Liam thrust his hand into the eye socket of the robot on his left, his electrified glove kicking on. The robot shook for a moment, then went down. Black smoke drifting from the new hole. His glove had done its job and fried his opponent.

Liam didn’t have time to soak in the victory as an attack from the other side drew his focus. It’d been awhile since he lost contact with Wire and her robots. Bank-Breaker’s own robots and Skip jumping in and out of the fight had jarred their formation. Each attack doing just a little more to drive them apart, until, like a rubber band snapping, they were separated.

Leaving Wire and Liam fighting the same battle at different angles. Liam had tried to close the gap with his teammate, but for every step he made a new threat would jump in his way. The tides of battle seemed to desire the two Heroes remain alone.

In the confined space of the building, it wasn’t like they couldn’t see each other. Or even offer some glancing help, however most of their attention was drawn to their own predicaments.

As the next robot grabbed onto Liam, he spun to the side. Using his weight to flip the robot up and then bring it to the ground in what would’ve been a crippling choke hold against a human.

However, he was facing a robot, and it was already struggling to break free before Liam had time to lock his hold. As the metal hands pried it free of Liam’s grip the Hero changed tactics. With his metal glove, Liam grabbed one of the cooling ports on the robot and bent it shut, then kicked the machine away. It wasn’t enough to finish the thing off, but if the fight dragged on long enough, the machine would fry in its own case.

Liam was already turning for the next opponent before the previous landed. Only to be pulled back. The robot he’d just kicked had wrapped its claws around his arm. Using its speed and weight, Liam toppled onto his metal opponent.

He pried at the claw, yet the robot refused to budge. The more Liam struggled, the tighter the robot gripped. It proved to still be very much in the fight. Metal appendages scratching at his suit, trying to pry his protection loose.

Liam brought his free arm up to his face. Holding the helmet tight while he pulled his other arm up, then slammed it back down. Repeatedly banging his armoured fist against the offending appendage.

He had to get out of this hold and fast. More robots were coming and if he didn’t escape, they’d be able to overcome his resistance and pull his helmet off. A clear death sentence in the green gas.

Liam slammed his arm down again as another robot zoomed over. Liam could see it coming in, claw opening and closing as it readied to squeeze the life out of him.

Liam’s boiling stomach flipped as his second opponent loomed over him, a red eye visible through the hint of green still clinging to the air. Then, the first went limp, the hand grasping his arm let go and fell to the side. Liam didn’t need to be told twice that he’d been given a reprieve and jumped to his feet. Backing away from the fallen machine. He had enough time to verify his newest weapon hadn’t fallen off in the scuffle before he was engaged with the new robot. Through the fight, Liam continued to move away from the one Wire had temporarily disabled, knowing she could only keep control of it for so long before she had to divert her power to something else.

Deflecting a claw attack, Liam grabbed one of his staffs, still hanging from his belt. With a click of a button, the weapon extended and Liam stabbed it into the ground. The staff’s standing end burst alight while the bottom held to the floor. Then the top spun and slammed into a robot. Repeating the blow again and again, until the flying machine had to turn and face the annoying stick.

“That’s new,” a voice said from behind Liam.

Liam spun to find Skip, a smile visible in his eyes, even behind his mask.

Striking out with a fist, Liam caught empty air. His opponent had teleported two feet farther back when the attack approached.

“You’ll have to do better than that if you want to beat me,” Skip taunted

Liam rose to the provocation. Attacking again and again in a flurry of blows as the two clashed. Liam tagged Skip with a few glancing strikes whenever the latter stayed too long. Yet whenever Liam thought he was gaining the advantage, Skip would teleport away, or a robot would swoop in. The entire scene left Liam boiling with desire for justice.

As Liam was deflecting the most recent robot attack, Skip jumped in. Aiming a hammer, Liam had no idea where he’d found, at Liam’s head.

Dodging to the side, Liam avoided the blow. Coming up, he watched as Wire’s robot caught Skip in the back of the head. Its metal arm smacking the former Hero like Skip was trying to do to him.

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The older man stumbled forward, but another attack from Wire’s robot was avoided as three robots swarmed Wire’s lone one. Bank-Breakers machines took advantage of the out of place opponent, destroying propellers in clean attacks.

Once enough propellers were destroyed, the attackers backed up, letting Wire’s robot fall to the ground, effectively out of the fight. Wire must’ve realized the same thing as her robot only twitched once before it stopped trying to move, the name Arcani still visible through the damage.

With their opponent destroyed, the three robots turned toward Liam. The Hero moved towards his staff. While it wasn’t as effective as the machines he was about to face, it’d still be able to help him and at this point he needed all the help he could get.

