Ryker was about to attack but also thought that this moment would be the best time for a catchphrase.

"No, I don't."

Something awesome, like "It's clobberin' time!"

"That's a comic character's catchphrase. I couldn't use it even if I wanted. I need a plan before I can attack."

"You're a pretty good fighter, Ryker," Circuit Board interrupted Ryker's dialogue with himself. "How about if I give you one more chance for us to make a deal?"

Ryker didn't care what kind of deal he wanted to make. He had already killed the three people in the front of the store, and Ryker didn't know what had become of the rest, but based on the comments of Tall Katy, it couldn't be good. Ryker just needed a few minutes to think of a plan and get it ready. But more importantly, he needed to do it fast, so Circuit Board couldn't fully power up.

"I'm listening," Ryker said.

I'm sure you are, but I don't think you're listening to the right person. I don't know what super you're working with, but they won't be able to help you get out of this. I know you're the righteous sort, but it isn't going to help you here. I could use your abilities on my team. It seems that I have a few openings now, anyway."

"Do you offer medical benefits?" Ryker called out.

"Ha, ha. You're hilarious. Just tell me who you're working with and where they are. If they haven't come out now, then that means they know they can't stop me. What do you say? Last chance."

When Circuit Board started talking, Ryker took stock of his surroundings. He was in the aisle that sold accessories for cameras. There were tripods and other stands, along with lenses, bags, straps, and a few other things. He was glad that he happened to end up in one of the aisles that could help him.

Ryker grabbed two bags off the shelf and started to stuff them with all the heavy things he could find. He hoped that the cloth-like material would help insulate him if Circuit Board tried to electrocute him again. All the extra items were for weight.

Once Ryker stuffed the bags full, he grabbed the biggest tripod he could find and extended it all the way. He only had to stop what he was doing once to respond to Circuit Board's stupid request that he betrays the non-existent person he assumed he was working with.

Right when Circuit Board said it was Ryker's last chance, he rose from behind the shelf. With a grunt of exertion, he threw the extended tripod like a spear. It sailed through the air right toward Circuit Board's head.

Ryker didn't wait to see if the camera stand hit its target, as it was only meant to be a distraction. He ran out of the aisle and straight at Circuit Board. When he rounded the end of the aisle, he noticed Circuit Board getting back into position. He had clearly needed to dodge the makeshift spear.

Circuit Board was already raising his hand at Ryker, planning to use his electrocution attack. Before he could, Ryker hurled the first of the stuffed backpacks. The second backpack was strapped to the front of Ryker as a makeshift piece of armor.

Jagged lines of blue electricity zigzagged from Circuit Boards hands like a maniacal space wizard. The packed black backpack blasted through the electric blue bonanza. If he had the time, Ryker would have winced at the sentence.

The backpack flying through the air did its job. It intercepted Circuit Board's attack. It had the added benefit of causing the villain to have to dodge out of the way once more. However, Ryker did notice that he did so without taking his hand off his charging station.

It didn't matter, though; Ryker was almost upon the villain. He wouldn't get the chance if he wasn't finished powering up. Ryker wouldn't even need to see if his makeshift armor would protect him. Ryker jumped upon a shorter cart that was close to the desk. He rebounded off the cart and sailed into the air at Circuit Board. He extended his foot, readying it to plant it into the villain's squishy face.

Ryker's foot hit an invisible barrier in the air between the cart and the desk Circuit Board was hiding behind. The barrier caught his foot for a moment, and with his momentum, his body also slammed into the solid air. Suspended for a split second, Ryker noticed the shocked look on Circuit Board.

The invisible wall suddenly exploded with force and sent Ryker flying back in the direction he had come. His back hit a shelf, and he toppled over it and down onto the floor. As quickly as he could, which wasn't right away because the fall hurt, Ryker crawled through the aisle toward the end to see what had happened.

He didn't get far before a voice rang out in the high-ceiling store.

"That took more magic than I thought. Who's responsible for this?" a clearly female voice asked. "Oh, shoot. I almost forgot."

Ryker took a chance and stopped crawling on the ground to look above the shelves to see who it was. Hovering over the ground where Ryker had been leaping to attack Circuit Board, there was indeed a female. It was hard to tell her height since she was so far up in the air, but she had a petite build. Ryker thought she was probably only a few inches above five feet.

"I didn't think anything of the sort," Ryker thought, but he wisely decided not to speak out loud.

What Ryker noticed first about the woman was the way she hovered in the air. Sprouting from her back was a set of translucent wings that resembled a dragonfly. They beat furiously in the air with a minute buzzing sound as she hovered in place.

The woman was dressed in a frilly dress that looked like it should have been on a cosplaying teenager. The dress was red with white highlights and trimming at the frilled bottom. She had white stockings on with red shoes that topped off the ensemble. Her clothing concealed everything from the angle Ryker was looking, but he could still appreciate how well everything fit.

