I blurred forward, several heads spinning into the air in my wake. A casual stomp shattered the frontline, splitting the ground open and sending fractures racing through the battlefield. The heavy hitters charged immediately, while the backline unleashed a barrage of energy fire.
My eyes flared red as I launched skyward, sweeping a blazing arc across the field and erasing the gunmen before the Terror Twins crashed into me.
Tommy struck first, his Kryptonite-laced brass knuckles cracking against my jaw with enough force to break the sound barrier and snap my head aside. Blood spilled as radiation bathed every cell in my body. It was the most pain I had felt since I fought Tyler. I had almost forgotten what it felt like.
Tammy followed through with a spiked maul to my back. It shredded my clothes and drove me deep into the bedrock.
My ribs groaned under the impact, muscles bruising and tearing, but my meta-ability surged in response. My nose reset itself, the cut on my lip sealed, and my genetically enhanced resistance to all forms of Kryptonite strengthened.
The Terror Twins lunged to press their advantage, but I was already moving.
I snapped to my feet with a Manji kick, catching Tommy across the neck and driving him into the dirt. I pivoted around Tammy's follow-up swing, her maul whistling past my skull, and carved a precise line of heat through her hamstring, severing the muscle cleanly.
Her scream had barely begun before Tommy came again, fury overriding caution as he launched himself at me and dragged the fight skyward.
The battlefield dwindled to a distant smear below as he hammered into me, each strike landing with diminishing effect, his frustration mounting.
"Why won't you stay down!"
My palms crashed into his ears, popping his eardrums and disorienting him.
"Because I'm having so much fun!"
I kicked off the air, squeezing every last ounce of strength from my still-developing Kryptonian physique, and punched.
Tommy Terror exploded into a slurry of half-evaporated blood and bone. The clouds around us parted. I hung there, naked. Not even the Kryptonite brass knuckles had survived the impact.
For a brief moment, I studied my hands.
It was surprising—and more than a little insulting—that I had lasted as long as I had.
Movement flickered at the edge of my vision.
I shifted just enough for Tammy's swing to miss, her strike cutting through empty space, and drove my elbow into her jaw with a sharp crack.
Before she could recover, I poured a concentrated beam of heat into her face.
Her scream was cut off as I folded her in half with a kick that hurled her into the remnants of Luthor's army.
The impact tore through their ranks, wiping out most of what remained. Only Parasyte and a handful of metas endured, and he was already moving, lunging for Tammy's broken form.
He was the first real threat in this entire fight.
Given enough time and energy, Parasyte could match Superman.
And I wasn't going to stand by and watch it happen.
My eyes burned bright as I readied my strongest ray yet. It would eat into my solar reserves, but I could afford it.
I was just about to fire when a snicker cut through the chaos.
Pivoting instantly, I fired.
The beam collided with a raised forearm.
It belonged to what I could only describe as a space cowboy.
He lounged atop some kind of space bike, nearly seven feet tall, his proportions exaggerated to the point of absurdity. Pale-skinned, his red eyes roamed over my naked body with an interest I had only seen in animals and the insane.
An open leather jacket hung loose over his frame, paired with worn pants and heavy boots. In one hand, he held the largest rifle I had ever seen.
Clenched between his yellowed teeth was a cigar, of all things.
"Not bad at all," he drawled. "I ain't got fancy laser eyes like you, but how about this."
He brought the rifle up and fired.
A crimson beam snapped toward me. I veered left, barely avoiding it. Even the proximity sent a sudden weakness creeping through my limbs.
He noticed.
"Red Sun Gun," he grinned, slapping the massive weapon into the palm of his already healed hand. "Cost a fortune on the galactic black market. Don't know what you did to piss him off, but Baldy is willing to risk it all to kill you."
"I'm flattered," I replied, feeling my strength returning quickly as my body adapted. Given time, I would become nearly immune. Hours, perhaps less.
But this fight would not last that long.
The weapon had to go.
"What's your name, mercenary?"
"It's bounty hunter to you, lady," he said, sucking on his cigar and exhaling. "Name's Lobo."
"Don't die too soon, Lobo. You're an interesting one."
He barked out a laugh. "Lady after my own heart."
The rifle came up again, and he opened fire.
This time, I moved with intent, letting instinct take over as I wove through the beams and answered with my own. I tagged his bike more than once, scorching metal and forcing adjustments, while he clipped me twice more, each hit draining but not stopping me.
Neither of us slowed.
Beyond our clash, the battlefield continued to shift. Black Adam remained locked in combat with my clone, their impacts echoing across the terrain. Parasyte had finished draining every available target and had turned his attention toward us.
"You know what to do, Sybil," I sent through my telepathic link to the commander of my meta-troops.
She had once been a low-level telepath and telekinetic, making a living as a seer in New Orleans.
She had leapt at the offer when I made it.
I had turned back the clock, bringing her from sixty to twenty-five, and made several genetic improvements and optimizations to ensure she remained in her prime.
Then I expanded her meta-gene, drawing on everything I had learned from Kyle, the other failed telepaths, and the successful emotion manipulator.
The result was something far greater.
A psychic with potential that matched Martian Manhunter.
She had performed beautifully in Appalachia.
I expected no less here.
A dozen meta-soldiers portaled in and converged on Parasyte. One slammed his palm into the sand, extending his shadow until it pooled around the monster's legs. Another floated into the air and unleashed a massive jet of compressed air into his head, knocking him off balance.
Sybil finished it with a precise pull.
Parasyte lost his footing and dropped straight into the shadow, vanishing completely.
Lobo paused mid-fire, glancing toward the disturbance.
I caught a flicker of excitement in his eyes. It should have worried me.
It had the opposite effect.
Read up to Chapter 154 on Patreon.com/artandcreativewriting