The Vespidian
Arc 6 To Skin A Cat
Chapter 8 Interlude: The Tiger’s Tail
Neon Nurse stood in her full battle gear. The four extra arms protruding from her back, each equipped with a syringe to sedate suspects and grabbing claws to procure anything that she might need. Due to how bulky the suit was, her normal arms could not touch the ground even if she bent over. Despite the half-smile plastered across her face, she was in no way, shape, or form happy at the moment. Her thoughts were distant, occupied by what horrors Vesper might be subjected to by the Subhumans in the slums. She had dealt with them enough to know how barbaric and cruel they could be. Too many times did officers get dragged in, half mauled to death. Some were beyond salvage and had to be put out of their misery before they turned. Others lost limbs and had to learn to adapt to their new robo augments. It changed people, not that she was particularly against amputating and putting on a fresh new robotic limb. In fact, she rather enjoyed that.
Her eyes flickered over the upraised platform that she, Enforcer and Fire Chief stood on. She gazed over the augmented men and women suited up in powered, riot suits and ready to move. The glowing blue goggles on all their masked faces might make normal people worried, even panicked, however, neither Neon Nurse nor anybody else here was not already accustomed to this sort of thing. Gathered were more than two hundred, a small army if looked at in the right light. The fruits of five long years worth of labor. There was a tinge of pride, almost like a mother or perhaps more like a craftsman inspecting a finished product. Then again, she was a perfectionist and as a result, nothing was ever finished, there was always room to improve. Everyone here had been made by her. Their limbs, artificial and their epidermis layered and plated for added protection. Most of their bodies replaced piece by piece as they had been dragged in off of the streets after shootouts or routine patrols gone horribly awry. She had saved all their lives and made them better than ever before. Then again, there were the willing volunteers who not only saw the benefits but actively sought out the procedures, Enforcer foremost among them. He was more machine than man at this point.
Enforcer’s blank chromed out face plate made getting a read on his emotions hard. There was nothing to tell what he was thinking, but she knew. It would not do to have her own creation turn on her, as a result, she had tampered with his cranial carriage and implanted a device to allow her to read his thoughts at any given time. It was not mind control or anything, he had free will. She had gotten the idea after witnessing Dreamer tear some criminal thug to pieces from the inside out. He was crying for his mother and confessed to everything, spilling his guts about secrets that could easily get him killed, by the time she was done and Neon Nurse knew that Dreamer had gone easy on the guy. It was pretty rare for her to utilize the full extent of her power. Though the two had been close, friends at one point, however, Neon Nurse had taken a bit of a distant stance lately due to talk about wanting to send Vesper to the Institute. Therapy was one thing, but the Institute was something she would not tolerate, after all, she had narrowly avoided getting shipped off to that hell hole herself. It was the sort of thing that could make the best of allies into bitter enemies.
If there was one thing about Neon Nurse that she could be relied upon for, it was being over prepared to the point of being paranoid. She did not like surprises and as a result had systematically figured out counter measures to take down every single member of the Bronson Hero League should they ever turn rogue. However, it was thanks to this mentality that many of the inventions that they relied on today were even created. Cryo, Electro, and Thermal rounds reverse engineered from Chimera surplus were only the tip of the iceberg.
It was very tempting to implant something along the same line as Enforcer’s thought chip into Vesper, but she restrained herself to simply having a biometric monitor coupled to the link jack for the suit in the back of her skull. These things were benign and simply allowed her to observe through the suit’s eyes, which did not help her at the moment. Currently, she could only keep track of the vitals and location of Vesper. According to the GPS, the suit had been taken somewhere away from her, since the two markers did not line up. That was concerning since it meant that her secret identity had been compromised and Glitter Kitten was torturing her for information or even possibly attempting to force her to join and turn traitor.
Once more she looked out over the room while Dreamer was droning on about the operation. It seemed that everyone had gathered. Captain Metal and Panther were to one side. Seeing them reminded her of the sonic emission unit that would debilitate the Subhumans. It acted similar to a dog whistle and would likely drive them nuts. They would be disorganized and easy pickings. Vesper will be affected by it too. She did share a lot of the weaknesses as the Subhumans, after all, enhanced senses are a double edged sword and easy enough to exploit. All that testing had resulted in just about a blueprint on how to beat her. Bright lights blinded her, strong smells disorientated her, things such as pepper spray really got to her and cold slowed her metabolism, while heat could not be healed immediately. In all honesty, Vesper was weak to a lot of things. Neon Nurse felt a little sad, contemplating how to brutally maim her friend.
