February 20th, 2016 — Global Guardians Headquarters — 5:56 PM
The main screen occupied almost the entire wall of the operations room.
Aerial camera footage showed a cluster of warehouses in the industrial district of South Deering, on the far south side of Chicago. Flames poured from the windows of one building while destroyed vehicles blocked the surrounding streets. Through the smoke, three figures moved too quickly to be ordinary people.
One of them lifted a truck and threw it into the front of another building.
The feed shook with the explosion.
Frost, Shrinking Rae, Monster Girl, Black Samson, Rex Splode, and Dupli-Kate watched the images in front of the screen. Robot's armor stood among them, as motionless as ever.
A GDA voice came through the speakers.
"The individuals responsible appear to belong to a criminal group attempting to seize distribution routes on the south side. We have confirmation of at least four people with superhuman abilities. Police have isolated the nearby streets, but civilians remain inside two of the warehouses."
Red markers appeared over the map of the area.
"The Guardians are to contain the targets, evacuate the civilians, and prevent the fire from reaching the fuel tanks in the neighboring complex."
The image disappeared.
The screen went black.
Black Samson turned toward Robot.
"What are the exact coordinates?"
The armor did not move.
Black Samson waited.
Nothing.
Rex looked at the robot and let out an irritated sigh.
"Look who went offline again."
He approached and tapped the top of the metal head twice.
"It'll be just our luck if this robot loses it one day and decides to kill us."
Another tap.
"Hello? Anyone home?"
Robot remained still.
Rex leaned in front of the visor.
"Robot? You alive?"
"I'm very much alive."
The voice came from the other side of the room.
Everyone turned.
A boy stood near the entrance.
After nearly two months of learning how to control the new body, he was finally ready to appear before the team.
He looked twelve or thirteen years old, with light-brown hair and a face that provoked an immediate reaction from almost everyone. His clothes were simple, still slightly loose on the young body, but they did nothing to hide the resemblance.
Rex looked at him.
Then at the armor.
Then back at the boy.
"What the fuck is this?"
Black Samson stepped forward.
"Who are you, kid?"
The boy walked toward the group without showing fear.
"You know me as Robot." He stopped beside the armor. "But my name is Rudolph Connors."
The armor finally moved.
It turned and walked until it stood behind him.
"Although I would prefer that you call me Rudy."
Rex continued staring at the younger face in front of him.
Rudy placed one hand against his chest.
"The Robot you knew was always merely a drone controlled by me."
Dupli-Kate narrowed her eyes.
"And how do we know that's true?"
"You may ask me anything only Robot would know."
Rex raised a hand before anyone else could begin.
"I have a better question."
He pointed at Rudy's face.
"Why do you look like me?"
Frost leaned to the side, examining them both.
"Holy shit. That's bizarre."
Rudy maintained his confident posture, although his fingers moved discreetly beside his pants.
"It is a long story. And it can wait until we resolve today's crisis."
Rex crossed the distance between them.
"No, no, no. We need to talk." He wagged a finger in front of the boy's face. "Forget the crisis. Start explaining. Now."
Samson merely crossed his arms.
Rudy exhaled.
"My original body suffered from severe deformities. I could not walk, breathe without assistance, or survive outside a life-support system."
The confidence remained in his voice, but it no longer sounded quite as natural.
"Because of that, I used cloning and neural-transfer technology to create a new body."
Shrinking Rae frowned.
"You cloned Rex?"
"Not exactly. The body was modified during the growth process."
Dupli-Kate pointed at him.
"Regardless, the time has come for you to meet who I truly am."
He opened his hands toward the group.
"Any other questions?"
Rex let out a short, humorless laugh.
"Several."
He raised one finger.
"First, why me? I understand why anyone would want to be me, but why me specifically?"
He raised another.
"And second, why a child version of me? This is weird as fuck."
Dupli-Kate looked at Frost.
"I agree with Frost. This is way too bizarre."
Frost pointed at herself.
"Finally, someone listens to me."
Black Samson uncrossed his arms.
"You did not ask permission."
Rex turned toward him.
"That's what you think is wrong? That he didn't ask permission?"
Shrinking Rae placed her hands on her hips.
"There are a lot of things wrong with this."
The criticism came one point over another.
The use of Rex's DNA.
The body created in secret.
The fact that Robot had hidden who he was throughout the entire time he had led the team.
Rudy tried to follow everyone at once, but the confidence on his face began to disappear. The armor behind him remained motionless, now looking less like an extension of him and more like somewhere he could have hidden.
Monster Girl stood slightly apart.
She had not said anything since he entered.
Her eyes moved over Rudy's face, his young body, and then the armor she knew.
"He did it for me."
The voices stopped.
