Liam lobbed a pair of grenades as the other man drew large amounts of ivory white light into his hands. The light pooled into a ball before H-Bar shot it forward. Slicing both grenades to pieces. The charred segments of the cylinders fell to the ground with a clang. Gas billowing from their remains, filling the hallway with an acrid yellow cloud.
H-Bar took an instinctive step back at the fog forming just in front of him. When Liam was part of the team, he stuck to irritants in his grenades. Doing what he could to avoid needless harm. He’d often used tear gas grenades to subdue targets. Right now H-Bar was trying to determine if that was still the case and hovered at the edge of the cloud.
Liam knew better than to worry about that. Regardless of what gas he used both his suit and H-Bar’s had filters. Preventing any toxic gas from impacting either of them. Not that he’d use a toxic gas. What was in front of them now was standard teargas. Two of the few grenades he’d saved from his wrecked suit.
With his opponent analyzing the smoke Liam moved forward. Using H-Bar’s momentary lapse in concentration to fling a taser dart.
Even distracted H-Bar’s lights still jumped up and met the projectile before it could reach him. Choosing to enclose the dart instead of slicing it in half. He must be worried if more gas filled the hallway. A fair concern facing Liam.
The deflected attack didn’t bother Liam. He hadn’t expected it would work. Using it instead to keep H-Bar off balance.
After the dart, H-Bar countered and flung an arm forward. Two globs of light raced from it. Cutting through the smoke like headlights in the fog as they raced toward Liam. Hazy white blobs in the otherwise indistinct hallway.
Liam rolled back around the corner. Avoiding both shots as they careened into the wall. Sending bits of plaster and brick hailing onto the floor.
The two weren’t being quiet. Something Liam knew would happen when they fought. From farther down the hall he could make out voices growing louder by the second. The officers who were still in the station were rushing over to see what was happening. Leaving Liam with two problems. Keeping the officers out of the fight and getting H-Bar to move forward.
The first was easier to solve. Popping two more grenades, his last two foam grenades. Liam sent them down the hall away from H-Bar, towards the voices. As they exploded foam coated the hallway. Liam knew it wouldn’t stop the officers. But it’d be enough to keep them busy until this little fight was over.
H-Bar wasn’t sitting around while Liam closed off the hallway. From the sound of his voice he’d crept forward, “Looks like we both want to sort this out without being interrupted. Brave of you.”
“You’re by yourself, this’ll be easy,” Liam said from his cover.
“You’re too cocky. It’ll be your downfall.”
“And you were never like that? I remember you treating everything like it was a joke. What happened to that man?”
“Things change. Until the situation with you is resolved I decided to be a little more responsible.”
“That’s so noble of you,” Liam said as he crept closer to the corner. Getting ready for the next round to start.
“Just give up, you couldn’t beat me at the factory you won’t win here.”
“What, so you can kill me?”
Liam pulled out his flying drone and ordered it to peek around the corner. Safely showing him the scene on the other side. A corner of Liam’s HUD buzzed to life. Displaying the hallway that’d been filled with smoke. With a white blob in the center of it. The blob was moving forward, creeping towards where Liam hid.
“If you come in peacefully, you’ll be treated with every care we can provide,” H-Bar said.
Liam ignored the call. Switching the camera lense to infrared. The blob burned bright with the change. Deep blues swirling around it. Not very useful Liam thought as he switched the system through more filters. None of them showed a clear view of H-Bar. The man’s lights made it easy to spot him, but not the details of what he was doing.
Liam had to get H-Bar to move farther forward. Fighting in the smoky hallway would be helpful to him as he wasn’t a beacon of light. But it wasn’t the easiest way to settle the fight. For his idea to work H-Bar needed to move around the corner.
With a new determination, Liam pulled back his spybot. Placing it into a protective case for later. The little guy had to be sheltered during a fight as it was something he wouldn’t be able to fix if it was damaged.
With that taken care of Liam jumped around the corner and fired another taser dart. The shock of lightning with two wings flew forward. Darting into the rolling smoke.
H-Bar knew Liam better than that. As soon as there was motion from around the corner he responded.
Two balls of light zipped past the dart. While the rest of the light morphed into a wall of pure energy. Protecting H-Bar from whatever was coming his way.
The dart crashed into the wall of light. Doing little more than splashing against it. The two balls of white were different. One slammed into the wall next to Liam, leaving a black char mark and sending drywall flying. While the other collided with Liam’s suit.
The ball of light exploded on his shoulder. Sending him rolling into a window. It shattered into a million pieces as Liam held onto the window sill to stop himself from flying out. Even through the armor held firm, Liam’s shoulder ached from the impact.
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From the far hall Liam could hear H-Bar rushing forward. The promise of a staggered opponent too tempting not to capitalize on.
Liam crawled back down the hallway. Glass clinking as it was pushed aside. He reached an office and pulled the door open, lucky to find no one inside. Using the thin piece of wood as a barricade, Liam hunkered behind it. Bracing himself for the next blast.
“You’ve become a serious problem,” H-Bar said. Still in the far hallway, “I never wanted it to come to this, but the world works in mysterious ways.”
“It’s not mysterious. You killed people,” Liam shot back.
“Coming from someone like you, who killed three people for fame, that’s rich.”
The ember that’d been smoldering inside of Liam ignited again. He had to restrain himself from jumping out there and attacking the man with his bare hands. Controlling his emotions was important at this moment. If H-Bar moved forward a few more inches, the playing field would be reset. Then he could beat the man down.