In the unfortunate event that she did turn, Neon Nurse had already developed as well as installed fail safes to eliminate a threat. Cryo rounds could stop all of her movements and make her vulnerable to capture. It would not do to kill her, even if she did go villain Neon Nurse would simply hide her away and likely make it look like she died. If all else failed there was the last resort. The jack into her brain could deliver enough of a shock to paralyze her for several hours, it was designed in such a way to disrupt her regeneration ability and even render it useless during that time. It would have been permanent, but that was just how prolific her power was getting. It was already nearly rank 6 from all the abuse that Vesper throwing herself through. Not that Vesper knew that.
Neon Nurse did not want to use this method of capture though. This was not the best route, there could be extensive brain damage and she would nearly be lobotomized as a result. It was truly her last resort. Because of this she was wary to even consider using it, since over the short span of time that they had known one another Neon Nurse had become rather attached to the weird bug alien. To the point that she was obsessed. One way or another, Vesper was coming home with her.
The junior teams were here as well, Sunshine glowing, as always. The left arm appeared to be functioning as it should. Then again, there was no telling if she would be able to utilize the shield augment properly under stress. That was Sunshine’s weakness, her concentration. If it was disrupted then her illusions would dematerialize and leave her vulnerable. If you could get to Sunshine then she was not particularly strong, the problem lay when she had good blockers to screen threats away from her. Neon Nurse gave a cursory eye to the little glowing magical girl. She did not trust her as far as she could throw her, not after she had seen the case report that got the little psycho shipped in the first place. To murder her own family like that, only a monster could do something like that. She scoffed a little, and they call Vesper a monster, truly blind to a real threat. It was precisely this that led her to set up a dead man switch to self-destruct, vaporizing Sunshine should Neon Nurse deem her a threat.
“In conclusion,” said Dreamer looking out over the gathered heroes, “Teams six to twelve will assault the Sparkle Kat and take the children into custody. They are located on the upper floors, expect them to be guarded fiercely. Teams thirteen to twenty will raid storehouses and destroy the drug supply lines. Once finished with that assault the Bronson Dome and put down all the mutant animals being kept there. Teams one to five will engage Glitter Kitten and Burnout, remember to subdue them alive. Any questions?”
No hands raised, no words, just still silence from those gathered. They all knew what they were about to do. Everything was calm on the surface, below well that was another story. Most, if not all were concerned of this plan. If things went badly, then a good portion of the force would be killed or wounded. Normally direct confrontation with Glitter Kitten was avoided due to what happened last time they attempted to subdue her. It failed and she killed fifty officers and escaped without a scratch. Their suits and cyborg enhancements were better and now only those with rank 4 and up powers were allowed to participate. This made it less likely that things would go as badly as before. However, the simple fact that there will be more than just Glitter Kitten present makes the odds of success go down. It was surprising that the Director approved of this plan.
Enforcer did not like that one bit, Neon Nurse noted, listening in on his thoughts. Well, he was not exactly wrong. Taking kids as hostages was something criminals would do and since Dreamer’s big plan was to mind wipe Glitter Kitten and Burnout, having them control their respective gangs for us, we needed leverage for it to work. Their minds would be data troves and ripped to pieces most likely as all the knowledge would be extracted. Morally? On the fucked up scale this was definitely a strong seven out of ten. This was a big part of why Neon Nurse, Enforce, and even Fire Chief had been alienated from Dreamer. The only reason anybody was going along with this was because the alternative was worse. Another LA would be devastating to the Hero League and would likely be the straw that broke the tentative balance. Chimera would crack down and that was bad news for everyone.
“Alright, everyone mount up,” said Medavac, leading his response teams out of the room.
“Neon Nurse?” asked Sunshine, who had butterflies fluttering around her.
“What is it, dear?” she replied, hiding her distaste.
“We are going to get Nee-san back, right?”
“Yes, we will get Vesper back.”
A bright and energetic smile appeared on her face, “Sunshine will save her from the evil space bimbos.”
