The headquarters lay in flames, various officers either converted or reduced to ash. The figure tossed the head of the precinct through the impact shielding and out into space, crashing into the ongoing meteor shower. As the flaming stones pelted them relentlessly, their battle suit eventually began to cave to the blows, shattering bone and making their breathing ragged. Even still, upon landing back on the barren surface the commander drew his emergency blaster, shouting, “Daybreak’s Bell! Ring for Justice!” Authorization given, the blaster fried itself firing a blast that leveled the entire building and all those remaining within. All of them except their attacker who seemed little more than singed. The villain sighed and shook their head, “You reduced all my efforts to little more than atoms. I guess I’ll start again with you.” Pressing a button hidden on their badge, the commander stood up and drew their combat knife, readying themselves. “Oh, how cute. You really want to make this fun for me. Too bad. I didn’t want you to suffer like the rest did.” The commander was about to charge when the felt a light tug pulling them back. Less than a second later, the villain fell to one knee and they tried to catch their breath.
Cosmo Dragon appeared as if from thin air and cheered, “Officer Neri, do a scan of yourself and then the rest of the evacuees.” The commander nodded and began to run. When the villain attempted to aim a strike on the fleeing officer, they were caught by surprise as the blast was aimed back at themself in an instant. Holding their eyes for a moment from the flash, they growled as they looked for the now missing foe. As wounds appeared on them suddenly, Cosmo Dragon sighed, “Alright. You’re made of some pretty cut resistant material. Still, you seem to operate at a normal timescale.”
The villain laughed at that comment, when Cosmo Dragon prepared himself the villain responded, “You attack me with that toy with a thousand petty wounds and believe yourself my equal? I am unto a god! I am mo-“ his comeback speech was cut off as Cosmo Bruin crashed into him at near light speed.
Bruin stood from the crater and brushed himself off, “Phoenix is on his way. What’s the status, Cap?”
Dragon watched the crater to see any signs of life and explained, “Class 9 Corrupter. Blade resistant, seems to be at normal timescale, but let’s not assume.” Motioning to the missing building, Bruin was in disbelief. “Walked off Daybreak’s Bell, but had vital organs that responded to blunt force trauma from me.”
Bruin rolled his shoulders and sighed, “Alright. You gonna show your new trick or are we waiting on the walking nuke?”
“I’ll hold off in case Phoenix can’t finish the job.”
Bruin chuckled as the villain rose from the crater. “Didn’t realize it was like that, but okay. Boss should be here soon. Let’s see if we can save him the trouble.” Bruin charged the figure who seemed to vanish for a moment before slamming hard into the ground. Bruin pulled the figure in close with his telekinesis and punched him a few times before grabbing them around the middle. Getting hit around the head multiple times at the speed of light, he grappled the villain. He arched his back and slammed the beast into the stone. Without releasing his grip, he twisted his hips and went to do it again as his captive began swatting away Dragon’s blinding assault as best he could.
The villain laughed between ragged breaths, “If such a beam could not slay me, nor your unceremonious collision, why would these maneuvers mean anything to me.”
Bruin continued to bash the beast into the stone as Dragon continued his assault. Eventually, he tossed the villain some distance away and grumbled, “Okay, same scratch resistance as a collapsed star, but weight of cotton and malleable like clay. Despite that, his corruption seems to require a broken will to infect the body.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Dragon nodded as he appeared next to him, “He seems to top out at just shy of light speed and I’m seeing minimal heat friction even taking the vacuum of space into account.”
The villain rose laughing again, “Of course! Because I am the perfect killing machine! The ultimate life to counteract the Shuian incursion!”
Bruin nodded, “You would be good for that. And maybe if you weren’t crazy we could use your help.”
“A waste. Without morals and restraint you are nothing but a larger threat.” Dragon sighed, “It was good we caught you before you became an actual danger.”
The monster looked at them in disbelief, his humor vanishing, “Excuse me? I just corrupted and devastated an entire sector’s headquarters in a few hours. There isn’t even a building left. None of you have left a lasting impact on me. What makes you think I’m no threat?”
As one of the meteors made its approach to the planet, a figure in a bright orange coat stood upon it with his arms crossed. Pulling free his gun, he aimed it at the dead world that contained only his foe and students. The momentary flash was all the signal the pair needed to prepare. Dragon vanished and Bruin braced himself. A moment after that, a glowing crater formed on the surface of the planet many miles wide. The target tried to stand despite the severe damage and was unprepared for the meteor to drive them deep into the resulting magma.
Bruin pulled himself free from the heated stone and winced. “Hate the theatrics but your results are impeccable, Boss.”
Phoenix shook his head, “Not even close.” He kicked the fallen stone off of their enemy and punched through the hardening stone to pull the twisted mess free from the ground. He tossed it away from himself as it tried to lash out for his throat. The mass reformed into something akin to a humanoid and hissed, “Looks like it survived the Batta test, but just barely. I would say an 85.”
It made an attempt to strike out at them again only to find itself contained in an air tight sphere of energy. Dragon sighed, “That makes this truly one of the most promising failures in the cosmos. Think we should let the lab techs study it?”
Phoenix pushed a few buttons on his wrist while shaking his head, “Black box said that was what led to this incident. We are going to just have to eradicate this one for the sake of peace.”
Bruin held up a hand to them and approached the sphere. Phoenix rolled his eyes, aware of what the rookie intended. “Hey, Buddy. I know you are scared and hurt. Found out that the cosmos is a lot bigger than you were taught. Full of things no one told you about. I’d like for us to talk things out and maybe we can help you find a place in this bigger world. But I would need you to promise me that you will behave and stop trying to kill people. Okay?” The blob seemed to still be scared and unsure. “That’s fine. Take your time. You can hang out in my craft until you have made a decision.”
As he walked away from the sphere, Phoenix sighed, “If that thing gets loose, it will be on your head, Rookie. If it decides not to play nice you know where to take it.” Bruin nodded and saluted his superior officer.
Phoenix saluted back. Dragon and Phoenix saluted each other as well before both taking their leave, Bruin picking up the sphere with one arm, resizing it for easier transportation, and pushed a button on his badge to wait for his patrol craft.
----------------------------------------
Dean woke from the memory in the cold dark of his quarters. Flashes like his were common after a fight of that scale, his mind trying to piece it all back together. He wondered what Shawn would say about these odd coincidences, these unfortunate mishaps. Tracing back his history he could tell exactly what Douglas would have told him. A realization gathering on the edge of his mind like a coming storm. He couldn't stay but they weren't ready for him to just walk away. Shawn would have told him to make a scene and draw even more attention as they grew, but he wasn't built like either of his mentors. He was not built to fight a one man war. He attempted to gather what restless sleep he could as his mind tried to piece together what his next move should be.