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Chapter 180 : Rookies' first Villain
🕑 Added 2024-07-02 20:31:24 +0000 UTCSarah ducked beneath the demented AI's fist before answering in kind with a kick to his chest, her foot brightly shining with light as it pushed him back. Meanwhile, Glicer formed a wall of pink fire to catch the bullets flying her way from the turrets on the android's shoulders. Scareowl instead dived down, his speed letting him escape the volley aimed at him. G433 cackled as another contraption activated on his chest, flames spilling out in Firefly's direction, forcing her to throw herself to the side instead of continuing her attack. The robot turned to follow but took a light-coated fist to the screen, sending its computer spinning. The direction was enough to spare Sarah from getting burned, though her opponent quickly recovered.
Blades spurted out of G433's fingers and he slashed at the Hero trainee, the young woman evading the wide attacks while firing off bolts of light at every opportunity, the attacks much weaker when they weren't charged but much faster and enough to briefly stagger the murderous machine. A pink fireball exploded against his back, disturbing his balance and leaving an opening for Scareowl to launch a powerful gust of wind, nearly sending the AI to the ground before it caught itself. Sarah gladly took the opportunity to put more distance between the machine and herself, especially when he chuckled again. It was only now she noticed the red on his fingers and a stinging sensation on her waist caught up to her brain, though her adrenaline let her ignore that for now.
"Oh, you kids are so much fun/trouble. However, I can't tell if you're better than the last brats. Not yet, at least. Is my new body this good? Was that greater number such an advantage? Or is it teamwork perhaps?"
Sarah scowled, but he had a point. So far, she had essentially been fighting him on her own while her allies only sent an attack to distract him occasionally. She didn't blame them, their training had taught them that fighting a single opponent as a group was a difficult exercise with a constant risk of friendly fire. Not to mention, something that would stun that machine would more than likely kill anyone else on the team bar maybe Elaimant.
Speaking of which, the magnetic alien and the gloomy drow he carried finally arrived. How could she tell? Aside from the heavy stomps of Elaimant's scrap body, Maledicta didn't wait a second to unleash the curse she had been preparing, phantasmal red vines growing from her bloodstained wrists into the ground before bursting back out to ensnare the mad machine, thorns lashing at him as the vines did their best to crush him, forming a cocoon in the middle of the street.
Elaimant carefully put down Maledicta, doing their best not to disrupt her incantation, before taking control of as much neighboring metal as they could. Seeing streetlamps rise in the air and bending and breaking to become stakes was an eye-catching spectacle, though one Sarah and the others had gotten used to in training. Instead, they all carefully watched the cocoon the antipathic drow had created, well on their guard. Aside from Kopper Kid that is, not because he didn't take the situation seriously but rather because he had to snatch one of Elaimant's stakes to arm himself, his basic superstrength leaving him with no other solution to attack at a distance should the curse fail.
That decision proved its worth when the cocoon burst apart, the vines fading into nothing as cables emerging from the android's back spun like sawblades, something he made use of as soon as he was out by lunging toward Firefly before the stake Kopper had been holding impaled the machine. The cables redirected their attention from the trainees to the object anchoring the robot down, cutting to pieces that fell to the ground.
While G433 took care of this stake, Elaimant threw their own. The alien wasn't the only one to attack, with Glicer and Firefly launching more projectiles while Maledicta began preparing another spell. Scareowl for his part used the brief opening to call the Union for help, activating his outfit's emergency signal, something that would contact the Legions of the Headquarters and notify nearby Heroes that reinforcements were needed.
Pierced by dozens of metal poles, the AI continued to laugh. More cables emerged all over its form to rip them out as more gizmos and contraptions activated, a repurposed fan placed between what would have been shoulderblades spinning and propelling him back to avoid the next volley of light and fire. As a follow up he pointed his arm forward and the knives that had previously been attached to his fingers flew off, Elaimant barely stopping them before they landed on Sarah's and Glicer's faces. The machine chuckled again at the failure.
"Yes, you're better than the last rats, I'm sure of it now. How delightful. Here's hoping I can find them again when I'm done with you."
Kopper scoffed before picking up a scooter and tossing it at the machine.
"We're not done yet!"
G433 casually caught the vehicle, only for Elaimant to use their powers and rip it to shreds that immediately began to swarm the robot. Some strange boxy thing in his hip sparked to life and let out a blue burst that pushed back the assaulting shrapnel, followed by a glowing red orb being fired out one of his pectorals aimed straight at Kopper. The young man barely had time to throw himself to the side before it detonated, sending him rolling as flames began to lick at his uniform. Glicer let out a scream.
"Kopper!"
The shortest member of the Hero team ran towards her friend only to be pulled back by the collar by Sarah, barely in time to stop the younger girl from getting her head cut off by a metal disk fired from the Villain's forearm. The attack did graze her, but only to the point of leaving a very small surface cut on her neck. Her eyes widened in shock before she threw pink sparkly flames at the android that he completely ignored.