Enforcer went his way and the teams split up. The gaggle of greenhorns followed along behind Neon Nurse. She sighed inwardly and fought back a frown. It was a good thing her face was fake. She did not particularly like that she was in charge of the Trainees for this operation. This forced her into a supportive role, dragging the wounded from the front or giving assistance where needed. Among other things it limited what she could do, having to babysit superpowered brats might prove to be difficult. They were not machines, after all, and might get into trouble by not thinking things through. It was part of why she did not like organics, they tended to be erratic and disorganized. She preferred machines for their simplicity. They at the least could follow orders and she would not have to worry about them running off. Her thoughts were interrupted by a siren blaring.
“We have heavy activity in the Slums, according to surveillance the Mad Dogs are engaged in a dispute with the Scarlet Souls. Be advised, Burnout is reported to be in the area as well.”
The back of an armored ambulance turned troop carrier lay open, allowing them entry. She glanced over her charges. Astro Glide, Gravity Squeeze, Sunshine, Disk Jockey, and roughly five power suited paramedics and five cyborg swat officers. Could be worse, she could have gotten stuck with all of the Junior teams. Thankfully, they were the only one allowed to participate due to the dangers. She did not even dare consider how many they would lose if the raw recruits went into the fray.
They set off with the others, making their way along the cleared city streets. To onlookers, this likely looked like some military operation, as the convoy of treaded armored vehicles sped along the cordoned off thoroughfares. They had planned on raiding the Slums tomorrow night, but the suspicious movements of Burnout prompted them to mobilize early. Which meant that this might get rough, since they had not had time to scope out the whole of the areas they were about to attack. They had general layouts and somewhat detailed information, but Neon Nurse did not like how rushed this was. If she was in charge then they would have scoured the area yesterday so that they could plan more properly, this morning, which would have allowed them some breathing room. Instead, they were now relying on a blitz tactic and hoping that they had the element of surprise. A familiar saying crossed her mind, “Haste makes waste.”
That being said, so long as they got Vesper back, she would consider this a success. It also did not help that someone had spilled the beans and tipped off the Mad Dogs about the plan. This meant that there was a double agent working on the inside. She knew who it was, but she had a vested interest in keeping villains on the street. Should the public run out of people to hate, they would turn very quickly on the Heroes. The ungrateful little bastards. Praising you one day, shipping you off to jail because you accidentally dropped a bus full of kids off a bridge. It is not like it was on purpose or anything. They would have died if you did nothing and you try to help, but fail to save them and suddenly it is your fault and you are the bad guy. Not that Neon Nurse had ever done that, it had happened back in the day to Vira’s dad, which is why she went off the deep end and ended up as a Villain. You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain, after all. You can do thousands of good deeds and no one will notice, you fuck up once and they descend upon you like rabid hyenas. Neon Nurse knew about this all too well, she was still marked with a black spot from her time as a Villain and it had been years since she switched sides.
The Slums loomed ahead, darkness contrasting against the bright city backdrop. Distantly, light flared up from an explosion, muffling out the glimmer of the neon stripper signs. It appeared that subtlety was no longer on the Villains’ agenda. The speed ramped up and bumps churned the restless heroes as the roads deteriorated and even ceased to exist sometimes. This was the concrete jungle now and civilization felt like it was hundreds of miles away. An expedition into hostile territory.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Her overlay displayed a detailed map of the area. It had been updated this morning and showed blocked roads, crumbled buildings and Vesper’s glowing dot from her tracking device. Unfortunately, it seemed that she was in the thick of it, judging by where that explosion was. Glancing at the other dot, the suit was… where is that exactly? It was not in the Sparkle Kat, instead, it appeared to have been dumped deep in the ruins of old Bronson. That was miles away, why would it be there? She pondered it for a moment, there were a few answers that came to mind. First, they bought that crap about it being a nuke and dumped it in case it blew up. Second, it was being used to blackmail Vesper. Third… she could not really think of a third option, besides maybe they just hated technology. She did not put much thought into it.
Neon Nurse’s group was supposed to help bring down Glitter Kitten. Which was the most dangerous part, save, securing the children. If they failed then Glitter Kitten would be free to ruin the other plans. The vehicle chugged along below them, as the separate teams split up to their respective mission. According to the reports, the hellcat was currently engaged, so she was not hard to find, catching her… that was the hard part.
