Chapter 15
I eyed Morales’ body as I got to my feet. It was because of this towering ogre that this officer wouldn’t see his next birthday. The ring on the man’s finger meant somewhere a spouse waited anxiously for him to come home from his shift. If he had kids, they’d grow up without their father.
“Little man angry.”
I growled, the rage making it impossible to string together a coherent sentence of obscenities.
Dozer stood nine feet tall, and with each thunderous stride, he cleared several yards. I don’t know if he came looking for the missing officer or if the brute had been off causing mayhem elsewhere before returning to his companions. As he picked up speed, I didn't have time to ponder the question.
I tried to catch the oversized boot as it kicked into my gut.
I grossly underestimated the man’s strength.
The world spun, incoherent as I braced for impact.
The wall collapsed around me as I bust through a layer of brick and support beams in the building.
My back arched as I folded backward around a pipe.
If I had been an average man, he’d have crushed me, a flesh sack filled with pulverized bones.
But I wasn’t average.
I skipped checking for broken limbs. I’d be bruised, and for the next few days, I might need to take ice baths, but unlike Morales, I’d live. Shaking off the rubble, I flexed my muscles, drawing my fingers so tightly into a fist my entire hand ached.
Flames danced along my knuckles. For a moment, it rippled along my arms, causing my uniform to smolder before it vanished.
While I couldn’t rely on the flames, Prometheus’ suit responded.
The black liquid flashed along my forearms, swallowing my uniform until all that remained was the black and gold skintight suit.
With one hand on the pipe, I pulled it free, causing more of the ceiling to collapse. Stepping to the edge of the hole, I watched as Dozer passed by, thinking his death toll had gone up by one. The smug expression on his face made my blood boil. He was satisfied with yet another death.
“Hey,” I shouted, “dumb ass.”
I jumped from the second story. The goliath turned around, his eyes wide as he caught sight of a costumed vigilante.
The sound of his pea brain trying to process the newcomer was almost audible.
I might consider it an unfair fight if we were doing the crossword, but as I prepped for a slugfest, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be the victor.
“Squish little man.”
“You can try,” I mumbled.
He took a step forward, and I spun about with the pipe.
The tip caught him along the jaw, his head jerking to the side.
Before he could react, I pulled back and jabbed it into his stomach.
He let out a roar as he snatched the pipe, tossing it to the side.
Well, so much for having a weapon advantage.
Dozer charged.
Squatting low, I brought both hands together and swung up. I landed a blow in his groin. It should have stopped him, or at least caused a yelp. Instead, his knee plowed into my chest, sending me flying once more.
I spun about, landing on my stomach. Digging my fingertips into the pavement, I turned, ready to face him head-on. His expression was almost priceless. He hadn’t faced a worthy opponent since the depowering. I was going to whip his ass.
I might revel in the idea of being able to trade blows with Dozer, but anger coated every action.
To my right, buried in a heap of trash, a man lay dead.
Somewhere a boot missed its owner. His sock, with a hole in the heel—that made me angry.
Morales wanted to protect the city. Now, he’d become a memory, another name on a tombstone.
I rose, the fire rolling down my arms. As a medic, I couldn’t bring him back from the dead. But as a hero, I could avenge him, carry on his work.
“Morales.” His name served as a reminder. Then it transformed into a battle cry. “Morales!”
The fire stopped rolling and poured out of my body.
I went from an overly strong brute to a living matchstick.
There was no chance to marvel at the sensation, the warmth radiating from the layers of fire hovering an inch from my skin.
The heels of my boots lightened until my toes left the pavement.
Whether because of the fire or some additional superpower, I levitated off the ground.
“For Morales,” I whispered.
Dozer picked up a dumpster and chucked it. It weighed almost nothing as I snatched it out of the air. Spinning from the momentum, I let it go, lobbing it at the deadly idiot. He smacked it out of the air as he ran toward me, fist drawn back, ready to pulverize.
Flying might be cool. It could very well be the most amazing thing to ever happen, but it didn’t come with an instruction manual. I leaned to the side and then attempted to will myself out of the way. Neither moved me out of the way of Dozer’s fist.
