1.26 – I like ‘em big

The man made a giant step forward and then another, coming within arm’s reach of Nathan. Nathan hesitated. Alicia didn’t.

An explosion went off, and Nathan dodged to the side, hugging the wall as the man stumbled forward after an explosion expanded behind him. Small pebbles fell from the ceiling of the tunnel, and the man had visible difficulty turning. This was not a good environment for the man to fight, but the explosion seemed to just be an annoyance for him; it didn’t even seem to hurt him at all.

Nathan had several rocks in his inventory, and he took two out immediately. They had a lot of momentum, and the storage was about to timeout. He didn’t wait; he targeted the man and let them fly. They shot through the air, impacting the man on his head. After he set his target, these were supposed to have enough momentum to knock an adult man unconscious. But all they did was make him jerk his head and then smile, with blood trickling from his mouth.

“Not good, Alicia!”

“Yeah, I noticed. Step back a little. Strike will help us.”

For some reason, he seriously doubted that. The large man obstructed his view, but Nathan could hear the sounds of fighting from behind him. Shots were being fired, and screams followed in between the bursts.

“That tickled a little bit.” The deep voice of the man echoed through the small tunnel as he gave Nathan a wild grin. “I was supposed to fight worthy enemies when I joined, but now I have to fight kids that can’t even pack a punch. How disappointing.”

He once again went to close distance, but Nathan was already retreating towards where they came from. He had eight more rocks stored in his inventory. It was supposed to make him more powerful. He had power at an arm’s reach after all, but it felt wholly insufficient here.

The man, thankfully, wasn’t running at them. Whether it was because of how big he was or how small the tunnel was, or maybe even because he simply didn’t consider Alicia and Nathan actual threats, he walked slowly, letting Nathan create distance easily.

“Alicia?”

“Yes?” She huffed, running in front of him.

“We can’t lose him. If he goes after Vermillion Strike, then she’ll have another super-powered person to fight alongside the others inside the room.”

“So what? You suggest we fight? Didn’t you see what our attacks did to him?”

“Was that your most powerful explosion? Can you do more?”

“Yes, I can, but… Urgh!” She groaned. “It’ll be hard, and I have to prepare for a little bit. I charge the teddy, you hold him off.” She explained her power a little before. Apparently, the teddies were imbued with her inner wishes, and the yield of the explosion depended on how long she charged each small doll. If she charged the one from before only for a second, then she could definitely do more if she focused for longer.

Screams followed Nathan and Alicia as they dashed, and some of them seem to even call for the tall man. He didn’t focus on the sounds, but if the man wanted to oblige his gang members, then he didn’t let it show. Apparently, as much as he grumbled about having to fight “kids”, he didn’t want to fight Vermillion Strike in their place.

A plan began forming in Nathan’s head as he ran. The man suddenly sped up, and Nathan quickly took out two more rocks. This time he didn’t aim at the giant’s head but focused on his knees. The first went shot away, quickly followed by the second, and the man seemed to feel these rocks. He didn’t scream outright. Hell, these things should have shattered his kneecaps, but all that he got in return for the rocks was a grunt. “I got a plan!”

“Hey, you little rats, come here! FIGHT ME LIKE SUPERS!”

“Nuh-uh, thanks!” Alicia said, and a small teddy jumped from her shoulder, the doll waddling towards the giant. Nathan didn’t watch to see the explosion, but another tremor shook the small tunnel.

“So? Plan?” She asked, and Nathan tried to think about how far exactly they were from the entrance to the tunnel. It wasn’t that long; it took them a minute to walk all the way through before. They should be approaching the exit into the sewers any second now. It would have to be here.

“Charge a teddy, Alicia! As strong as you can, but don’t let it go.”

“If I charge it to full power, it might collapse the tunnel.”

“Yeah, that’s what I hope for,” he whispered back and turned on his heel, and the entrance was visible now. “I’ll buy you time for a few moments, and you make the explosion as powerful as you can. It will collapse the thing, but we can get through after somehow. I hope.”

The man was only about 15 to 20 feet behind them and he was wiping his mouth. His clothes were a bit singed, but the teddy didn’t seem to do any more damage than his rocks had done.

“You know what I hate about superheroes the most?” The man monologued. “You are all cowards.”

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“Cowards? You are the ones hiding in the sewer.”

“Maybe, but I am not the one running at the first moment I start losing. I am not the one doing what I do for the public’s opinion. The Red Lily is right about you all.”

“What the hell does the public have to do with all of this?” Nathan laughed, finding the whole situation ridiculous. All of a sudden, this mountain of a man was talking about such stupid things, monologuing just like any TV show or movie supervillain would. It was so out of place that he couldn’t help himself but laugh a little.

“The public has all to do with this. Two little runts admitted into an academy because you are pretty, and have good powers. I’ll show them all how wrong they are to put their hopes into you.”

“Wait, I figured it out!” Alicia smirked, and the giant man stopped closing the distance.