Hastily running through the corridor with quite a few cracks over its walls, the group of scientists was barely keeping themselves in check. Only drilled-in knowledge of how to act in case of emergency prevented them from pushing each other and attempting to get to the lifts or stairs as fast as possible. Any image of respectful researchers with multiple rewards was dropped. Any gallant attitude toward women or elders was forgotten. Instead, the animal-like fear was pushed on top, replacing most of the thoughts with a single one – to survive. Only the previously repeated training restricted this overwhelming emotion, helping to keep it in check, despite the real danger. Unfortunately, only partly.
Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that the part of this fleeing stream crammed into the lifts, completely forgetting about the forbiddance of doing it. Packed in like sardines, they were still pushing each other to get in. Obviously, it took some force to free the doors from others and finally started its way upward to safety… only to be stuck in the middle of the tunnel. The other part used the stairs, deciding that their legs were faster than a mechanism in this situation. Running for a few staircases, they soon found themselves out of breath, but still continued their way to the surface, fearing the villains.
Soon, the flow of scientists started to emerge from the underground facility. Appearing in front of pointed guns, they reacted differently. Some were happy to see CSA’s agents. Others were scared, shouting their names and positions in the laboratory. The bigger part was just too exhausting after getting through the hard obstacle in the form of long stairs. Constantly appearing inside the damaged hall, the tiny stream soon turned into a river. However, CSA was ready for that. Disregarding any statuses, and threatening with rifles, the agents quickly organized an order, proceeding with identity check-ups even before giving any medical treatment.
Still, despite the trained procedures and multiple eyes, one of the scientists managed to sneak out, using the short frame of chaos that appeared after another large group emerged from the stairs. Bald, with pale skin under the layer of dust and a few blood spots on his unattractive face, dressed in a crumpled laboratory coat and boots without socks, the man used a distraction to move inside the nearest room, which appeared at the entrance to the reception for the staff. Pausing right after making a single step inside, the fake scientist immediately turned around and went outside, leaning against the wall. This weird act helped him to avoid the agent who checked the place two seconds later, glancing over the desk at a messy place. Finding nothing, except scattered papers, a broken monitor, and a few lying chairs, the armed muttered something into the communication device before leaving. An instant later the bald man returned inside.
Steadily moving through the hastily left place, he stepped over the chair only to pause in mere centimeters from the smartphone, forgotten on the table. Laying right on the edge, it was dangerously close to falling just from even an incautious touch. Still, the man acted as if knew, getting through the obstacles with well-controlled actions. Reaching the back door, he got inside and immediately closed the door. A few seconds later another agent looked over the reception desk, checking the perimeter after noticing a motion with a periphery of his sight.
The following route was much easier, albeit filled with sudden pauses and weird turns. Soon the man got to the opposite side of the building. Looking through the opened staff door at the hatch that led to the sewage system, he halted his motions, clearly thinking about something. Despite the sunny day, the lights from the police cars were visible not far from his current spot. Blocking all roads and possible way-outs, the enforces had already encircled the whole area, leaving limited possibilities. Therefore, the use of the underground system was an obvious choice. However, it looked like something was bothering the man. Making a silent countdown only with his lips, the baldy’s eyes were jumping from one object to another as if he was searching for something. Still, when he reached zero, the man immediately launched forward.
Getting to the hatch in mere moments, he gripped it at the edge, almost throwing it away. The other hand was already catching the potential projectile, preventing it from making any unnecessary sound. Everything was done in such a swift manner as it was deeply engraved into his muscle memory. Unfortunately, it appeared that it wasn’t enough. Just before the man jumped inside, a green flash which followed with a voice interrupted his escape. Clearly filled with mockery, it belonged to the super in a tight leather suit and a mask.
“Well, well, well… What do we have here? A villain, trying to run from the place of crime? And that is a mistake because I, Green…,” the super started to declare only to get an annoyed glance from the man in a laboratory coat.
“Shut up, retard,” grimacing with a barely holding irritation, the baldy slowly put the hatch back before raising on his feet, “Was it that fucking Johny the Eye? That moron with awful taste for naming causes so many troubles with his stupid power, while constantly hiding somewhere…”
“It was the justice itself that brought him to stop you from wrongdoing! Surrender now or I will make you!”
“Listen, man, I know that you trained around a dozen of such pretentious phrases, but you can speak normally. Drop the act,” shaking his head, the baldy commented before looking at his dirty coat. Sighing, the man started to undress, opening the view on the odd grayish skin that resembled the steel. His muscular body had no hair, belonging to someone with a lot of functional training without a goal of having defined abs. Wiping his face with the now useless piece of clothes, the disguised man was left only in some kind of black stripper’s underpants.
