Levi rolled away from Bonecrusher as the man stomped after him, rapidly closing in on the wall. His shoulders struck drywall, and he bounced to a halt. There was nowhere else to roll.
“Let’s see how long your healing can hold on,” Bonecrusher grunted, raising his boot.
“I’ve already tried that, it’s a long-ass time, how about we just don’t do this and—”
[You lost a life!]
[Lives remaining: -17262]
DEBUG: Corruption Level Medium [WARNING] | Ability Points non-degraded | status DEGRADED
Press X to reallocate your ability points.
Levi laid limply against the corner of the wall, playing dead.
[You lost a life!]
[Lives remaining: -17263]
DEBUG: Corruption Level Medium [WARNING] | Ability Points non-degraded | status DEGRADED
Press X to reallocate your ability points.
Would it help if I put all my points into speed? Or maybe defense?
[You lost a life!]
[Lives remaining: -17264]
DEBUG: Corruption Level Medium [WARNING] | Ability Points non-degraded | status DEGRADED
Press X to reallocate your ability points.
No…even with all my points in speed, I’ve only got a few seconds of life to work with. I’m backed against a wall with nowhere to go.
[You lost a life!]
[Lives remaining: -17265]
DEBUG: Corruption Level Medium [WARNING] | Ability Points non-degraded | status DEGRADED
Press X to reallocate your ability points.
I think I’m fucked. Nothing for it but lying here until he gets bored. Or I get corrupted.
[You lost a life!]
[Lives remaining: -17266]
DEBUG: Corruption Level HIGH [URGENT] | Ability Points non-degraded | status DEGRADED [worsening]
Press X to reallocate your ability points.
A blast of fire seared over Levi, splashing into the wall behind him. Bonecrusher staggered back, battering at the flames that raged over his suit.
“Levi! Run for it!”
Levi jumped up. His vision went black. He staggered, unable to keep his feet, all his limbs weak. One more time, he tried to stand up, only for his vision to tunnel out and his limbs to fail him.
His nose wrinkled. “Fuck it.” On all fours, he scrambled for the door.
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“Get back here, criminal,” Bonecrusher growled. He chased after Levi. Enormous, burning hands closed in on Levi.
“Duck!” Fira shouted.
Levi dropped to the ground.
A chunk of concrete whirled through the air and smashed into Bonecrusher’s chest. All the air whooshed out of Bonecrusher’s chest, and he stumbled backward. Without questioning it, Levi jumped back to all fours and kept scrambling. Out through the door and into fresh air.
Fira stepped aside as he exited. Behind her, Rose curled up into a flicking motion, prepared to fire another chunk of parking spot bar through the door. Levi dove off the stairs, and Rose let loose. The concrete punched through the flames.
“Unf!” Bonecrusher grunted. He staggered back.
Handel snatched up Levi in one hand and kneeled. Rose hopped on his shoulder. Fira backed away a few steps, then jumped. Fire ignited around her body, and she took to the air. “Go, go, go, run!”
Handel stomped off. Windows shook all around them. Cars leaped where they sat. Fira followed, hovering a fair distance away from Handel’s side. Gold pollen drifted down after them.
Bonecrusher ran out of the convention center and stumbled to a stop. He glared up at them. Shaking his fist, he shouted something.
“Yeah, fuck off!” Levi shouted, sitting up in Handel’s palm.
Handel cupped his other hand over Levi, gently cutting off his view behind them.
“Hey. I had more where that came from,” Levi complained to the wall of green fingers. He sat back, then, as his vision wobbled around him. Bracing his head against his hand, he leaned on his side and waited for the motion to end. His brain sloshed around in his head, everything weak and sore.
Dying that much isn’t good for anyone.
He yawned and closed his eyes. Flopping to his back, he splayed his arms out. The green palm ceiling spread overhead, gently wiggling as Handel ran. There was a reason he didn’t go after the big fish, not without an element strongly in his favor. Hundred-pointers were on another level. Compared to the small fry, who could be overcome by a little speed and some grit, he struggled massively against big, powerful supers. When a slap could kill him and his knife couldn’t scratch his opponent, he wasn’t in good shape. Sometimes, having infinite lives just meant he received infinite suffering.
Levi sighed. He lifted his hand, clenching it at the sky. And then there was Alpha. Alpha, with so many stat points he couldn’t even imagine the man’s stat total. Alpha, with enough money to build his own enormous penis tower. Alpha, with Rainer Drift for a girlfriend.
“God, it’s just not fair,” Levi grumbled, letting his hand fall. Spread-eagled, he stared up at the underside of Handel’s palm. “He’s got it all. Money. The woman. Crazy strength. A killer physique. The entire city, in his iron grasp. Where’d I go wrong, huh? How come I ended up sleeping in the gutter? We were there. In the same place. Together. And then…”
A pause. He stared at the sky.
“And then I got fuck-all for skills, and he got the fuckin’ world.”
He rolled over. Arms limp, legs loose, he muttered, “Fuckin’… protagonists. Some people are just the world’s fuckin’ protagonists. And then there’s the rest of us, huh. The rest of us.”
Footsteps. A shadow fell over him. “Are you feeling sorry for yourself?”
“I’m feeling sorry enough for all of us, actually,” Levi retorted, rolling onto his back again. He folded his hands behind his head and looked up at Fira. “Why, you need some extra pity? I’m throwing a party, pull up a seat.”
She sat. Heat wafted off her body, along with a faint smoky scent. “I don’t know if that fat guy counts as the world’s protagonist.”
Levi waved his hand lazily. “I’m talking about Alpha.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
They sat there in silence. Or rather, Fira sat. Levi laid on the ground, hands behind his head.
“Nothing from your brother, huh?” Levi commented.
“No…yeah, no,” Fira said. She shook her head. “I’m starting to wonder if he’s got this more under control than I do. If I’m just getting in the way of whatever he has planned.”
Levi shrugged. “Ah, well. Nothing you can do about it. That’s on him.”
“I guess. I just…I feel kind of useless.”
“Mmm.” Levi turned his eyes toward her. The thought he’d had came back to him—that her brother had come to the city, not to forewarn of danger, but to pull her away from danger at home. “Where do you come from? Somewhere in an Exclusion Zone?”
Fira stiffened. A little too casually, she shrugged. “Yeah. Somewhere in an Exclusion Zone. Just some nowhere place you’ve never heard of.”
“Your parents…they powerful?”
She stared woodenly at the horizon. “I don’t know. No. Probably not.”
Levi snorted. He looked away. Not sus at all. “Right, yeah. You reckon they could beat Alpha?”
“I…no. No.”
“No?”
“No.” Fira shook her head firmly.
Levi raised his eyebrows at the sky. She hesitated. They’re at least close to Alpha’s stat total, whoever it is. And I’ve got no idea who that would be. Damn. Been out of the game too long, and Maury lives in her own basement. Shouldn’t have gone dark.
He sighed. Nothing he could do about that. Besides, as much as he’d like to have two titans fight one another, and may the worst man win, that wasn’t a great bet. If Alpha won, he’d only get that much more powerful. If the other unknown ultra-powerful super won, well…
“Better the devil you know,” he murmured.
“Huh?” Fira asked.
“Nothing.”
They fell into silence. The hands swayed on. Levi’s eyelids drooped again. He settled in, then closed his eyes and let sleep take him.