Vesper’s vitals spiked abruptly, which was bad since it meant catastrophic damage had just been inflicted. Without aid, she would die. How quickly organ failure occurred depended on what happened. If it was bleeding out or loss of anything, but the brain then there was time. If it was the brain then she would be dead before they even got there. Her clacking robo hands nearly strangled the driver to go faster. Unfortunately, since they were in the middle of the group, they could not detach or rush ahead. Her anxiety dropped when the steady beat of two hearts appeared on her monitor after an agonizing thirty seconds. Luckily from the pulse and heart rates, it appeared to be the former. These would have more or less flat-lined and the signal would have been lost if the head had been destroyed. Still, the pulse was weak and it did not look good.
Ahead a blanket of fog loomed over several collapsed buildings, for a brief moment something hopped out and fell back inside. Her eyes replayed the visual and zoomed in, Thumper. If she was here they were close. Another explosion rang out on the other side of the wall, dampened by the mist. The vehicles pulled over and all the hatches opened, the teams spread out surrounding the area. Several rushed ahead through a gaping hole to scout out the ruins while others secured the immediate area. So far this was going better than expected. They had not planned on a Super Villain turf war. It was advantageous, since they simply had to wait for both sides to wear themselves out before striking. Neon Nurse and the Juniors had nothing of real importance to do. They were in a supporting role and so far nobody had been hurt, save Vesper, but not much she could do about that.
Astro Glide spoke up, “Neon Nurse, can we help with reconnaissance?”
“No.”
“Why not? Extra eyes would be good,” complained Gravity Squeeze.
They were all so ready, bristling with anticipation. It was a super fight after all and they were just young enough not to dread such a thing, instead thinking it to be some sort of game. Vesper was smarter than that, when she was not throwing herself at the problem anyway. The reality of the situation had not sunk in yet, as to how dangerous this was. This was why she did not want to watch the damned kids. Oddly the only one who did not seem to biting at the bit for a sliver of glory was Sunshine. She just rocked back and forth, surrounded by furry little animals. Neon Nurse gave her a long glance before deciding not to worry about it.
“Let me tell you, this is not fun time with Mecha Fairy running around and playing hero. This is serious and people tend to die in situations like this. Now look, not a single one of you is going to leave my sight. Your lives are in my hands, which means you are my patients and I don’t lose patients.”
“Come on, we can help.” Said Disk Jockey.
“Have any of you ever seen Glitter Kitten or Burnout get serious?” They shook their heads and she continued, “Well then, just sit down, be quiet and hope that they get tranquilized before they realize what is happening, because there will be hell to pay if not. If things don’t work out as planned, a lot of people are going to die tonight and I can’t guarantee your safety.”
They quieted down after she looked away from them, watching the map. Vesper was moving… That did not seem right. According to her vitals, she was weakened to an unconscious, but somewhat stable state. Was someone moving her? It was really the only explanation since there was no way that she could do much on her own. Sure enough, the dot steadily moved away from the fighting zone. Neon Nurse did not know whether to thank or curse the person who did this. On one hand, she was safer and likely would not get caught up the violence that was about to unfold. On the other, well, now she had to track where she went down. It was annoying. For now Vesper was not in danger of dying so she could concentrate better on the task at hand.
The scouts reported in, “Targets are in sight. Glitter Kitten, Fold, Burnout, Thumper, Den Mother, Shadow, Mist, Cinder Lad, and Jack the Hammer are currently exhausted. Now would be a good time to strike.”
Mist was here? Neon Nurse stared at the wall of gloom. That was not good. She could sense everything around her in that form. Then that means… Neon Nurse’s thoughts were cut off when Dreamer sent out an order, “Move out take them while they are occupied.”
“Alright, you heard her let’s go!” excitedly said Gravity Squeeze.
Neon Nurse confronted her, “Are you trying to get people killed? Mist knows we are here.”
The warped mask, covering Dreamer’s face left the smirk exposed. “It does not matter, they have been fighting for over an hour already. Their stamina should be exhausted at this point. We have them surrounded. Stick to your job.”
“Fine, anything that happens is on you,” scoffed Neon Nurse, she turned to the three boys who were ready to charge in with everyone else, “Juniors stand down and stay in the ambulance.”
“Dreamer, can we go too?” Asked Gravity Squeeze, going over Neon Nurse’s head.