H-Bar turned the corner, a vengeful spirit, hallowed in white. As soon as he was there, he was gone again. A bright shield popping into existence in front of him. The man was cautious. He knew what Liam was capable of and was trying to avoid making any mistakes.
Luckily for Liam, H-Bar couldn’t see the smile spreading across his face. He’d done his part and moved H-Bar. Now it was up to Mr. Hat to finish things.
The wall of light pushed forward and drew Liam’s attention back to it. It moved a few feet before a section opened up like a window. H-Bar’s head appearing in the gap as he looked at his new surroundings. Liam greeted him, peeking out from behind the door.
“I’m sorry,” H-Bar said as part of the wall transformed into a large spear.
Liam’s only response was to smile back. If only the man could see his face, then he’d know it was already over. With a flick of his wrist the device Liam left on the floor activated. To anyone else standing over it, nothing would’ve happened. It would’ve just looked like a CD on the floor. But H-Bar wasn’t as lucky. Sparks traveled up his legs like glowing dragons.
Like dominos the lights on H-Bar’s suit flickered, then faded out. Liam had made them after all, so he’d know how to disable them. One addition he’d added during the construction were lenses, as protection. Now those same lenses were under Liam’s control. All he had to do was trigger them to close, cutting H-Bar off from his light source.
While it was great that it prevented H-Bar from sucking in new light, it didn’t cut him off from what was already under his control. Something Liam was ready for. While H-Bar was trying to figure out what happened to his lights, Liam threw a tennis ball at the wall of glowing white.
Just before reaching the wall the tennis ball sprang open. Releasing a net that flew into the hallway. Slamming into the gathered light. There was a crash and the sound of broken glass as the light collapsed like a broken mirror.
Liam jumped from behind the door. If only he had his staff, the advantage in reach would make the coming bout that much easier. Without it, he’d have to rely on his other equipment to finish this fight.
Liam’s left glove igniting into a glowing red flame. He curled his hand into a fist as he moved forward. Swinging a knockout blow at H-Bar’s nose. The first arched forward as a glowing comet.
H-Bar jerked back, the strike meant for his face whizzing by just to the side. Liam could almost feel the man’s skin as his fist shot past. Following up the first attack, Liam threw a right hook. Trying to keep H-Bar off balance. His opponent took up a guard and met the blow with his arm. Blocking it from connecting with anything important.
From the corner of his eyes, Liam saw H-Bar clench his own fist and swing upward. This time it was Liam’s turn to dodge, and he moved to the side, using the side of his arm to deflect the blow.
Seeing his opponent reduced to simple boxing moves, Liam flung his flaming hand forward. The strike was more a slap using the flames to do damage.
H-Bar dodged under it, but the follow up attack caught him unprepared. Liam’s non-ignited hand striking squarely in his face. H-Bar staggered back, fighting to keep his balance.
The strike left Liam seeing red. His opponent was on his back foot, he needed to finish him. Liam knew he should keep his calm. Letting his anger control him wouldn’t help anything. But that didn’t stop him. With red in his eyes he advanced on his off balance opponent.
Without a care for his defense Liam threw punch after punch. Raining down blows, not holding anything back as each strike aimed to do maximum damage.
The blows threatened to overwhelm H-Bar. Each one driving him backwards, but never over the edge. Somehow H-Bar was able to weather the storm. Blocking everything he could. Occasionally sending a darting strike into Liam with little effect.
The stalemate continued as both fought with everything they had. Finally they both landed a strike. Liam landing a kick to H-Bar’s inner thigh. Being rewarded with a satisfying thunk. While H-Bar’s fist sunk into the armor on Liam’s neck. By chance or skill landing on one of the new plates.
The blows sent the two reeling back. A sharp stinging pain flooded into Liam. The attack threatened to cut off his air and left him disoriented. The taste of iron thick on his tongue.
With his suit properly armored a blow like that would’ve done almost nothing to him. As he was now the strike left him teetering.
Separated, the two combatants stared each other down. As if evaluating their chances. Liam was landing more attacks, but hadn’t been able to confer much of an actual advantage as his opponent fought on. However, Liam was sure it was only a matter of time. That was, as long as he could prevent other attacks from hitting his weak points.
Without taking a break the two advanced again. Liam attacking with feints and haymakers, pulling H-Bar’s guard around as he tried to find a way through with his burning hand. In return, H-Bar blocked every blow at the last second.
Another jab at Liam’s throat was dodged to the side. Liam realized H-Bar noticed his reaction to the last attack and was trying to do it again. The man was something else for being able to notice a weakness in the chaos of a fight.
Keeping his neck protected Liam pushed forward. Making H-Bar commit to defense. With his opponent pinned, Liam ignited his one operational jet boot. The force wasn’t enough for sustained flight but it sent him in a long arching jump. As Liam flew towards H-Bar he angled his knee to connect with H-Bar’s jaw. Sending his former teammate crashing down the hall.
Liam wasn’t able to follow up as he flew past, but he knew the blow had done some real damage.
H-Bar’s slide along the hallway lasted until he crashed into a table. A lamp on it slamming to the floor next to him. A beam of light shining onto H-Bar’s suit. Even in his dazed state the man took note and pulled on the energy. Forming a marble sized ball of light next to him.
He’d found another source Liam thought with a scowl. Upset such a thing would occur. He should’ve knocked out all the lights in the hallway. That lapse in judgment was a mistake he wouldn’t make again.
With no warning the windows along the hallway shook as a ball of flames erupted next to the building. The outside world of white was painted red by the blast.