Then one of the three robots twitched, arm flexing, before it jumped on one of its companions. The other two followed suit and one after another they attacked their former companions.

Liam ignored the traitorous robots, realizing it was the handiwork of Wire, and moved towards the wobbling Skip. When Liam arrived, he landed a kick to the man’s knee and sent the wobbly man to the ground. The followup kick connected with the side of the man’s head and dropped him.

A whack to his own shoulder sent Liam staggering. Looking behind him, he found a robot holding a metal gate. One used to crate dogs. The improvised weapon was bent at a 45-degree angle from the attack on his back.

Edging backwards before the robot could attack again, Liam popped the pin of a concrete grenade and tossed it at the robot. He could deal with the annoying machine after he finished the more important target. Liam watched until the grenade went off, foam bubbling over the robot, before turning around to his real prey, confident the robot wouldn’t interfere again. However, the man wasn’t there. Liam frantically looked around. Skip had been down, and he was about to end this. Why did the robot have to ruin everything with its horrible timing?

A hissing noise on the back of his suit and a red warning flash on Liam’s HUD pulled his search up short. Looking at the alarm, Liam saw his suit’s oxygen levels falling fast. Bringing up the systems display, the tank on his right shoulder was flashing red. Running containment protocol, his suit sealed off the defunct tank, preserving his oxygen supply, and detached the offending piece of equipment.

Liam watched as the tank landed, a hole at the top still venting air. The clear gas pushed the green apart as the tank spun. Well, it looked like the dog gate was able to do more damage than he’d have assumed, Liam thought with a frown.

Through the clearing of green, his oxygen tank was creating, Liam spotted the former Hero, stumbling out of the store. One hand holding his helmeted head as he swayed.

“He’s getting away!” Liam called to his teammate as he pointed at the fleeing figure.

With a quick glance Wire took in the man, then turned to Liam. Their eyes met and there was a moment of understanding. She’d stay here and make sure no one tampered with the gas device while Liam was free to chase down the fleeing man. For what wasn’t the first time, Liam was glad he’d joined this team. It’d given him a chance at revenge he’d only dreamed would come.

With a nod, Liam was away. Bashing two robots out of the way as he followed after Skip. Leaving the store and his ally to venture into the unknown.

...

Nudge dodged under another swarm of robots. The group of five had attacked in a wedge formation like they were a flock of geese. Unfortunately for them, his vines were faster and pulled him out of the way in time. A group of branches shot out from behind him, large thorns covering them. The flock of robots wasn’t quick enough and slammed into the barrier. Their fight done for the day.

All this chaos and destruction sent another pang of nostalgia through Nudge. The fight was so familiar.

Then it hit him. This was the same fight from all those years ago. Sure, he had a team now, and that changed the proportions of the clash, but not what was happening between him and Bank-Breaker. Nudge even remembered the wedge attack of robots from all those years ago. Back then, it’d also looked like a flock of birds. Even if they’d done more on their first attempt than today. The attacks were too similar. He was in the same battle as all those years before.

Why was Bank-Breaker fighting like this? He’d failed last time. Was he confident it would work today? And why? Or was he trying to relive the fight? Whatever the reason, Nudge didn’t want to find out.

With a vine, Nudge reached out to Tank. He had to get in range and end all of this. When the vine reached Tank, it folded itself into a number of shapes. Like a catcher in a baseball game, he was signaling his teammate what to do. Their code was a language no one outside of the team knew, and given he was against one of the smartest techies in the world he could only rely on this. In all likelihood, his suit’s communications were already breached.

He didn’t have the time to confirm Tank got the message. His full focus had to be on the action going on around him. If he’d been fighting a group of people, that wouldn’t be the case. His powers would compensate for what his eyes couldn’t catch. Yet robots were the clear counter to his powers. Their metal bodies were impervious to many of his power related senses.

A rumbling sound from behind told Nudge that Tank had gotten the message and was acting on it. They were winning, and the limited opponents meant they could renew the attack. In moment’s she was charging the way forward, clearing a path.

Nudge fell in behind, using the vines and other plants at his disposal to beat away any robot that tried to attack Tank’s flanks.

The two pushed forwards like they’d done this a hundred times. And that wasn’t a lie, they’d practiced this maneuver enough to make it second nature. Together, they cut the distance until Nudge was in range. He’d put an end to everything.

Reaching out, Nudge could feel Bank-Breaker, or the shell of him. Inside his coat was something less than human, but it still had a heart beat. Even with Nudge closing the distance, the man didn’t run. He must’ve known he was in range, yet he still stood there, unmoving.

Whatever the reason, Nudge didn’t care. Today he wouldn’t make the same mistake as all those years ago. He’d end everything right now. Nudge pulled at the man with everything he had.