“Hey, stop, what are you doing? I am not a perverter… Look, I was just accepted to the ranks of the elites, and I don’t wish to have my first arrest to be related to a nude psycho… It has to be something big, and not… this…,” waving his hand, the super couldn’t hold his disappointment.
“Who told you that you have the ability to arrest me, idiot?”
The answer was followed by the appearance of a black dot right on the chest of the man. An instant later, more came out, turning into hundreds of tiny spikes that were protruding from the baldy’s body.
“What are you – a humanoid hedgehog?” The super asked with confusion, slowly leaning forward while taking out both his knives. Made by a Sage, they're tailored to fit his battle style perfectly.
“Be careful – he may be stronger than he looks,” another superadded from above, floating in midair not far from them. His voice almost scared his less experienced colleague, showing how inattentive the man was, despite all the insane speed he could reach, missing the appearance of a teammate.
“Yes, I am,” nodding with a smile, the baldy simultaneously moved his spikes. It looked like an invisible force had enveloped his body, squashing every single strange “nail” against himself at once and turning him into a pitch-black figure. He looked like a faceless mannequin with barely distinguishable body features. The only gap that was left was two holes around his eyes, but that was it. Everything else was almost evenly covered with a thin layer from the previously constructed spikes. Stopping his gaze on the super, the figure gestured, “Come.”
“You don’t need to ask twice, villain!”
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Shouting with anticipation, the younger super grinned before launching himself forward with his ability. Disappearing with a green flash of light, the hero put one of his long knives to the side, trying to slice the leg of the opponent. His accelerated mind managed to register how the atomic thin blade penetrated the odd black material before he felt the sudden resistance. A fraction of an instant later the knife got stuck, for the first time in his career failing to cut through the obstacle. The younger super immediately tried to release the handle, but the repulsion force was already there, twisting his shoulder at a joint point. Moreover, it pushed him to the side… right on the stretched hand with a pointed thumb that had a barely visible white glow.
“Cra…,” the cursed had died even before the super rammed against a suddenly tough obstacle with his face. A moment later the hero followed the example, when the finger penetrated his chick, melting its way like a hot knife through the butter before proceeding with the neck. The final collision with the pitch-black villain was caused by a hero’s headless corpse. And it appeared not enough to push the criminal more than a few steps back.
“This moron never learns…,” looking on a splattered blood and organs, the villain commented loudly. Still, his voice sounded like from the bottom of the barrel, barely audible as there was no hole near his mouth. However, the other hero heard it clearly. It only led to a raging outburst from the flying super, who instantly ducked down to grip the black man. Ramming into his chest, the hero immediately rose into the air, feeling an enormous weight in his hands. A second later came the heat and madding pain. With the horror, the super looked like the empowered flesh that could protect him even against low-caliber bullets was melting just from the contact with the black figure. He wanted to drop the opponent but was instead hugged with so much force that his spine almost cracked, “You aren’t much better…”.
These were the last words that the flying super heard, before his waist was burnt into nothingness, covering the whole world into darkness. Falling down with two halves of the hero, the baldy left a noticeable hole on the road from the impact. However, it seemed there was no effect from it. Looking around as if trying to understand where to go, the villain calmly headed toward the central place. He managed to make only several steps before the sniper’s bullet attempted to explode his head. Unfortunately, the barely visible glow was already covering his body, thus making the projectiles completely ineffective. Melting from the contact with a disintegrative layer, it had to penetrate the constantly rebuilding black steel before finally reaching the odd grayish skin… and they didn’t have such power.
Therefore, under the constant barrage of bullets, the villain calmly walked toward the main entrance, where two APCs and multiple agents were waiting for him. However, even the real firestorm left no impact on the pitch-black figure, who closed his eye holes and patiently waited. Only the grenade launchers had a slight impact on him, causing a short step to the side to keep his balance after a hit underneath him. Otherwise, the projectiles simply melted before causing any damage, failing even to utilize the kinetic energy from their speed. Luckily, the villain wasn’t attacking, leading to the halting of firing just after a minute of ammo wastage.
“Finally… I thought you would be more stubborn… Call the heroes and get lost! You have one minute,” the black figure shouted through the temporarily created hole around his mouth, motionlessly standing in the ruined place that looked like a place of weapon testing. He ignored a hasty retreat of CSA, patiently waiting for supers to come and moving only when a new group appeared from the far side of the street, “Now we are talking! So, guys, we don’t have much time until those missiles will reach us – give me the best you’ve got!”
