CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

SMASHING BOUNDARIES

Dang circled the cave, trying to keep as much distance as possible between him and Grimm. These past few minutes were the most annoying in his entire life. At the very least, in the top three.

A murderbot flew straight at him and he dodged and watched as it slammed itself into the cave ceiling. A couple of stalactites broke loose and Dang got an idea. He snatched them out of the air and threw them with all his might in the direction of the two murderbots that chased after him in lieu of the death of their friend.

The stalactites shot through the air, whistling as they pierced through the robots causing them to explode.

Jets of flame erupted from his feet propelling him through the air, while he kept his eyes on the multiple threats before him; Grimm, the monster, who wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for threat number two: Caden, and Kai. Two threats he couldn't afford to ignore. And lastly, the murderbots, and the hole they were digging that was barely big enough to let more than a couple of robots pass through at once.

“You didn't think this plan of yours through, did you?” Caden called from below, “You’re outnumbered and outgunned. If I were you, I'd start thinking of an escape plan…but even that would be futile. You're going to die here and I'm going to make sure of it.”

“Escape?” Dang scoffed, “Do you even know me at all?”

Dang changed his course in the air, flying straight up. He approached the ceiling but didn't slow down, instead doing the opposite.

He sped up.

Dang roared as he slammed a fist into the ceiling, sending out a shockwave across it's surface, and breaking off all the stalactites hanging down from it. He chased after them as they fell, and kicked them with all his might.

The first one shattered on impact.

“Shit…” he muttered, as he tried again with another one, this time holding back some of his strength and getting it right.

His kick sent the stalactite shooting through the air, straight at the hole the murderbots were boring, plugging it up. He kicked a couple more downwards, at Caden and Kai, but it instead collided with a green force field.

Kai sent him a mischievous grin.

Dang moved through the air, from stalactite to stalactite, delivering kick after kick, sending them shooting straight at Grimm, who made no effort to defend himself. Most of them shattered as soon as they came into contact with his skin but a few pierced it, and Grimm roared.

But it wasn't a regular roar.

A wave escaped from him, combing through the air and attacking his surroundings. Even Dang from high above wasn't safe. The wave hit him and brought with it a wave of pain and his entire body trembled under the pressure of the roar. His skin crawled, his vision doubled and his ears popped, due to the change in pressure of the cave.

He momentarily lost control of the flames underneath him and they went out, and he plummeted, crashing into the Earth with excessive force. Dust and debris rose in the wake of his collision, leaving him in a crater.

He groaned as he pushed himself onto one knee and coughed, a warm crimson liquid escaping his lips.

What the hell was that? he thought to himself.

“That was one of Grimm’s signature moves.” Caden answered, as though he could read Dang’s mind, “Paralyzing Scream. A personal favorite. He uses the scream to stun his opponents, and then beats the crap out of them.”

The ground trembled…then again…and again and Dang turned around to see why.

Grimm was walking. Towards him.

He managed to push himself to his feet, and raised his fists…but the flames did not come. He willed them out again, but nothing happened. He tried forcing them out

“Come onnnnn…” he muttered through gritted teeth, trying to summon his powers.

“Oh, did I…did I forget to mention that Grimm's scream disrupts the flow of energy?” Caden said, looking at Kai, “It must've slipped my mind.”

Dang gritted his teeth.

“Anyways, good luck against the big scary monster. You need it.” Caden snorted.

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Now that Dang was on the ground with Grimm, he could see its size more clearly. It towered over him, standing at 7 feet but close to 8. Its meaty muscles pulled taut against its rough and jagged skin, colored dark disgusting green. Its torso was dark and padded, almost like…armor grafted onto its skin. Dang felt shivers run down the length of his back.

He sighed, “Well, I guess we're doing things old school.” And then he put his guard up.

Grimm took this as an invite and broke into a sprint, the entire cave trembling in response to each step it took. Dang had a plan. He was going to wait until the last second and duck out of the way, rodeo style.

Maybe he could do some damage then, from behind.

He waited and waited, eyes trained on the rampaging bundle of evil making its way towards him. He waited some more, until it was time, and made to jump out of the way at the last second…

SLAM!

Dang jumped headfirst into a green wall, and then the wall expanded until it completely enclosed him in a sphere. Before he could react, Grimm had gotten to him, passing straight through the force field and landing a punch with a fist roughly the size of his full body.

Dang got sent hurtling through the air, his skin burning from friction against the wind. His entire body went numb as he crashed straight through the cave wall. The one he'd punched Kai through. Now he was back in the room with the swarm of murderbots.