Rex turned toward her.
"What are you talking about?"
Rudy looked at Monster Girl, and when he addressed the group again, his voice was lower.
"We were both prisoners of our own bodies."
His eyes remained on her.
"Monster Girl grows younger whenever she transforms. And I was trapped inside a mechanical tomb, unable to touch anything or live outside a machine."
Monster Girl did not look away.
"I found a way to escape my prison." Rudy opened one hand toward her. "Now I want to help you escape yours."
Rex looked from Rudy to Monster Girl.
Then pointed at his own face again.
"I don't know what's going on between you two, but that still doesn't explain why you're wearing my face."
Rudy hesitated.
"I adapted your DNA because..." Rudy looked away for an instant. "I noticed Monster Girl finds you attractive."
Rex froze.
"Wait. What?"
Rex looked at Kate, at Frost, and then at his younger clone.
Then he pointed at Monster Girl.
"I don't even know what to think about something like this." He ran a hand over his face. "Damn it, Robot. Stop making things complicated. And who built this shit?"
Rudy hesitated.
"The Mauler Twins assisted with the process."
Monster Girl showed no embarrassment. She only continued staring at Rudy until she finally walked toward him.
She stopped in front of him with her hands on her hips.
"So you lied about who you were."
Rudy opened his mouth, but she continued.
"You made a deal with the Mauler Twins, stole Rex's DNA, and conspired with criminals to get yourself a body."
His expression sank a little further with every point.
Monster Girl tilted her head.
"And you expected us to think that was normal?"
Rudy tried to hold her gaze.
"I... yes."
The answer escaped before he could organize anything better.
"I mean, I expected you to understand."
"What did you give the Maulers in exchange?"
Rudy hesitated.
"Information."
"What kind of information?"
"Something I intended to recover before they could use it."
Rudy gestured with one hand as he looked away.
Monster Girl looked at him for a moment longer than the silence required.
"I need some time to process this."
She looked at the others.
"And I think they do too."
Rex raised both hands.
"I'm going to need therapy."
Black Samson walked to the center of the group.
"If you want to process it, you can do that after today's mission."
His tone ended the discussion.
Samson looked at the armor, then at Rudy.
"We have work to do."
Rudy nodded and touched the side of his head.
The armor stepped forward to join the team.
The map of South Deering reappeared on the main screen.
This time, the coordinates were marked.
Elsewhere — Grayson House — 6:22 PM
Kai was sprawled across the couch, one arm resting over his eyes and the television playing a program he had stopped following several minutes earlier.
The communicator vibrated on the table.
He reached out without getting up and answered.
"What?"
Cecil's voice came from the other side, dry and direct.
"Why the hell aren't you answering your communicators?"
Kai moved the arm away from his face and looked toward the stairs.
"I answered. I have no idea where Mark is."
Mark's communicator remained on the kitchen counter. He had probably gone out with Amber without taking it.
Cecil wasted no time.
"We have an armed confrontation putting civilians at risk on the west side. There are powered individuals involved, and I just assigned the Guardians to another incident in the south of the city."
Kai exhaled and stood from the couch.
"So it falls to me."
"Basically."
"Great."
The boredom in his voice did not hide the fact that he was already heading upstairs to change.
Cecil sent the coordinates.
A few minutes later, a second-floor window opened.
Infinity shot into the sky.
Austin, West Side of Chicago — 6:38 PM
Kai reduced his speed as he reached the neighborhood.
The Six Eyes lit behind the mask, piercing through the streets, residential buildings, and vehicles scattered around a blocked intersection. The confrontation occupied nearly the entire block.
On one side, two men with tanned skin and similar builds fought as though they had trained together their whole lives. Black tattoos covered their arms and climbed both their necks.
Behind them, eighteen armed men, most of them with Asian features, occupied cars, sidewalks, and building entrances.
On the other side stood only ten gunmen.
In front of them, two men kept the twins occupied.
One wore black clothing, a hood, and a mask covering the lower half of his face. He was smaller than his companion but moved with much greater speed. The other was nearly twice as broad as an ordinary man and wore a rigid gray mask over his face.
The real problem was everything around them.
Nine residents had become trapped between the two groups.
A woman protected two children behind a car. An elderly couple tried to reach the entrance of a building. Four people remained on the ground beside the sidewalk, with no room to run without crossing the line of fire.
The first shots cut through the street.
Kai dove.
His body moved in front of the burst that would have struck the car. The bullets hit his suit and fell deformed onto the asphalt.
The woman lifted her head in time to see Infinity standing in front of her.
"Don't move."
Kai grabbed her and the children.
In an instant, all three were on the rooftop of a building beyond the range of the gunfire.
He returned before the shooters noticed he had left.
