The marble steps of City Hall cracked slightly beneath
Titus' weight as he watched Electron approaching. Yesterday the mayor had
publicly announced the superhero's impending arrival in SIlverburg, and had boldly
declared that the super's crime wave was now over. Titus begged to differ, and
he was ready to take the superhero down in front of the whole city and prove
once and for all that he could not be stopped. Not by the police, not by SHRED,
not by anyone.
As Electron descended towards the pristine City Hall
building, he couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by the sheer physique of
the man before him. He was over six feet tall, powerful muscles rippling and
gleaming all over his body, his solid steel skin shining sinisterly in the
sunlight. It seemed like a very difficult first assignment, but Electron tried
to remain calm and not let his nerves get the better of him. He had the
advantage here. He had all the equipment and training that SHRED had given him,
and he also had a plan.
Electron landed neatly at the bottom of the steps, and
from this position, Titus seemed even larger as he stood thirteen steps above
the superhero, looming menacingly over him. "So, you're Electron,
huh?" he said. His voice was loud, deep, and gruff, but with a slightly
metallic quality to it. "You're shorter than I thought you'd be."
At this point, many superheroes would have come up with
some sort of witty riposte, deflecting the insult right back at the villain.
Most superheroes, however, were not on their first day on the job, and feeling
rather intimidated by the giant metal man standing before them. A hesitant
"I guess" was Electron's only reply.
Titus smirked. "You don't seem like much of a hero
to me," he said. "But if you really wanna get your ass kicked that
badly, then come at me!" Titus spread his arms wide, challenging Electron.
"I'm right here, hero!"
Electron knew that his suit wasn't going to provide much
protection against Titus' herculean punches. One blow to the face would
probably knock his head clean off his shoulders. But for his plan to work, he
needed to get in close. And in any case, perhaps he wouldn’t need the suit's
protection. If his electromagnetic force fields could stop a bullet, they could
stop one of Titus' punches. Probably. Possibly.
Nervously, Electron started to make his way slowly up the
grand staircase, never once taking his eyes off of Titus. After a moment, Titus
also began to descend, closing in on the superhero. As soon as Electron was
within arm's reach, Titus roared out and swung at Electron with a mighty right
hook. It was well-telegraphed, and Electron ducked out of the way easily, but
before he could do anything else, Titus suddenly kicked him hard in the face,
sending him tumbling back down the stairs. The hero fell to a heap at the
bottom but quickly scrambled onto his hands and knees, grimacing in pain as
blood began to spurt from a broken nose.
"Is that all you got?" shouted Titus, taunting
the hero from up high. "I thought you had more in you than that!"
Shakily, Electron climbed back to his feet, staggering a
little before turning to face Titus with renewed confidence. "I'm just
getting started," he said.
"Really?" said Titus. "Looks to me more
like you're about to be finished!"
Titus charged down the steps, each one cracking under his weight as he stormed
towards the shaken hero. This time, Electron was ready, and as Titus swung
another almighty blow at him, he focused a magnetic force field directly in
front of himself, ready to block the hit. Titus' fist still connected with
Electron's chest, but all the force had been taken out of the blow and Electron
did not feel a thing.
As Titus stood there flabbergasted, trying to understand
why his punch hadn't sent Electron flying across the street, Electron quickly
placed a hand on Titus' arm, and in a shower of sparks the villain was
completely immobilized. "Wh… what the… I can't move!" he exclaimed.
"That's… that's impossible!"
"Actually… oww…" Pinching his broken nose
between the forefinger and thumb of his free hand, to try and stem the blood
flow, Electron carried on speaking in a voice that now sounded rather nasally.
"Actually, it isn't. It's to do with… electromagnetism and stuff. I dunno,
I'm a little dizzy, but…"
Titus tried vainly to move himself, even an inch, but he
could not. "There's… no way I could be taken down by a bunch of magnets…
argh!"
"Actually, you are
the magnet," said Electron. "The electricity flowing through your
metal skin creates an electromagnetic field, which I'm able to manipulate at
will. I'm using that to hold you still, and that's why you can't move."
"I see," said Titus. "So, as long as
you're holding onto me, I can't move?"
"Pretty much," said Electron. "SHRED are
on their way, and they'll take things from here. You'll be off to Black Rock,
and this city will be safe."
"Maybe for now," said Titus threateningly.
"But for how long? Another me will come along soon enough. You may have
defeated me, but how many more can you defeat?"
"I dunno," said Electron, shrugging his
shoulders. "I guess we'll find out, one way or the other. But hopefully, I
can defeat as many as I have to in order to keep this city safe."
Titus sneered. "We'll see," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment