The air was electric as Lightforge made his way through the streets, looking for a proper fight. Most of that electricity was literal, coming from the softly humming armor that he was wearing. But some of it was still metaphorical as excitement worked its way through him. He was covered in new equipment just waiting to be put through their paces.

One of his new items was the drone that circled in the air above him. It was hard to make out in the ever growing darkness, but the whir of its motors still made it easy to find. It was scanning the area for potential villains who were looking for trouble, and there was no shortage of them. The tricky part was finding the right target.

He wanted to push himself and see what his new equipment was truly capable of. That meant finding a target that would be a challenge, but not overwhelming. People were in groups, so that alone should provide plenty of challenges. He would have to make up the difference by picking low level criminals to go after.

That was much easier said than done. After the last battle most people were acutely aware of where they stood in the pecking order. The low level players roamed around in groups at least a half dozen strong. And, more often than not, they had gravitated to a gang run by someone closer to Lightforge’s own level. It was tough to find them on their own.

His chance came when he wandered closer to Decker Row. So close to undisputed villain territory, they were a bit more lax about staying in tight groups. Eventually his drone reported back to him that it had found someone wandering around alone, and they were somewhere between level 5 to 8. They might be too weak, but there was only one way to know for sure.

He followed his drone’s directions and carefully peaked around a corner to lay eyes on his target. It was a wiry man in a dark, plain spandex costume that didn’t show an inch of skin. Lightforge had been hoping for some kind of hint as to the other man’s powers, but he wasn’t going to get it. The costume was too generic to give anything away.

Oh well, he would just have to do things the hard way. He checked the straps on his shield emitter and reached behind him with the other hand to summon his hammer. Then he strolled out from behind the corner with a wide smile on his face.

“Hey there!” he called out, “I don’t suppose you’re a villain, are you? I’ve been looking for someone to fight.”

To his surprise, the man didn’t jump or even look surprised. He just looked over, his featureless mask tilting back and forth as he studied the newcomer. In a flash he pulled a pair of handguns from behind his back and aimed up into the air. Each gun barked twice with such speed that it almost sounded like a single shot.

Within a few moments, the drone that he’d slaved over for hours and hours came crashing out the sky. All four of its motors had been blown to smithereens, turning it into a slightly more complex rock in an instant. Well, that was bad news. Most likely he had Enhanced Perception and either Sniper or Weapon Expert as his powers. Good for staying hidden and hitting anything you wanted from a distance.

The fact that he was standing in the open was a very bad sign. There were two options, and only a moment or two to decide. He could run, given that he had clearly walked into some sort of trap. In fact, that was probably the smart choice; get as far away from this place as he could and stay safe.

Instead he charged forward, tearing chunks out of the concrete at his feet as glowing spikes protruded from the bottoms of his shoes. He held his shield up in front of him and roared as he closed in on the gunman.

The villain wasn’t idle during the charge. He twisted and fired from his guns, with the first few shots glancing off the glowing shield between them. Unfortunately, he was both quick and smart enough to note his mistake and change targets. Hot metal tore through Lightforge’s legs and he slowed. The damage wasn’t enough to stop him but it was plenty painful.

If that weren’t enough, the gunman was using his impressive senses to maintain a very careful spacing between them. He knew that he would be at a disadvantage in a close quarters fight, and so he wasn’t letting it come to that. So long as there was a little distance between them, he would maintain his advantage.

Lightforge needed to change things up, and he knew exactly how. He changed course and launched himself at a nearby wall. The sudden change in direction made the next volley of bullets miss, which was really just a bonus. With a little exertion, the hard light spikes in his shoes shifted their angle ever so slightly. With a grunt of effort he dug them into the wall as he came into contact with it.

Shards of brick rained down as Lightforge took three steps along the wall and heaved, throwing himself towards his target. At the same time he let the hammer slide through his grasp until he was holding the handle by the end, where he flipped loose a latch that set into a disk of metal that he’d installed near the bottom. Unlike the others, the alteration that he’d made to his hammer had been incredibly simple.

There was a satisfying ‘thunk’ sound as the hammerhead came loose and fell away from the handle. It trailed a length of chain that pulled out from the inside of the handle. In an instant his hammer had turned into a cartoonishly large flail, significantly increasing his reach. It whipped forward, propelled by the considerable strength that Lightforge’s enormous frame afforded him.

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Even that speed wasn’t quite enough to overcome the powerful senses of his opponent. At the last possible moment, the figure jerked to the side just enough to avoid a direct hit. The hammer would only clip him on the arm, and his quickness would be enough to get him away and back into a winning rhythm for him.