The couple was removed next.
Then the four people trapped near the sidewalk.
Kai moved between the bullets, crossing their trajectories before they could reach the civilians. Some rounds struck him. Others were deflected by the displacement of air as he passed. Within seconds, all nine people were safe three blocks away on the same rooftop.
Below, the two gangs continued shooting.
Kai looked down at them from the edge.
He dropped into the center of the street.
The impact opened a small crater in the asphalt and made the nearby cars rock. Dust and small pieces of concrete scattered around his boots.
Kai stood in the middle of the smoke.
"I hate taking out the trash."
The gunfire slowed.
Nearly everyone turned toward him.
One of the tattooed men was trading blows with the giant masked man. Both stopped fighting at the same time.
The other twin continued facing the hooded man, though he struggled to follow his movements.
The first tattooed man answered in English, his Spanish accent thick.
"There's only one thing I hate more than Americans." He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. "Superheroes."
The large man turned toward Kai.
"I'm Jugger—"
CRACK!
Kai crossed the distance and drove a flying kick into his jaw.
The masked man was ripped from the ground, crossed the street, and struck the brick wall of a building. The structure gave way under the impact, swallowing his body beneath debris and a cloud of dust.
Kai landed where he had been standing.
"I don't give a fuck who any of you are."
Both gangs opened fire.
This time, every weapon was aimed at him.
Kai advanced through the volleys.
The Six Eyes tracked every barrel, finger, and trajectory before the shots were fired. He dodged the first round, ripped the weapon from the shooter's hands, and knocked him unconscious with the stock.
The second took a blow to the stomach.
The third was thrown onto the hood of a car.
Kai tore through the line of ten men first, breaking weapons, dislocating hands, and dropping each one with controlled blows. Before the last hit the ground, he was already among the eighteen on the opposite side.
The bullets crossed paths.
Not one reached him.
One rifle was broken in half. Another man lost his balance when Kai pulled his leg. Two were knocked together against the side of a van. The rest tried to retreat, but they did not find enough space before he reached them.
Twenty-eight armed men.
Less than two minutes.
The last one collapsed unconscious on the sidewalk.
Kai removed the magazine from the weapon he was still holding and let both pieces fall to the ground.
The Hermano Sangre who had been fighting the giant came from behind.
Kai dodged the first punch and landed three consecutive blows to his abdomen. The fourth struck his face.
The man still tried to retaliate.
Kai caught his arm, turned his body, and threw him across the street.
The Hermano tore through a wall and disappeared among the debris.
Kai ran a hand through his white hair, pushing the strands back as he turned around.
The second twin had just fallen.
The man in black stood over him, breathing heavily. During the fight, the hood had slipped backward, leaving only the mask covering his mouth and nose.
Kai tilted his head, making no attempt to hide the mockery.
"Well, look at that. You already helped me with part of the job."
The masked man finally paid attention to him.
"Want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Kai continued.
The man's body froze.
The voice.
The white hair.
The careless posture of someone who did not give a damn about anything.
Even from that distance, there was no mistaking him.
Not when it came to who he was.
His trauma stood before him in person.
His legs lost their strength.
His hands began to tremble.
He took one step back.
Then another.
Every trace of the posture he had maintained during the fight disappeared as Kai approached.
"I..." His voice failed. "I know who you are."
Kai narrowed his eyes, still blue behind the mask.
He studied the exposed face above the mask, the posture, and the fear he recognized without immediately remembering where from.
The name came a second later.
"Brandon?"
The surprise lasted only a moment.
"Fuck. Didn't you learn that day to stay away from trouble?"
Shame struck before anger.
Brandon's jaw locked.
Fear still held his legs in place, but a surge of adrenaline tore through his body and forced his hands to close.
Kai advanced.
Brandon pushed his power to its limit.
The change produced no light, sound, or visible explosion.
Even so, Kai felt it instantly.
Strength vanished from his body as if someone had ripped the muscles out from within. The force keeping him a few inches above the ground failed, his boots touched the asphalt, and his knees bent beneath a weight that had not existed a second earlier.
Nine-tenths of his strength. Gone.
Kai recognized the sensation too late.
Another pressure followed immediately, more precise and concentrated. Brandon pulled half of the little strength that remained into himself.
The field weakened everyone around him. The second part of the ability, however, was focused solely on Kai.
Brandon had chosen him as the source.
Kai planted his feet on the ground.
"Damn it." He rolled one shoulder, testing the new limitation. "I forgot about this inconvenient crap you do."
Brandon took two steps back.
Even weakened, Kai continued advancing.
Hesitation returned to Brandon's eyes.
Then Kai entered his range.
The first punch went straight for his face.
Brandon managed to block.