“No,” said Dreamer, to Neon Nurse’s surprise, she had been expecting to completely overridden here. She continued, “You are under her command, so do as she says. We will be relying on you guys when people get hurt and they will, so don’t worry about missing out on anything.”
The Juniors reluctantly went back to the safety of the armored vehicle. Enforcer and his groups checked their weapons. For this, tear gas launchers had been set up on several of their shoulders. A few were strapped down with tanks of pepper spray that connected to flame thrower like apparatuses. Things had gone smoothly on Captain Metal’s side. He had set up the speaker arrays, awaiting further orders. When the signal was given they stealthily proceeded through the rubble of a store. The eerie silence snapped with the crinkle below their feet. Up until a few minutes ago, there had been intense fighting. Now it was dead quiet.
Neon Nurse watched what happened next through Enforcer’s eyes. He led the way into the enclosed field. Mist covered their sight and he switched to thermal vision, it did not help since she was a warm cloud. He raised the grenade launcher and switched it to electro rounds. The first hit the bare ground, sending up arcs of lightning through her gaseous form. It reeled and split, retreating and subsequently revealing the area. A burning car helped light the otherwise dark area. Six figures stood at various spots, three facing him and three the opposite entrance. They were cold… a distraction. He thought. His fingers gave a motion and five drones deployed from his back, speeding over to the spot. They were mannequins, then where the hell did- He never got to finish that thought, when a massive explosion rocked the area. A billowing cloud rose up from the opposite side. His eyes scanned, searching for heat signatures. Enforcer rose his eyes to the sky and there was Burnout, a giant fireball overhead.
She threw it towards them and he yelled: “Clear out!”
They did not have time to escape back to the outside. The group instantly ran through the building, barely getting to the safety of the field before where they had been erupted, the scalding metal warped and bent trapping them inside. He reigned in all of his subordinates firing up at Burnout. The flames around her consumed all of their ammo. He switched to cryo rounds lobbing up the freezing grenades. She dodged, roaring to the side on her wings of fire. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the outer members toppled over, cut in half. Turning to see what caused it, a blur scattered dust as it weaved all over the place. Glitter Kitten! He tossed a sonic grenade in her direction. The ear-splitting sound made her retreat temporarily.
“We need support!” Yelled Enforcer.
****
Panther crouched, perched on a ledge overlooking the arena like trap. His tight blue outfit glistening in the fire below. He watched Glitter Kitten bolting like a streak of tabby hair across the ground below. To Panther, she was running normally, but that was because of his enhanced reflexes and speed. Things moved slower for him. He pounced down, tackling her and the pair crashed into the ground, spinning away from one another. She rose, fur bristling as her claws extended. A slight smirk across her face.
“Nyah, nyah look what the cat dragged in. What is the matter, forget the last time I whooped your ass?” she mocked, her tail flicking.
“I will take you down.”
She waved her hand lightly, “Don’t flatter yourself. Nyahahaha! You can’t even touch me if I get serious.”
He lunged at her, going for a tackle and she jumped to the side. He adjusted mid stride and so did she turning it into a game of cat and mouse. It was a fact that she was faster, however, for now she was still holding back. They were even at the moment, making their high velocity duel a matter of who made the first mistake. She darted in for a punch and he managed to deflect it. His foot shot out clipping her tail. At this rate, this was going to turn into a stalemate. Again and again, they clashed while the outside world moved at a snail’s pace. Scratches covered his suit from where her claws had lightly made contact. Burnout had sent another fire ball towards Enforcer. Panther dived in scooping up several swat members and tossing them to the side. He went back for more when Glitter Kitten cut him off. She pounced, loping towards him with the people he had just saved in tow. The crazy cat was going to put them back into harm’s way!
“Nyuh-uh-uh this is between you and me, no helping others,” she grinned, hurling the hapless people into the explosion radius. “Unless you want me to take advantage. After all, there is no telling what I might do if you take your eyes off of me.”
Panther frowned with a seething anger. He charged at her, punching and she side stepped it, flicking her tail in his face. The damned cat was taunting him as she bolted away giggling all the while. This was going nowhere fast. It was right about time to see if the plan was going to work or not. Panther fled, bounding over the wall and booking it to a side building that was mostly intact. True to her nature Glitter Kitten quickly followed her prey, momentarily pausing at the entrance, surveying the building.