I caught his enormous fist. I dug the balls of my feet into an invisible ground. The suit pushed back, slowing his fist, keeping me from propelling down the alley as I struggled to stay upright. My hand barely wrapped around his pointer finger, dwarfed in comparison.
“No heroes.” The idiot couldn’t comprehend that there was a good guy with abilities. His mistake.
“Yes, heroes.” Snap. His pointer finger broke at the knuckle. He howled, but before he could shake me free, I repeated the maneuver with his pinky.
He swatted at my head with his free hand. I ducked and then launched myself upward. Whatever sentience Prometheus’ suit contained, it worked to keep me safe. If it controlled the flying, then I wanted access to the fire.
Punching both fists forward, a fireball slammed into Dozer’s chest. The tight t-shirt burned away, leaving scorch marks on his skin. Turning over my hands, fiery orbs pooled in my hand. Finally.
Chucking the smaller orbs, they exploded on impact, causing Dozer to hold up his mangled hand to protect his face. They were a nuisance, but they weren’t going to stop the man. He blindly reached out, jumping into the air. His hand closed around my ankle, dragging me out of the air.
“Dead hero.”
He swung, slamming me face-first into the brick buildings.
What started as a distant pain grew into a throbbing ache.
I might have strength and endurance, but this was going to add up.
I tucked myself into a ball and forced the fire out of my body.
The explosion rocked the alley, sending bags of trash into the air.
Dozer’s hand retreated as he cradled the blistering flesh.
“Hand ouch.”
“More ouch,” I spat.
The fire thickened, pouring from my wrists until my hands were barely visible.
Thrusting them forward, a stream of fire hammered against Dozer’s chest. Washing over his body, he nearly vanished in a sea of heat.
I didn’t want to kill the brute. It’d be a mercy to end the pain.
He needed to beg for death before I relented.
The wall collapsed as he stumbled to the side. I swiped my hands out wide, the fire around my body turning off like a light switch. I dropped the few feet, heels cracking the pavement.
“Dozer hurt,” he whimpered. “Ouch. Ouch.”
Good. He was nearly naked, bits of fabric scorched into his skin. There were few pains worse than being burned. Having the skin excised was one of them. Even after this was over, there would be a new layer of hell waiting for him.
“I should kill you,” I hissed.
I stormed over to the man, climbing on his body. He attempted to bat me away, but he barely lifted his arm. The groan each time I touched his skin gave me far more satisfaction than it should have.
The first punch to his jaw bordered on orgasmic. I slammed my fist into his face a second time. A tooth flew from his mouth, blood dripping down his lip. The third strike was for Morales. The fourth for his family. The fifth was for those who would lower him into his grave.
Dozer’s face was a mismatch of dark blue and purple bruises.
With a few more strikes, I’d jog his brain hard enough he’d go unconscious.
Permanent brain damage might be satisfying, but if he slipped into a coma, it’d be an end to his suffering.
It wasn’t the best motivation to leave him alive, but it drew a line in the sand.
“I’m a hero,” I said, needing to remind myself.
Heroes didn’t kill. Even if there was a good reason, I had to back away to avoid slipping down the gray slope.
There was an allure, a desire to rid the streets of scum.
For a moment, I understood the difficulty heroes faced and the decision they needed to make with every confrontation.
“Xander, are you down there?”
Lei stood at the mouth of the alley. Beyond her, a duo of leather-clad vigilantes jumped the overturned cars.
Reinforcements had arrived, and for now, that meant my job was done.
Even if I willed the suit away, I couldn’t explain how an ordinary man bested this behemoth.
For now, I’d have to abandon my partner.
The fire roared to life, bursting from my body like a tiny bomb erupted. Reaching into the sky, I soared upward, leaving the alley behind. Flying through the sky like a rocket, access to these newfound abilities had me wondering if it was time to seek Smoke.
“I’m coming for you.”
Flying into Vanguard City, I always peered out the window of the airplane.
The lights below were always an amazing sight.
Without the individual people, it appeared as a modern marvel.
The city had a peaceful quality from a distance.
It had been so long since I had that distance from the activities on the street I forgot the beauty.