The impact still drove his arm against his own mask, but it was not enough to move him. For the first time since Kai had arrived, Brandon possessed more physical strength than him.
The surprise vanished almost immediately.
Kai changed the angle of his fist, trapped the arm that had blocked, and drove an elbow into Brandon's ribs. Brandon lost his breath. Kai pulled his wrist downward and struck his face with the back of his hand.
Brandon staggered.
He tried to answer with a hook.
Kai had already seen the attack before the shoulder began to turn.
He moved his head a few inches, let the fist pass beside his mask, and buried two short punches in Brandon's abdomen. The third struck his chin.
Brandon retreated once again.
The stolen strength made every blow he landed capable of causing far more damage.
The problem was landing one.
The blue eyes followed everything.
The field had drained Kai's strength, flight, and nearly all the energy from his body.
It had not reached the perception behind those eyes.
The tension in the muscles.
The shifting of weight between the feet.
The exact instant the fingers closed.
To Kai, Brandon announced every movement before executing it.
"You stole almost everything and still can't touch me. You're still pathetic."
Brandon charged in anger.
Kai parried the first blow with his forearm, rotated outside the guard, and struck the kidney. Brandon tried to grab him, but Kai lowered his body, slipped beneath the arm, and struck the back of his knee with his heel.
Brandon dropped onto one leg.
Kai grabbed the back of his neck.
Before his knee could strike Brandon's face, the Six Eyes caught movement to the left.
One of the Hermanos Sangre was emerging from the wreckage.
The man Kai had thrown through the wall no longer moved the way he had before.
Blood ran from the face of the brother lying on the other side of the street.
And with every new drop, the approaching man's muscles seemed denser. His steps broke the asphalt. His speed increased with every yard.
Kai released Brandon and turned.
The Hermano entered the suppression field.
His body lost most of its strength instantly. His charge slowed, and the fist that had been moving fast enough to tear through concrete became slower.
Even so, it struck heavily.
Kai crossed his arms in front of his face.
The blow hit his guard and pushed him several yards across the asphalt.
His boots carved two lines into the street before he managed to stop.
The Hermano looked at his own hands, irritated by the sudden weakness.
Kai lowered his arms.
"That wasn't so bad."
The man charged again.
Kai stepped in with him.
Their fists met halfway.
The impact opened a crack between them.
The Hermano possessed more raw strength at that moment, even inside the field.
Kai had timing, angles, and the eyes.
He deflected the second blow with his palm, struck the elbow, and turned his body. A short punch hit the liver. Another pierced the guard and found the nose.
Blood sprayed.
Across the street, the fallen brother moved one hand among the rubble.
And Brandon found his courage again.
He attacked from behind.
Kai noticed.
Nothing escaped his attention now.
The Six Eyes burned inside him, and excitement began to rise with them.
He leaned aside before the fist reached his head, spun on his heel, and struck Brandon across the face.
The mask shifted.
His lip split beneath the fabric.
Brandon brought a hand to his mouth and saw blood on his fingers.
Kai smiled.
The blue in his eyes burned brighter.
This was finally getting interesting.
Brandon attacked with greater fury.
Kai avoided the first punch, blocked the second, and used Brandon's own momentum to throw him into the Hermano. The two collided. Before they could separate, Kai stepped between them.
A blow to Brandon's chest.
An elbow to the twin's face.
A low kick to the knee.
Brandon tried to grab his leg, but Kai rotated in the air despite being unable to fly and struck the side of his head with the other foot.
The Hermano answered with a punch to the chest.
Kai retreated two steps.
Another came toward his face.
Kai slipped beneath it and landed four strikes in sequence.
Rib.
Stomach.
Throat.
Chin.
The last one widened the cut across the man's nose.
Blood ran over his mouth.
Among the wreckage, the second Hermano stood.
First on one knee.
Then completely.
The strength of his injured brother was already flowing through him.
Fragments of brick fell from his shoulders as he crossed the hole in the wall. His eyes found Kai, and he began to run.
The Six Eyes tracked his approach.
Kai struck Brandon in the chest and launched him backward.
The second Hermano entered the field.
His speed dropped.
Not enough.
His shoulder struck Kai before he could complete the dodge, carrying both of them into the side of a parked car. The door caved in under the impact.
Kai blocked the following punch with both hands.
The metal behind his back gave another few inches.
The first brother came from the side.
Kai raised a leg and struck him in the stomach, driving him away. Then he slipped beneath the other's arm, grabbed his waist, and used the man's own weight to throw him over the hood.
Brandon appeared in front of him.
His fist missed by only a few inches.
Kai answered with two blows to the face and a headbutt that sent him stumbling.