She wasn't old, but he could tell she wasn't a kid. She was perhaps a year or two older than he was. Her hair was styled in a pixie cut and looked to be a dark blue that Ryker almost mistook for black. With her wings, dress, and pixie cut, she was giving off definite Magical Girl vibes. She dug around in a hidden pocket on her dress for a moment before pulling a small piece of paper from it.

The woman stared at the paper and seemed to be reading something on it. Her mouth was moving along, and she occasionally bobbed her head left and right. She wasn't paying attention to Circuit Board or Ryker, and when neither said anything, she started talking again without taking her eyes off the small slip of paper in the palm of her hand.

"My name is Pixie Dust. As a duly authorized representative of All-Hands Security, an agency entrusted by the state of Nevada and the greater Reno district to safeguard the welfare of this establishment and its surrounding environs, I hereby declare that I am a first responder, duly trained and licensed to respond to any and all threats to the security and safety of this location. I have been deputized by the aforementioned authorities to exercise all necessary measures to preserve the peace and protect the welfare of the public in this area. It is my solemn duty to uphold the law and maintain order, and I shall carry out my responsibilities with the utmost professionalism and dedication. Any attempt to disrupt the tranquility of this establishment or infringe upon the rights of its patrons shall be met with swift and decisive action in accordance with the law.

"Oh, thank goodness," Gary said. He flailed his arm wildly at Ryker, who was still peeking over the row of shelves. "It was him. He's some kind of terrorist. He beat up all those people and was about to do the same to me." Circuit Board waved to his unconscious henchmen during his plea.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It didn't help Ryker that the henchmen were all dressed in store-branded clothing. However, Ryker wasn't some clueless noob protagonist that would fall for such an obvious ploy.

"Noob protagonist?" Ryker absently thought.

Pixie Dust's head whipped over to Ryker as Circuit Board talked. When he mentioned his henchmen, her eyes went to them too. She started to hover toward Ryker before he spoke up to defend himself.

"Wait!" Ryker said. He pointed back at Circuit Board. "He's the bad guy. There are three people at the front of the store that he probably killed.

"Damnit! I was literally almost off shift. I shouldn't have to deal with this!" Pixie Dust stomped her foot down as if she was actually standing. "I'm hangry, and you both are going to pay."

Pixie Dust held her hands toward each of them, palms facing out. Her hands began to glow red.

"I can prove it," Ryker yelled.

"Don't care!" Pixie Dust yelled, but after a second, the glow stopped increasing. "Fine, prove it."

Pixie Dust and Circuit Board both looked pensive at what Ryker would do to prove it. Ryker slowly lifted both hands into the air, palms facing toward Pixie Dust, so she knew he didn't have anything there.

"I surrender," he said calmly, then added, "have him do the same and raise his arms."

Circuit Board laughed. Ryker knew that he was absorbing the electricity still surging from the electric panel he hadn't stopped grasping. If he let go of the panel, then he wouldn't be able to fully power up. The whole reason that everything happened was because Circuit Board needed to power up before acting. So, he would do everything in his power before letting go.

Ryker smiled as the voice's words confirmed his suspicions.

Circuit Board's free arm shot up, and electricity zapped out at Pixie Dust. The electricity slammed into a translucent red field in front of her, then began to spiderweb around, revealing more of her forcefield. Blue electricity climbing around a red forcefield fought for supremacy, but neither seemed to budge.

Finally, Circuit Board stopped his bombardment to glare at Pixie Dust. She continued hovering in place with a nonplussed look. She also had her arms crossed just under her - now that Ryker noticed - ample bosom.

"Damnit, I didn't notice, and I'm not some perv!" Ryker hissed. Luckily, neither was paying attention to notice his outburst.

"You all done?" Pixie Dust asked rhetorically at the inefficiency of Circuit Board's attack. "My turn."

"Utility: Ruby Carved Hammer!" Pixie Dust held her hands in front of her, and red energy erupted from her body like an immolating monk.

"Holy shit! That's messed up," Ryker said.

The surging energy then coalesced down Pixie Dust's body and arms. In moments it condensed into a giant hammer that rested in her hands. The hammer appeared to be made of pure multi-hued red energy. Pixie dust twirled the hammer like it was a weightless baton. It was a move that would be impossible in any normal circumstance.

Pixie Dust raised her hammer above her head and then flew toward Circuit Board with an increase in the buzzing of her wings. The hammer smashed into the desk in front of Circuit Board, and the desk shattered into uncountable pieces. The attack didn't hit the villain, though. He managed to slide away from the attack and desk while keeping a hold on the panel.

Pixie Dust was standing on the ground, and her wings seemed to vanish with no trace of them existing. There would be no way for Circuit Board to get away from another attack, though, because Pixie Dust was already swinging her hammer around again in preparation for another strike.

Circuit Board didn't wait. He channeled electricity that crackled forward from his palm. Pixie Dust intercepted the energy with her hammer, and it rocketed away. The deflected energy passed a good distance from Ryker, but he still ducked when it went by.

While the super who called herself Pixie Dust seemed to be able to take care of herself, Ryker wasn't going to sit by and do nothing. He ran around to the end of the aisle and started to make his way around the fight. He was going to make his way behind Circuit Board and attack him from behind if he had the chance.

While he slunk around the store, Ryker could hear as Pixie Dust's hammer occasionally slammed into something. He could also see the occasional bolt of electricity flying about. He made sure to stay covered so he wasn't at risk of being struck by one. Ryker was sure that the bursts of energy were a lot stronger than the one that hit him.

When he made it to where he wanted, Ryker could see the fight unhindered. It looked like he shouldn't have even bothered moving to a different area. Somehow, Circuit Board had evaded all of the hammer strikes, and he was still holding on to the electrical panel, which was attached to a thin pillar rising up to the ceiling.

Ryker followed the pillar all the way up, then he looked back over to the giant hammer in Pixie Dust's hands. She was currently using it to deflect another electrical attack from Circuit Board.

"Destroy the pillar!" Ryker yelled. Both combatants looked at him. "He's using it for power." He didn't need to tell her that he was using it to power up for something bigger. He just needed her to destroy it.

Ryker's words got through, and she spun away while flinging her hammer around. When she planted her feet, the weapon was in the perfect position for her to swing it like a baseball bat. Apparently, she was treating it like Tee-ball, and Circuit Board's body was the tee and his head the ball.

The hammer's head whizzed toward the standing Circuit Board, but he managed to duck just before impact. A deep boom echoed through the store as the pillar and hammer met. The pillar wasn't made as sturdy as Ryker or, apparently, Pixie Dust assumed. It burst into a cloud of dust and raining cement fragments that covered everything in a ten-foot radius.

When the dust settled, the fight appeared to be over. Pixie Dust stood with her hammer raised high, ready to come down in a devastating swing. She loomed menacingly over the crouching Circuit Board. Circuit Board's left hand was raised protectively above his head, seemingly putting up a weak defense against Pixie Dust.

"Seemingly?" Ryker thought.

"Surrender," Pixie Dust demanded. "Surrender, or you're dead."

Ryker noticed that Circuit Board's right hand was still grasping the same area. He looked at the pillar, expecting to see exposed and destroyed wires that impacted the flow of his power, but there was nothing but broken concrete.

"The electricity line goes into the ground, idiot," Circuit Board spat. He shot another blast of electricity at Pixie Dust, but she didn't budge. It hit her force field and was absorbed until he stopped trying.

"It doesn't matter where they go. You're dead." Pixie Dust's muscles bulged as she dropped the hammer toward Circuit Board.

The weapon landed with a clang as Circuit Board's other arm, finally removed from the electric panel blocked it. It wasn't his flesh and blood arm, though. It was covered in an amalgamation of different pieces of tech that covered the Bracer that had already been attached. His hand and arm, all the way to his elbow, were covered in the tech as well as a light covering of blue energy. The tech armor wasn't as sleek as the Bracer had been. It was knobby and asymmetrical in places, with protruding components that looked like they belonged on the inside of a computer.

Circuit Board started a deep-throated chuckle as he rose. As he did, he pushed back against the force Pixie Dust asserted on her hammer, and her strength wasn't able to stop him. When he reached his full height, which towered over the female super, he pushed her back with his tech-covered arm.

Pixie Dust's wings appeared behind her, and she used them to keep from falling.

"You took too long, little bug," Circuit Board said. "Now you're the one who's going to die."

The tech armor on Circuit Board continued to grow. It grew as he stood and grew when he pushed Pixie Dust away. As she recovered from his rebuff of her power and didn't attack, his armor grew even faster.

From his vantage point, Ryker watched it all happen. He had realized the lack of electrical lines early. Then he noticed the tech armor growing on Circuit Board's arm. At first, it was easy to miss, but as the process continued, he could see that the armor wasn't organic to the supervillain. Pieces of tech from random products in the store were moving toward him. They flipped and tumbled across the ground in his direction. When they hit any part of his body, Circuit Board assimilated them.

When he stood against the force of Pixie Dust, he was using the tech to build up his armor along his legs. Now that the two were facing off again, his armor was growing faster, but so was Ryker's anger. If Pixie Dust hadn't shown up, he probably would have defeated Circuit Board already. He was also getting irate that she was just hovering there a few feet off the ground, apparently waiting for Circuit Breaker to finish powering up.

Ryker didn't think anyone could be that stupid.

"You got that right," he said aloud. He didn't care if they saw him talking to himself at that point. Besides, he knew he wasn't.

Pixie Dust rested her hammer on her shoulder as her opponent finished powering up. She was pissed and was ready to punish this guy for ruining her day. She wanted to make sure it was worth it, though. If the fight didn't last long enough, she wouldn't be fulfilled, and then she would have to take her rage out on something else.

"Great, they're both crazy," Ryker said, then he laughed. "That's coming from the guy talking to himself." Ryker took a second to crack his neck and stretch his shoulder. He didn't really care about the woman being angry if the fight lasted too long. He only cared about making sure Circuit Board wasn't able to hurt anyone else. "So then, superpower, I guess it's up to us to find a way to beat him before he can get stronger."