The first one to attack was another flying super, dressed in a highly technological suit. Painted in pink, with thick armor plates and multiple installed weapons, the hero or heroines started from the strongest strike in the arsenal. Combining two mechanical limbs to form the huge laser, they immediately used it. The red beam was so powerful and intensive that it was visible in the air. However, despite the monstrous might, the laser had lost any effectiveness when its energy was met with another, no less destructive, nullifying the attack. In the next moment, a torn piece of road was sent flying toward the super. Piercing the air at the insane speed, it took a fraction of a second to almost reach the intended target. Almost as if another hero stepped in.
The fragile-looking young man that floating slightly above the ground stretched his arm, holding the projectile in a mere meter in front of the pink armored super. Unfortunately for him, such distraction led to his sight and telekinetic powers being focused solely on saving the other person, losing a villain from view. A second later another projectile had reached his head. The tens of rotating metal pieces attempted to form something akin to a protective shield, but the force behind the throw was too huge, penetrating the obstacle. Despite crushing in the process, the multiple fragments barely lost any speed, turning into some kind of shrapnel. Another instant later the super’s head simply disappeared, splattering the blood onto others.
“NOOOO!”
The sudden death caused an outrage from the super’s team. The teenager immediately sent a few long lianas toward the pitch-black figure, while the raven-skinned wizard was already summoning the lighting. Striking from above, it caused a short pause in the action, which was enough for the technological hero to rain with hundreds of bullets from machine guns. However, the darkness seemed to move, overwhelming the previous glow on the black surface. In the next moment, the projectiles started to ricochet, not melting anymore. And before the flying super realized it, quite a few had entered the bodies of his teammates who were too close.
Wailing from pain, the first to drop was the owner of flaming abilities, who got a projectile in his thigh. His partner with manipulative powers instinctively tried to help him, halting her mental attacks on the villain’s mind. Only beastman and created lianas ignored it, trying to stop the approaching opponent… not to avail as a short punch had thrown away the hybrid of dinosaur and a man, while the plant-like chains were simply burned from the contact. Then it was too late.
Crushing the skull of the wizard, who attempted to conjure another lighting, the villain gripped the staff. Swinging it a moment later, he shattered the big orb on the top of the “magical” weapon against the chest of liana-boy. The resulting improvised spear was thrown without any delay. However, the white ninja, appearing from out of nowhere intercepted with her sword, saving the telepathic super. She instantly proceeded with the following attack but was a fraction of a second too late to stop a punch that pierced a hole in a wounded plant-summoning hero, killing him at once. Then her own sword disintegrated against the glowing back. Avoiding the elbow strike with her powers by redirecting gravity, White Lotus ignored the CSA’s commands and advice coming from the earplug before jumping into the fight again.
Not that it could help as the villain was too strong. Gripping the corpse of the wizard by his leg, he threw it toward RoboVengeance in a single rotating motion, momentarily startling her. Not knowing what to do – to catch the body of her teammate or to dodge, she failed to see another “dead” projectile, flying toward her. Smashing against the armor, the other corpse pushed her into the nearest wall, hitting her with enough force to knock her out. No matter how strong the armor was, it was good against piercing but not direct blunt attack.
In the end, when a nude five-meter giant joined running through the barricades, the countdown to the missile strike was on the final marks. Perfectly knowing the outcome, the leftovers of the heroic team still desperately continued to keep the villain on the spot. Till the last second when the sound of the incoming missile was already heard, they gripped his body, ignoring their own melting flesh. This was the moment when White Lotus had to avoid another fast punch, breaking the distance. In the next instant, the missile hit, evaporating everyone stuck inside the plasma sphere. Then another one followed. The heat was so intense that she almost lost consciousness, feeling even the air in her lungs was burning hot. However, the pleasant darkness was thrown away when she saw the result of the strike. Or, precisely speaking, barely any.
Amidst ashes from the disintegrated bodies of her close friends, the odd tiny sphere was slowly covered with grayish metal, forming the familiar humanoid figure. In under five seconds, a completely nude man appeared, this time without his pitch-black armor. Sitting in the melted hole in the middle of the ruined street, the villain showed no signs of wounds, pain, or fear. Instead, there was a clear expression of huge irritation. Then he spoke, addressing himself, while rising to his feet.
“Yep, now I can survive even that but fucking fuck if it changes anything… Okay, calm down, Rob, and let’s reset. You released some steam, so now focus on the main task.”