Three against one, inside a field stripping away nine-tenths of his power, and Kai still controlled the rhythm.
The Six Eyes revealed every shift of weight and every attack before it began. Brandon moved whenever Kai turned toward the twins. The Hermanos attacked from opposite sides, trying to force him into angles where seeing the blow would no longer be enough.
But every hit Kai landed on one brother fed strength into the other.
They began alternating.
One absorbed the damage.
The other returned harder and faster.
Little by little, the three forced Kai to give ground.
His breathing grew heavier, but the smile remained.
So did the blue.
Almost as if the Void were asking for more.
Then one of the Hermanos changed tactics.
Instead of striking, he deliberately took Kai's blow.
The fist hit his face and opened a cut across his cheek.
The other brother grew stronger instantly.
Kai noticed too late as an arm passed behind him.
The stronger Hermano wrapped both arms around his chest and pinned his elbows against his body.
Kai tried to break the hold.
His reduced strength was not enough.
Brandon saw it.
Satisfaction appeared on his face before he even approached.
Kai still tried to strike the man behind him with his head, but the second Hermano grabbed his neck and helped keep him still.
Brandon stopped in front of him.
The first punch struck his stomach.
Then again.
And again.
Until he finally saw Kai feel it.
The air left Kai's lungs.
The next blow struck his ribs.
Another found his face.
The mask pulled sideways.
Brandon laughed.
There was no longer any trembling in his hands.
He struck Kai again.
And again.
Every blow carried Kai's stolen strength.
The Hermanos held his arms trapped while Brandon kept punching with growing relish, becoming more satisfied with every impact.
Kai tried to break free.
The hold tightened.
Another fist struck his mouth.
Blood appeared at the corner of his lips.
Brandon saw it.
And began laughing even harder.
"You didn't even remember me."
Another punch hit his stomach.
"Now you will."
Kai pulled against their arms.
The Hermanos tightened their grips further. One repositioned his hands over Kai's elbows while the other locked a forearm around his neck.
Brandon drew his fist back.
The Six Eyes tracked the entire movement.
The contraction of his shoulder.
The rotation of his hip.
The transfer of weight onto his front leg.
The exact trajectory his knuckles would follow toward Kai's face.
Kai tried to move his head.
He couldn't.
The blow struck the mask.
Brandon prepared another. Kai saw that one too — the exact point, the force, the fraction of a second to dodge.
His body did not respond.
The fist found his ribs.
The eyes had not failed.
That was the problem.
They continued showing him every attack before it happened, stretching the instants enough for Kai to know exactly what he was about to feel without giving him the strength to prevent any of it.
Brandon grabbed the front of his uniform.
"Call me pathetic again."
The boy who had barely been able to stand after recognizing him was no longer trembling.
Now he was smiling.
Another blow struck Kai's face.
Then another hit his stomach.
The Hermanos adjusted their positions before every escape attempt. Kai saw the openings appear and disappear, all of them too small for a body reduced to that level of strength.
Brandon ran his thumb over the blood caught on his knuckles.
"Who's pathetic now?"
Kai's jaw tightened.
Kai knew there was one more thing he could do to escape that situation.
The Void was almost screaming to be used.
But Cosmic's voice passed through his mind.
You must not use that energy again.
Then he thought of Mark.
He could arrive to help at any second.
Immediately afterward, he remembered the communicator abandoned on the kitchen counter.
And the previous idea returned with the impact of Brandon's next blow.
He knew Elise had found a scar torn open again.
He knew what that technique would do.
Brandon raised his fist once more.
Kai saw the strike before it began.
There was no way out.
His strength had been stolen.
His access to the Void had not.
Brandon advanced.
Kai raised his face.
"I'm going to end all of you."
Brandon froze. The smile vanished from his face.
He couldn't see Kai's eyes through the mask, but he felt something change.
Beneath it, the blue in Kai's eyes deepened into impossible layers, each iris seeming to hold more depth than any human eye should have been able to contain.
"Muryo Kusho."
The invisible field opened around Kai.
There was no explosion.
Space simply changed.
Brandon's influence, which until then had pressed down on everything within the block, was swallowed in the same instant. The field reducing strength, speed, and energy continued to exist for a fraction of time impossible to measure.
Then it vanished beneath something greater.
Strength returned to Kai's body all at once.
His muscles responded.
Flight returned.
The world stopped.
Brandon remained in front of him with his fist extended, frozen inches from the mask. The smile had vanished from his face, replaced by an expression that had not yet had time to finish forming.
The Hermanos Sangre remained locked around Kai.
Motionless.
Kai pulled his arms free.
The grip that had seemed impossible to break seconds earlier gave way without resistance.
He tilted his head back and drove it into the mouth of the twin holding his neck.