He shot to his feet, completely ignoring the searing pain that engulfed his entire being as they came immediately, wasting no time at all, and Dang was forced into another battle with them…but this time without the destructive capabilities of Wombat’s fire.

He fingered the cold and hard metal of his rings and they immediately began to morph and change shape until they became, two silver tonfas, raring to bust some murderbot heads.

He wielded the tonfas with expert skill, swinging the weapon around and bringing it down hard on the skulls of the murderbots.

None survived the impact.

He swung and kicked till he could no more and then swung and kicked still, and the murderbots came relentlessly. When he'd had enough, he jumped back through the hole he'd come from, delivering a blow right above the exit and trapping the murderbots that were attempting to follow him through in rocks and dirt.

He fell to a knee, heaving, and the metal tonfas reverted back to rings.

The pain he'd been trying his hardest to ignore came back. His entire body convulsed and throbbed in response, as he tried to push the pain away but it was futile. He felt a gathering in his throat and bent over, emptying the contents of his stomach, mixed largely with blood.

“Oh no…are you done already?” Caden teased. He’d taken a seat on a ledge in the cave wall, with crossed legs and crossed arms watching Dang’s struggle.

“Not even close.” Dang wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

He forced himself upright, wobbling a bit but catching himself just in time, and slipped his hands into his pockets. “I'm just getting started.”

He started towards Grimm again and Grimm interpreted this as an invite and started towards him too. His eyes scanned the monster's body, looking for any signs of a weak spot but saw none so obvious. Punching through with the entirety of his strength was the only option. He looked past Grimm, at Kai who was at his master's feet, grinning mischievously.

A sigh escaped from him. If only there were more of me.

The cave trembled once more.

Dang planted his feet into the ground and shot forward, at Grimm, no longer choosing to wait for the beast. As he neared, he knew what was coming, even before he saw Kai raise his hand. He just had to be ready for it.

Grimm dashed towards him in response.

Adapt.

The word rang around in his head as loudly as possible. It was part of the way his power worked, the entire reason he was able to use his power the way he did.

Resonate. The power to adapt.

He just needed to apply it to his mindset.

They neared each other and Dang raised his fist, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

And it did.

He instantly got encased in a green sphere and his punch collided with the inside of it, but his feet was still planted on the ground…

Grimm took this opportunity to swipe at him.

With as much strength as he could muster, he forced his feet downward, cracking and breaking the ground that they both stood on and Grimm lost its footing, missing his attack. Dang twisted in his enclosure, throwing a kick at the force field and it gave way, succumbing to his immense physical strength.

He regained his stance, and shot forward, crashing into Grimm and forcing him back, using him to block Kai’s line of sight.

“Tch. I can't see him.” Kai complained, “Get out of the way you glorified ape!”

Dang smiled. His hunch was on point.

“I guess you can't trap what you can't see huh!” He yelled as Grimm swiped at him, forcing him to dodge. He momentarily stepped out of Grimm's shadow.

Kai laughed. “Yeah, but unfortunately, you can't hide.”

He outstretched his hand to trap Dang in his green force field once more and deployed his power. He smiled as he watched Dang's figure get encased in the shield…then it faded…

His smile followed.

What? An afterimage? he thought.

“And I guess you can't trap what your eyes are too slow to follow.” The voice came from behind him.

Kai turned and swiped but Dang was quicker. He ducked under Kai’s attack, spun, and sent the heel of his shoes straight to Kai’s face.

Kai deployed a last-minute shield around himself but it shattered under the weight of the kick, which connected with his jaw.

There was a BOOM and a shockwave escaped from the point of contact and Kai shot out of the cave, breaking the sound barrier along the way.

“One down,” Dang muttered, and turned to face Caden, who had switched seats in the cave amidst the chaos.

Caden started clapping. “Bravo. Bravo. Truly good stuff.” He'd somehow ended up on the other end of the cave.

“Why do you keep running?” Dang called out.

Caden laughed, “I'm not running buddy, I'm saving myself for last.”

Caden outstretched his hand, and Dang readied himself. He wondered what power Caden possessed.

Strength? Speed? Intelligence? Flight?

Caden balled his fist and Dang followed suit…

But Caden wasn't attacking.

Instead, he drew his fist back sharply, sending it into the wall behind him.

The wall that held back the murderbots.

Cracks spread from the point of his punch, all over the cave wall and the whole place trembled as the wall came tumbling down. A new wall had replaced it..made of murderbots and they fell into the cave at once, swarming the place.

Grimm roared, reminding everyone that he was still in the fight.

“Douchebag.” Dang murmured.