Panther dived into a kick from the side and Glitter Kitten mounted the leg, scurrying over him and kicked off of his chest, sending him straight into the ground. The concrete shattered and a small crater had formed. The cat crouched with glowing eyes, watching with amusement. She circled contemplating what to do with him.
“Nyah, why did you come here I wonder? Well, it was fun, but this little kitty has a job to do. So I will see you next time, second place.”
Panther grabbed her leg as the doors slammed shut. Suddenly light glared from every direction, blinding her and a strange sound felt like it was drilling through her head. Glitter Kitten realized too late that she had gotten sloppy. She covered her ears, screaming as she backed away. Her eyes could not see except for blots and spots. The ringing in her head drowned out everything else, making it hard to think.
“Glitter Kitten is down,” said Captain Metal firing off a metal net that knocked her flat.
“I will be right over,” replied Dreamer.
“Good work Panther, you lured her into the trap.”
“Yeah, next time I don’t want to be the bait,” he groaned, getting up. His stomach was bruised and probably has torn muscle or two. It would not surprise him in the least after a kick like that.
Glitter Kitten clawed at the net, her fingers dripping blood from the razor like wire. She growled angrily, thrashing like a wild animal. She slowed her protests after a minute or so, catching her breath. Her tabby fur had become soiled with her blood. Glitter Kitten lay there eyeing them with daggers.
“What is with this net, Nyah?”
“It is a titanium alloy that has been soaked in sedative. In a minute or two, you will be out like a light.”
“What are you planning on doing to me anyway? Is it off to Bronson Heights for me?’
“Nope. After you have an attitude adjustment we are going to let you go.”
“Adjustment? Nyah? Dreamer is it. Ah… so I see, well I got business with her myself.”
They both raised their Sonic rifles, “Try anything funny and we will shoot.”
“Oh, I highly doubt that,” she smirked.
“You think you are so smart you stupid Subhuman. I have waited a long time to see you get knocked down a peg,” laughed Captain Metal.
Glitter Kitten’s eyes drooped ignoring him and she snoozed peacefully. The door opened up after a few minutes and Dreamer strode in, her cape flickering on the wind. A wide grin filled her face. She rubbed her hands together, giving a nod to them. “So out like a light?”
“Yup.”
“Good, then shall we get started?”
Dreamer placed her hand on Glitter Kitten’s head and her body instantly started writhing in rejection. She closed her eyes, concentrating and gritting her teeth. It was a battle of wills that only the two could see. At first the cat resisted furiously nearly beating Dreamer out of her head, but then she got serious. The cat girl squirmed, screaming incoherently. She frothed at the mouth and blood spurt out of her nose while she resisted.
“The more you fight the more that it hurts,” whispered Dreamer by Glitter Kitten’s ear.
She flopped about, spasming and yowling from another mental attack. She was faltering, but this was going to take a few hours to break through her mental defenses. It was only then that the programming could take place, and that could take a while to make it stick. That did not matter though, since Dreamer had all night to work on this and if longer was needed then they would take her back with them. Vaguely she recalled Vesper’s mind, it was by far harder to crack than this filthy whore cat. After all, there were two minds supporting one another in there. This one would only be a matter of time. Glitter Kitten was easy to prey on. She had all manner of emotional distresses, abandonment issues, daddy issues, threatening her children, deep down she even had self esteem problems. It was already assured and this plan was halfway a success, or so Dreamer thought.
The ground below Glitter Kitten distorted and she dropped down, leaving a hole in reality where she had been. Dazed from the sudden break in her mental link, Dreamer vacantly looked around and her eyes gaped at what had exchanged places with Glitter Kitten. Mecha Fairy’s suit lay there strapped with enough explosives to make Burnout proud. Normally Dreamer would not have been too worried over something like that, however, the suit had a little something installed to make sure Vespidian never got away with turning on them. In fact it had been her plan to use this as a diversion. The atomic core was set to go critical if she set it off. This much of a shock would certainly destabilize it. A timer ticked down to five seconds and the world blurred.
“Ah, shit.”
The building erupted, shooting shrapnel through the air and raining flaming bits as secondary explosions reverberated. Shock waves tore through the area, disrupting the rest of the fight as the glowing mushroom cloud plumed up filling the sky.