The man's face caved beneath the impact.
Blood left his lips but never fell.
The droplets remained suspended in the air, motionless, shining beneath the streetlights like tiny shards of red glass.
Kai turned.
Two punches struck the first Hermano.
The first sank into his stomach.
The second found his face and deformed the skin around the fist before his body had time to react.
Kai turned toward the other.
One blow struck his ribs.
Then a kick drove through his chest and began launching him backward, although he remained suspended in the same place while time stayed frozen.
Kai left them behind.
He walked toward Brandon.
Without hurry.
The boy remained still with his fist extended, unable to realize that his field had already been destroyed, that the allies behind Kai had already been struck, and that the fight had returned to the wrong person's hands.
Kai stopped in front of him.
Only inches away.
His eyes held a blue so deep it seemed infinite.
Then he deactivated Muryo Kusho.
Time returned.
Both Hermanos were struck by every blow at once.
One folded over his own stomach before being launched into the asphalt. The other went flying, tore through the side of a car, and rolled across the street among fragments of metal.
Brandon could not even follow what happened.
Kai simply appeared in front of him.
The advancing fist found nothing.
A hand closed around his throat.
The pressure inside Kai's head came in the same instant.
Brutal.
His vision lost focus at the edges, and the inside of his skull seemed to compress. The exhaustion Muryo Kusho had held at bay tore through his body all at once, weighing down his arms, legs, and breathing.
Kai did not give in.
It was only a warning.
He needed to finish quickly.
Put all three down.
Leave before the reopened scar demanded more than a headache.
But he still was not satisfied.
His fingers tightened around Brandon's throat.
Kai took flight.
The boy's feet left the ground before he understood what had happened. The street shrank beneath them, the destroyed cars and unconscious bodies becoming smaller as Kai continued rising.
Brandon grabbed his wrist.
The field was gone.
So was the stolen strength.
Now his hands could not move even one of the fingers closed around his throat.
Kai stopped level with the nearest building.
The first punch struck Brandon's stomach.
His body folded around the fist, but the hand on his throat prevented him from being launched away.
Kai pulled him back.
The second blow struck the same place.
Air escaped through the mask in a strangled sound.
"This is how you wanted to play, wasn't it?"
Kai struck him again.
Stomach.
Ribs.
Face.
Brandon tried to protect his head, but Kai pushed his arms aside with ease and continued. Every blow pierced his defense before he could rebuild it.
The fear returned.
Not like before.
Worse.
Brandon had felt his arms break in Kai's hands. He had carried that memory for months, turning shame into anger and anger into enough courage to face him again.
Now he understood that nothing had changed.
He had only been winning because Kai had refused to use everything.
Another punch struck his ribs.
Brandon released a weak groan.
His body lost its tension. A sharp, acrid smell rose from Brandon's clothes.
He had pissed himself.
Kai exhaled in contempt. He kept staring at him, his own breathing growing more labored by the second.
The pain in his head intensified.
His vision failed again for an instant.
On the ground, the Hermanos Sangre were already rising.
Both were injured.
Both were bleeding.
And every injury suffered by one made the other stronger.
Kai looked down.
"What the fuck is wrong with these guys? Don't they ever get tired of being beaten?"
Then he opened his hand.
Brandon fell.
His body plunged several stories, spinning without control before striking the asphalt with enough force to open cracks around him.
Kai remained in the air for another instant, panting.
Below, both Hermanos were already moving again.
He dropped onto the first like a projectile.
Both feet struck the man's chest and buried him in the asphalt. The street collapsed beneath them, opening a crater among the destroyed cars.
The second brother attacked before the dust settled.
Kai caught the punch, twisted the arm aside, and drove an elbow into his face.
Then another.
Blood scattered across the street.
The crater moved.
The brother beneath Kai rose larger than before.
Across the street, the bloodied twin straightened as well, his injuries feeding strength into the other.
Kai looked from one to the other.
Every time one bled, the other became harder to put down.
They charged together.
The first came faster. Kai slipped past his fist and struck his throat, but the impact only made the second brother swell. A shoulder struck Kai from the side and carried both of them through the front of an empty store.
Concrete and glass fell around them.
Kai rolled through the wreckage and stood before the Hermano could complete his next step.
The Void burned behind his eyes.
His head throbbed.
I'm trying not to kill anyone. But these guys just won't stop.
I need to end this quickly.
The Hermano charged again.
Kai opened one hand in front of his chest.
A red sphere formed in the center of his palm.
The surrounding air distorted.
"Red."
The repulsion tore the man through the rear wall, sent him across the alley, and drove him into the next building.
Kai's vision blurred.
He blinked until the shapes returned to their places.
Behind him, the remaining brother grew larger.