Or at least, that was probably what he’d been thinking. For all his powerful perception, he missed the smirk on Lightforge’s face as the hammerhead made contact and he pulled out his next surprise.

“Shatter Blow!”

The hammerhead exploded in a brilliant flash of blue that swept out in all directions. The villain was finally taken by surprise, tumbling awkwardly to the ground as the force from the blast made him continue along the path that he’d used to dodge. The chain, unburdened from the weight of the hammerhead, snapped backward and recoiled into the hammer’s handle just in time for the head to reform where it had started. Before the gunman had even stopped rolling, the hammer/flail combo was ready to go once again.

Lightforge didn’t use it. Instead he jumped at his opponent, landing bodily on top of the man as he tried to rise. Given the gadgeteer’s sheer size, it was the easiest way to restrain his opponent, and it came with an extra bonus. It brought the villain into contact with Lightforge’s armored apron.

There was another flash of light as the charged metal sent electricity coursing through the already prone man, further impeding his attempts to escape. And just like that, Lightforge had his target pinned, slowed, and without easy access to his guns. The rest was really just a formality until the chains appeared and the man was teleported to prison.

You have defeated Snipe!

XP gained.

Ability: Scavenge has recovered crafting materials from this enemy. Materials gained:

* Enhanced Targeting Sensor

Snipe? Wow, that was an incredibly lazy name. Of course, the same could probably be said of Lightforge’s own name, so he shouldn’t judge. Besides, no one got to choose their name in this world.

And then there was the item that he’d apparently looted from the other player. He wasn’t completely sure how that was supposed to work, but it clearly did. This wasn’t the first time that Scavenge had activated at the end of a fight, but it was the first time against another person. Where had it come from? Clearly it was due to the man’s perception power, but those didn’t come from an item embedded inside someone, did it?

Actually, he doubted he wanted to know the answer to that question. Some things were best kept as secrets, especially when you were out in a dangerous area. It was time to move on and find another target that he could fight against.

In the excitement, he didn’t hear the footsteps until they came around a corner. Whoever it was wasn’t paying much attention either. They came around the corner with one hand covering a yawn, already calling out.

“What’s taking so long, Snipe? You said they were– oh, [BLEEP].”

The newcomer looked like another villain. He was wearing robotic armor that was also, for some reason, covered in spikes. This included spiked gauntlets that appeared to be his primary weapons. He locked eyes with Lightforge for an instant before they both began to move.

Lightforge wasn’t the fastest person around, and he likely never would be. But even super speed wouldn’t have been fast enough to stop the man from turning back and shouting for reinforcements. Lightforge released his hammer into its flail form and swung it forward with all his might. If he couldn’t stop the man from calling out, the least he could do was take him down before anyone else showed up.

The hammerhead came down before the man turned back to face the gadgeteer. He put everything he had behind the blow, including his new special attack.

“Shatter Blow!”

Once again the hammer exploded into shards of light and a wave of force. To Lightforge’s dismay, the armored villain was very different from the lightly covered Snipe. This man stumbled, but otherwise withstood the attack well.

As he turned back around, the villain’s arms began to glow with a faint green… aura. Aura Manipulation had always been one of the least popular powers in the entire game. In theory it allowed you to flexibly respond to just about any threat. Different aura techniques could enhance any or all of your stats so that you could adapt your fighting style to match whatever challenge you were facing.

In reality, the power set suffered from being a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Yes, it could fill any role on a team, but never as well as a dedicated specialist. It was so well rounded that it was difficult to stand out in any particular way.

In this new reality, Lightforge found himself more than a little jealous. In a world where he had to depend on his powers to survive, that level of adaptability sounded incredibly useful. He was at peace with the powers that he’d been given, as they had proven to be adaptable in their own ways. But sometimes it would be kind of nice to have a power that was more straightforward.

Oh well. As soon as his hammer reformed he swung again, crashing it hard against his new opponent. The glowing aura surrounded the man’s arms, making them glow green as he used them to block. The hammer blow rang out like a gong, making both fighters’ arms shudder. Lightforge couldn’t speak for his opponent, but his own arms felt numb from the impact.

The hammer drooped, his arms struggling to keep it up. The villain grinned and reared back, lashing out with his spiked fists. Lightforge couldn’t help but grin as the fists landed on his armor and a surge of electricity responded in kind.

The villain stumbled back and Lightforge took the chance to create some distance as well. Still not a great matchup for him, but he had enough tricks to manage. At the very least he would be able to make distance and get away. He just had to be careful.

He was about to charge back into the fight when the rest of the villain’s companions came rushing around the corner. That was why he’d been trying to finish the fight quickly, but that had been a complete failure.

He was smart enough to turn and run.