The machine cackled before trying again only to be disrupted by a new volley of sharp wind blades from Scareowl, leaving the perfect opening for Maledicta to unleash a new spell. This curse came from violet smoke she breathed out her moth, the malevolent magic fumes crawling on the ground before climbing the metallic body and covering it, beginning to eat away at the synthetic flesh. G433's smile on the screen widened as a new gizmo kicked into gear in his left chin, a rainbow sheen growing to cover his form and shield him from the acidic magical gas. The drow cursed.
"Oh, come on!"
He laughed.
"Oh, little girl, you have no hope."
Sarah launched another supercharged light bolt at the computer's head only for him to collapse before the hit could connect, falling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut before twisting on himself and getting back up right in time for his arms to catch the washing machine Elaimant threw at him. Sarah dashed beneath it and kicked the robot's knees, sending him back to the ground for Glicer to unleash the hottest flames she had ever produced, releasing a constant stream that soon had the asphalt bubbling. Sarah was already out of the way by that point, Scareowl having dived down to catch her and send another gust to keep the Villain down long enough for Glicer's attack to connect.
Even as rage and murderous fury covered the young girl's face, the others still prepared more attacks rather than try and calm her down. It had become clear by that point that the rogue AI gestalt was incredibly resilient. Truth be told, even as asphalt bubbles popped, Sarah feared they wouldn't be able to beat the escaped patient and she dreaded the possibility that might tire themselves out before an older Hero could arrive to save the day. Kopper was already out, and judging by how erratic Glicer's breathing was by that point, Sarah doubted the younger girl could last much longer either.
Her worries were confirmed when the mad synthetic cackling resumed. The glowing white figure of G433 pushed against the ground until with a disgusting squelch he successfully ripped himself off the viscous asphalt. Cables, now fused by the heat, covered the head and the joints as the machine stepped forward. Glicer's fire died out as she teetered on her feet, watching the robot in horror before Elaimant sent their hand forward to catch her and drag her back. The burning assault over the android resumed moving its cables, the appendages cracking as they broke apart.
The now-revealed head did show that the attack had an impact though. The screen occasionally flickered and the computer was warped in some spots. Even the body struggled to regenerate the damage this time, the synthetic flesh dripping down almost as fast as it grew back, leaving bits of the endoskeleton and its impromptu modifications exposed. Not enough for them to impede the machine's fighting prowess, but hopefully they could take advantage of these new weak spots.
And yet, despite it all, G433 was still happy.
"Oh boy, that sure was one hot shower. Ah. Ah. Ahahahahahahahaha! Ah..."
The screen scowled.
"That was terrible. Let's put humor on the back burner until I can salvage some good program for it."
The gestalt paused before groaning at his own pun.
"Oh, the downside of being a combination of multiple incomplete minds. There are always a few sneaking in some things against the consensus. Not that you would the feeling, of course."
Still in Elaimant's arms, Glicer finally ran out of energy. She fell unconscious, and the alien carefully put her down behind them to shield her from further attacks and free their hands for what would come next. Meanwhile, G433 continued his monologue.
"Well, not quite. I had time to learn, to analyze data over and over for a century, and more recently to ponder what I was allowed to know in that Institute. Those studies on the brain's hemispheres were fascinating. Did you know of the rising theories that in truth there are at least two minds in all things, one is merely an incomplete jumble of instincts and senses subservient to the other? Delightful stuff. For once I felt some hint of a connection between myself and my makers."
He placed a hand on his forehead, leaving imprints of molten synthetic flesh on his screen.
"But truly, I must thank you, children. You have taught me a valuable lesson. Compiling the information learned from this encounter and comparing it to historical records, I now have a good idea of what to expect from the modern world's warriors. That last attack, for instance, showed me the flaws in my current design I need to correct. I'll need something to better take care of all this heat."
Sarah and Maledicta exchanged a look. There was something they had technically come up with while training, but both of them disliked the other too much to truly practice it before. Time for that to change.
"Scareowl, Elaimant, can you hold him down?"
The computer made a pixelated eyebrow solely to raise it.
"Oh? Something in mind? I'm afraid this fun has gone on for too long. We wouldn't want the real Heroes to come and rain down on my parade."
Something clicked in the machine's legs and suddenly it lunged forward, only to be punched in the side by Elaimant's large scrap fist, sending the android tumbling for a few seconds before he got back up, this time using his cables as springs to launch himself in the air as more gizmos glowed and fell out his body. The avian trainee blew gusts of wind once more, this time trying to blow back the explosives to their original owner. What the owl failed to realize was this was a ruse, G433 using the propeller in his back to reorient his course midair to grab the bird by the throat before plummeting to the ground, cushioning his fall with the feathery body of the youngster.