He attacked before Kai's sight fully cleared.
Kai blocked, but the blow drove him backward across the ruined floor.
"Enough."
He caught the Hermano by the throat and took off.
They tore up the side of the building, scattering brick and glass while the man tried to strike his face. The Six Eyes guided Kai around every blow.
They stopped near the roof.
Kai slammed him against the concrete ledge.
"Why won't you go down?"
He struck him.
Once.
Twice.
Blood spread across the edge.
Far below, the brother hit by Red began to rise.
Kai did not look down.
A security camera mounted above an emergency exit rotated several degrees and found them.
The footage did not show the street.
It did not show Brandon.
It did not show the civilians, the weapons, or the twenty-eight men who had opened fire.
It showed only Infinity holding a bloodied man by the throat.
Kai pulled the Hermano back and slammed his face into the concrete edge.
CRACK!
Pulled him back.
Slammed him again.
CRACK!
Blood stained the ledge.
The Hermano still tried to raise an arm.
Kai struck the ribs, then the stomach, and returned to crushing his face against the edge.
The camera continued recording.
Infinity.
The man incapable of fighting back.
The uninterrupted blows.
The entire context remained several stories below.
Kai pulled the Hermano by the shirt and landed another punch to the face.
The body lost its tension.
The head fell to the side.
Unconscious.
Kai continued holding him for several seconds, panting, waiting for another attempt to stand.
None came.
"Finally."
Below, the brother who had received all the strength from that beating raised his face.
He looked like someone else.
His body was larger than when the fight began. His arms were too thick for the torn clothing, his chest expanded, every muscle loaded with the blood and injuries of his twin.
He closed his fists.
The asphalt broke beneath his feet.
Across the block, the wreckage of the wall moved.
The man in the gray mask crawled out from beneath the bricks, dragging one leg through his first few steps. Part of the mask had cracked, and blood ran from his forehead to his neck.
He looked toward the street.
Titan's men were scattered near the cars.
None of them stood.
Some were breathing.
Others remained motionless, eyes open and empty, unresponsive to the noise, the dust, or the giant approaching them. There were not enough injuries to explain their condition.
They looked as though something had switched them off from within.
The masked man knelt beside one and slapped his face twice.
"Hey."
Nothing.
He moved a hand in front of the man's eyes.
No reaction.
In the distance, another impact echoed from the top of the building.
The man raised his head and saw Infinity against the sky, striking someone near the edge.
He did not stay to watch.
He found Brandon inside the crack opened in the asphalt. The boy was still breathing but remained unconscious, his clothing wet and his face swollen from the blows.
Two of Titan's men could still move.
Barely.
The masked man placed one over each shoulder and trapped Brandon beneath one arm.
He looked back at the others one final time.
Their eyes remained empty.
"Shit."
Then he left the street, disappearing between the buildings before Kai returned to the ground.
High above, Kai released the unconscious Hermano.
The body fell.
Only then did Kai notice the other brother waiting below.
The man had absorbed everything.
His frame had swollen beyond its earlier proportions, his arms too large for what remained of his clothes. The asphalt fractured beneath his feet when he bent his knees.
He leapt.
Kai dove.
They collided between the buildings.
The impact shattered the nearest windows and sent a wave of dust across the street. For an instant, the Hermano's fist remained pressed against Kai's palm.
He was stronger now.
Strong enough to force Kai's arm back.
The man opened a bloodied smile.
Kai saw the weakness in his stance.
He twisted the wrist aside and drove an elbow into his temple.
Both fell.
The Hermano struck the street first and tried to rise before the dust had settled.
Kai landed on him.
A fist struck his face.
Another found his ribs.
The man caught Kai's wrist and squeezed until the bones in his forearm creaked.
Kai looked at the hand holding him.
Then at the Hermano.
"Whatever keeps making you stronger..."
He broke the grip.
"...it's still not enough."
The Hermano charged one final time.
Kai stepped inside the punch and pressed an open palm against the center of his chest.
"Let's see how much more you can take."
Blue concentrated between them.
The attraction dragged the man into the strike before he could retreat.
The impact folded him in half.
Kai followed with a punch to the jaw that drove him into the asphalt.
The Hermano tried to lift one hand.
Kai struck once more.
The hand fell.
Kai remained over him, waiting for another movement.
Nothing came.
"Finally."
The pressure inside his head increased.
Not like pain gradually worsening.
Like something breaking.
Kai's vision split.
The street appeared twice, overlapping from different angles. The fallen Hermano disappeared for an instant and then returned. A high-pitched sound filled his ears.
Kai brought a hand to his temple.
Fuck! Not now.
He tried to take a step.
His leg did not respond.
The blue in his eyes flickered.
