The following chapter has scenes of violence and course language. Might rank as Adult Accompaniment if this was a movie.Parking lot, Hank Cheetas, Cleveland, evening
Nasty looked up at her opponent. Me and my fucking big mouth. Tori glared down, a look of amusement on her face. Better get this over with. Nasty took a step forward. "What the fuck are you waiting for?" Tori put all her force into a stomp meant to crush Nasty into the parking lot asphalt. Nasty darted away, her left arm protesting at the motion. She channelled her scream of pain into an incoherent shout of rage. Nasty leaped into the air, aiming herself at Tori's leg. Purple flared.
Tori howled at the top of her lungs. Nasty landed in a crouch. She turned to see what she had done. The costume Tori wore now had a burn mark on the back of one leg. Gingerly, Tori lifted the leg up, testing it, making sure it could support her current weight. "I'm going to squash you like a bug!"
Nasty ran in again, this time going for Tori's shin. She lashed out with her good arm. Another purple explosion, another blackened patch of costume. Nasty heard a loud snap.
Tori lost her balance as her injured leg gave out beneath her. She landed on one knee, cracks forming in the asphalt. As she rolled over, she shrunk down to her usual size. "My leg!" Tori clutched her injured limb. "What the fuck did you do?"
Nasty backed away, keeping an eye on the invader. She bumped into a car laying on its side. "Oh, shut the fuck up." She let herself slide down the car's hood to sit down on the ground. The redhead pulled her left arm close to her, keeping it immobile. "You don't hear me crying. Wuss."
-**-
Parking lot, Hank Cheetas, Cleveland, evening
Meredith pressed her attack, an onslaught of blows raining down on Omega. The armour suited figure tried blocking with the remains of his right arm. The brunette moved too fast for him, darting to his exposed side each time he twisted to stop her blows. "Where's all the gloating now?" Meredith taunted. "All the boasts, all the superiority? Don't tell me this tiny bikini has you on the run?" She took the metal arm in both hands and raised it over her head. "How is your power reserve doing?"
Omega staggered backwards, crushing debris beneath his feet as he tried to escape. A port opened on his shoulder, a small rectangular box emerging. "How does your suit handle electrical feedback?"
Meredith put all her strength into bringing the broken arm over her head. Omega tried to sidestep, but not in time. The young woman missed his head, but struck the exposed weapons port. "I guess you'll never know." She spun counterclockwise. The arm caught the side of Omega's head. "How does your suit handle your bell being rung?"
As he stumbled sideways from the blow, Omega twisted around. He found his footing, planting one behind him to brace himself. Omega surged forward, shouldering into Prototype Alpha. Meredith resisted for a moment, then fell back. Omega careened forwards, stumbling past the young woman. He backed into a red sedan, falling on top of it. His legs flailed as he tried to right himself.
"Have a nice trip?" Meredith hovered over the fallen armour well out of reach.
Small, controlled, sequenced explosions raced up Omega's torso to his neck. Pieces of armour fell away. Keith's goatee'd counterpart climbed out of his suit. Ignoring Meredith, he ran full tilt across the parking lot.
"Alpha, this is Keith. We've got breakthrough!"
"Keith, not now. Your evil twin is escaping."
"Um, Mere, he's running away. I wouldn't stay there."
"Why?"
"His power core is overloading."
Meredith planted her face into the palm of her hand. "We're going to work on priorities later. Where's the breakthrough point?"
"Twenty-seven point three metres from your position, minus seventy-two degrees from your facing."
"In the Queen's bloody English?"
"Turn left, you can't miss it."
"I'm on it."
"But what about the power core?"
"I'm on that, too. Just stand by until I tell you to turn on the beam again."
"Standing by!"
Meredith turned to her left. The solid green ring of the dimensional breech was at it's maximum radius. Several troops on the other side of the ring started marching. "Private fight, guys. By invitation only, and you're just crashing the party." She hefted the remains of Omega's power armour. "Keith, I could use your help. Can you enhance the strength of the suit so I can toss this garbage back where it belongs?"
"Sure. You should have all the feedback you'll need . . . now."
"Thanks." Meredith looked through the ring. She found what she wanted, the cube van holding the dimensional breech cannon. With the carcass of Omega's armour over her head, she hurled the broken suit through the ring. Troopers on the other side ducked. The armour bounced on the ground once, twice, rolled, then slammed into the van. Meredith engaged the BIKINI's shield. "Keith, now! Let's close the door!"
The energy passing through the shield shimmered through the spectrum, going from blue to red as Keith increased the power passing through. The green ring wavered. The troops near the breech stopped, confused expressions on their faces. The ring around the breech became yellow, then lost all shape as the gate between the two dimensions collapsed. On the other side, Merry started shouting orders to her men. Before the gateway closed completely, Meredith saw Omega's armour erupt into a fireball.
-**-
Parking lot, Hank Cheetas, Cleveland, evening
Vicki saw the operator of the Omega armour escape from his suit. She took a glance down at the sleeping Natasha. "She's not going anywhere." Vicki shrunk down and took to the skies. It didn't take her long to catch up to her quarry. "Hey, going home so soon?"
Omega stopped and turned around to face the tiny winged blond. "Stay away from me!"
"Dude, you're out of your armour. I've already dealt with your leader. Face it. You are totally owned." Vicki ducked under Omega's fist as he lashed out. "You're getting a time out." She tossed a handful of her pixie dust into his face. Omega slumped down. "Pleasant dreams." Vicki landed, regaining her full size. She looked over to the Foundation vans. "Clean up over in aisle five!"
Next Week:
Eric took her hand into both of his. "Tash, you're trembling. Your hands are cold."
Meredith watched the young man run off. 'Who needs a silly old hot tub anyway?'
Richard humphed. "What sort of parents wouldn't know where their daughter was at all times? Really, Vicki, give me some credit here."
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