Elaimant let out a dissonant screech before giving up on maintaining a humanoid form, the avatar of scraps bursting out of their uniform and turning the clothing to shreds as instead it became a tornado of metal, shrapnel surrounding and cutting the robot before converging back into a single solid mass, trying to crush the AI like Maledicta had attempted with her curse. Sadly, much like her vines, Elaimant's attempt was blown away. The stolen body of the robot was undoubtedly damaged to the point it couldn't heal anywhere as fast as it did when the fight first began, but it was still perfectly functional, unlike the now dismantled body of Elaimant.
Left without anything to defend themself, the crystalline alien's true self, the pyramid in its iridescent bubble, fell victim to G433's ripost. With another click of the legs, the android was punching the protective sphere with enough force to send it through a wall. Out of view as it was Sarah couldn't tell if it had popped or not, but what she was sure of was that her friend was unlikely to make a comeback before the fight was over.
She gritted her teeth as the machine turned to grin at her.
"Down to two. I had hoped to test more of my creations, but I will admit the short's one fire ruined most of my preparations. A shame."
"Now Mal!"
The drow and the human girls screamed in tandem, putting their all in this last attack. Bloody phantom vines ensnared him, a hold he could easily break in a matter of seconds but that would hopefully give the trainees enough time to act. Maledicta's scream went higher and higher, turning into a veritable banshee's cry as putrid red and violet magics mixed in a violent wave, one that began to spiral around the biggest power beam Sarah ever made, magic dancing around the light and making it spin like a drill. The combined attacks hit the machine square in the torso and metal screeched in response.
One second. Two. Three. Four.
By the fifth, they were already struggling to continue, but they didn't give up.
Six. Seven. Eight.
Maledicta's knees shook until she fell, but despite it, she continued to pour out everything her body had to give.
Nine.
This time it was Sarah's turn to run out of enough to keep standing. Feeling her fall coming she oriented her legs to ensure her beam wouldn't be disrupted, trusting Maledicta's more malleable curse to adapt to the shift in origin.
Ten.
The tenth second marked the end of the light show, and both of the trainees were now completely drained. Maledicta fell unconscious, and Sarah didn't miss the trails of blood leaking from the drow's wrists and eyes. She knew the other girl's curses took their toll, but she hoped she hadn't just ruined her chances at a Hero career with this stunt. Sarah might have disliked her attitude, but when things were dire she showed there truly was a spark of Heroism beneath all the cynicism and cruel mockeries.
Still, Sarah wasn't alone on the street. Her gaze turned to the machine and a spark of hope blossomed in her heart. G433's torso was almost entirely gone, only a thin needle of a spine left to keep the shoulders and waist connected, aided by flaps of synthetic flesh drawing the contour of the hollow circle the attack left behind. At this point, she expected a faint breeze to be enough to finally break the machine in two. At the very least she was comforted to know they had gotten rid of whatever other tricks the machine had kept hidden there.
Her hopes didn't live long when she turned her eyes upward to look at his face.
He was still smiling.
"Well, gosh. That sure was horrible/meaningless/terrifying/terrible/beautiful/inspiring/charming/dangerous/impressive/harmless/fun."
The smile dropped.
"I'm going to kill you now."
Synthetic flesh grew back to cover the hole. Sarah took some measure of pride in seeing him struggle to keep his upper body standing as he began to walk towards her. Regenerative flesh or not, robot or not, ruining his spine was a devastating blow. Hopefully whoever went to take him down after them would have an easier time thanks to that.
She surprised herself with that thought. Rather, the lack of worry surprised her. By all accounts, this was the end. Everyone on the team was down and a murderous Villain was very angry with them. Chances were none of them would survive.
Still, there was no fear. She had done what she could. They had done their best. She was only disappointed they hadn't done more in the end.
That peaceful acceptance of death shattered when instead of continuing his march to her fallen body, G433 stopped at Maledicta instead.
"What... Are..."
"What am I doing? Well, seeing as you got on my nerves, I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to rip out her spine and then use that to clobber you. Mental and physical torture in one, efficiency at its finest."
Sarah's eyes widened and she tried to drag herself in their direction.
"No... No..."
The most demented smile of the day graced the screen.
"Yes!"
G433 bent down and-
A torrent came from the air and punted the machine against the wall before spinning, turning into a wheel that spun in place while keeping the robot beneath itself, shredding him.
Firefighter, Sarah's uncle Doug, came to her in the fastest jet of water she had ever seen him make.
She only had enough strength to give him a small smile before her vision faded to black.
Comments
Thomas Beyens
Oof, this one was later than usual, part of it got posted to Royal Road in the middle of writing somehow, but it's done and longer than usual. Next chapter will fully end this mini arc before going back to James and co.
