
The reality was that I could take his hits, absorb the brunt of his rage without so much as a tear in my skin. Him, on the other hand had nothing that could penetrate the skin of a Kryptonian. Not Kryptonite, nor a strength overwhelming enough to break my skin.
The same could not be said for his hide.
His once-pristine blue skin was scorched and torn, patches of skin blackened from my heat vision earlier, his body riddled with cracks and bleeding cuts
The difference in durability was evident.
Perhaps that was what fueled what happened next.
The instant my fist flew forward, Desmond lunged to meet it, jaws wide, his serrated fangs aimed straight for my hand. It was a primal, animalistic move—he wanted to tear through my knuckles with sheer brute force, like a rabid beast desperate for blood. But the second his teeth clamped down on my fist, the result wasn’t what he expected.
CRUNCH!
A sickening sound echoed through the facility. His jagged fangs—sharp enough to pierce steel—cracked like brittle glass against my skin. A moment of stillness followed as his eyes widened in shock, the pain registering too late. My fist hadn't even slowed. If anything, it drove deeper into his mouth, shattering the rest of his teeth on impact. His gums split apart, blood spraying as his once-terrifying maw became nothing but a ruined mess of jagged fragments.
Desmond howled in agony, stumbling back, clutching at his face. His blood-slicked hands fumbled over his broken mouth as he spat shards of teeth onto the floor.
But I didn’t stop.
I punched his throat, collapsing his airway
Desmond clawed at his throat, as though he could somehow will the stolen oxygen back down his throat through will alone
Then I urged forward, grabbing Desmond’s massive hand before he could throw another strike, twisting with all my strength. The shock in his eyes barely had time to register before I threw my entire body weight into the move. Our positions shifted like a lightning bolt—now I was beneath him, flipping him
And then, I kicked off using his bent back with all my might. My feet drove into his back like a piston, the force snapping his spine with a sickening crack as I shot downward. His body catapulted into the air above me, his roar of pain echoing into the skies as I rocketed toward the ground.
The wind whipped past me as I descended, faster and faster. The broken body of Desmond spiraled upward, left behind as I zeroed in on the more pressing issue.
The freefalling elevator.
The cables torn as a result of the shockwaves from the battle and recoiling, through the air like steel vipers while the elevator dropped. Through the roof of the box, I could see him—Kid Flash.
His face contorted in terror, wide-eyed, as the floor numbers blurred past in a dizzying freefall.
He wasn’t going to survive the fall. Thirty-seven floors below lay nothing but brutal impact, a crash that would leave nothing but a smear.
Just a little more...
BOOM!
With one final burst of speed, I caught the steel cables of the falling elevator and pulled
The cable jerked taut with a violent snap, as the descent halted suddenly. The force rattled up through the shaft, and I could hear the gut-wrenching krak as Kid Flash slammed against the floor of the elevator.
A rib.
His fifth left rib to be specific
His whimpers reached my ears, pitiful, like an injured animal trying to choke down its pain. Each breath was punctuated by a sharp inhale, stifled by sheer will as he tried—tried—not to scream.
I took a deep and I concentrated. My heat vision flared to life once more, the crimson glow illuminating the dust and debris around me. I aimed carefully focusing on the cables
The cables hissed and groaned as the heat seared through them. I focused harder, my gaze burning through the frayed, mangled steel with surgical precision. The crimson glow reflected off the metallic surface, casting eerie shadows around me. The beam I let loose melted the torn edges of the cables, fusing them together with the glowing intensity of molten metal
I reached up, holding the now-molten steel with my hands. It took but a firm grip to mold the molten steel, my fingers pressing the glowing metal together like soft clay
The molten metal cooled rapidly in my hands, solidifying into a strong, unbreakable tether. I could feel the tension in the cable shifting, stabilizing as it took the weight of the elevator
Satisfied, I landed on top of the elevator with a soft thud, the steel creaking beneath my weight. I didn’t waste a second. With a swift punch, I drove my hand through the roof, tearing a jagged hole large enough to peer inside. The metal gave way easily, shards of steel falling into the dark interior of the elevator.
Inside, Kid Flash was huddled in the corner, clutching his ribs, his face pale and contorted with pain. He tried to stifle the whimpers, but I could see how much he was struggling.
I leaned over the opening, my voice firm but calm. “Get to level 52 and get everyone out. I’ll hold him off.”
He looked up at me, his breath ragged, but he nodded. Pain radiated across his face as he pushed himself to his feet, one hand still gripping his side. Without another word, he pressed the button and the elevator began going down.
Then, without hesitation, I took off, my body a blur as I shot back up toward Desmond.
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Khanadiety here with another weekend update. Thank you for reading. Like and comment, it is always appreciated.
A quick reminder that the poll for the final look of our mc is currently still holding, so go vote if you haven’t now before, It ends on Sunday.
See you same time, next week.
Ciao.
Comments
Khanadiety
Fixed.
Jesse Gomez
Chapter 6 is still locked for me