Then everything went dark.
Kai fell to his knees.
Then face-first onto the asphalt.
For several seconds, there was no reaction.
The Hermano Sangre opened his eyes.
His breathing returned in a violent gasp.
He turned his head and found Infinity lying only a few yards away.
The strength of his injured brother still flowed through his body.
The man staggered to his feet.
He looked at Kai.
And raised his fist.
The first blow struck his back.
The asphalt sank beneath Kai's body.
The second hit the same place.
The crater deepened.
The Hermano roared and began punching without pause, each blow driving Kai deeper into the street.
Pieces of concrete flew around them, and cracks crossed the road all the way to the sidewalks.
Kai did not move.
The Hermano raised both hands together, ready to deliver another blow.
A red blast struck his shoulder.
The explosion spun him sideways.
"Man..."
Rex Splode landed on the roof of a destroyed car, looking at Infinity buried in the asphalt.
"What a beautiful sight!"
As soon as the incident in South Deering had been contained, Cecil had given the Guardians a new priority.
Robot's armor descended beside Rex.
"That's Infinity! Help him!"
The Hermano charged.
Three Dupli-Kates appeared from the left.
The first threw herself at the man's legs. He kicked her away, but the other two trapped his arms before he recovered his balance.
A fourth Kate jumped onto his back.
The Hermano roared and began spinning, tearing them away one by one.
Shrinking Rae passed between his feet, too small to be noticed.
She climbed his torn clothes and entered through an opening near his waist. An instant later, she struck a nerve behind his knee, returning to normal size just enough to make the leg give way.
His knee buckled.
Frost extended both hands.
Ice raced across the ground, covered the Hermano's foot, and climbed his shin before he could stand.
The man broke through the first layer.
Another was already forming over it.
Black Samson attacked from the front.
His energy-charged fist struck the Hermano's chest and pushed him back toward the center of the street.
"Monster Girl!"
She was already transforming.
Her body grew, her arms expanded, and the green creature struck the Hermano from the side. The two tore through a car and rolled across the street.
The man managed to end up on top.
He raised his arm.
Monster Girl caught his wrist with both hands.
The impact still sank her several inches into the asphalt.
Two Kates grabbed his other arm.
Frost froze his legs again.
Black Samson struck his ribs.
Rex threw three charged discs.
They attached themselves to the Hermano's chest and shoulders.
"Everybody get back!"
The charges exploded together.
The man lost his footing for a fraction of a second.
It was enough.
Monster Girl twisted her hips and threw him against the ground.
Black Samson landed on his chest with both knees, releasing energy through the impact. The Kates restrained his arms again, each pulling in a different direction.
Robot's armor opened the compartments in its forearms.
Reinforced cables fired out and wrapped around the Hermano's neck, wrists, and legs.
"Rae, move away."
Shrinking Rae leapt from the man's clothing and returned to full size beside Frost.
The armor's thrusters ignited.
The cables tightened.
The Hermano tried to rise.
Monster Girl forced his chest down.
Black Samson held one of his shoulders.
Frost thickened the ice around his legs until they were fused to the ground.
Rex held another disc near the man's face.
"Keep moving. I'd love to find out what this one does from this close."
The Hermano bared his teeth.
But stopped fighting.
Robot locked the cables.
"Target restrained."
Inside the crater, Kai opened his eyes.
His vision remained blurred.
He managed to distinguish figures surrounding the Hermano.
Robot's red armor.
Monster Girl's transformed body.
Kate's duplicates.
Rex gesturing while probably saying something irritating.
The Guardians.
Kai tried to lift his head.
He couldn't.
For an instant, he was certain he saw Viktor standing behind them, silently watching.
Then his eyes closed again.
And everything went dark.
He would not regain consciousness until more than a day later.
A Few Minutes Earlier, While the Guardians and Kai Were Fighting — GDA Underground Base — 6:38 PM
The alarms were not sounding.
That was the problem.
Under normal circumstances, two blue men over seven feet tall walking through a restricted corridor would have mobilized half the base. That night, the monitors were occupied with two simultaneous incidents in Chicago, agents were running between command rooms, and most of the field teams had already been deployed.
A GDA employee walked between the Mauler Twins.
One of them covered almost the man's entire shoulder with his hand. The other kept a small device pressed against his back.
"Keep walking."
"I already told you this section requires special authorization."
The other Mauler raised the ID badge he had removed from the man's neck.
"That's why we brought someone special."
"My badge doesn't open the medical containment sector."
"Then hope your face does."
They reached the end of the corridor.
A steel door blocked the way. Beside it, a reader required a card, a code, and biometric confirmation.
The first Mauler pushed the employee forward.
He scanned his badge.
Entered the code.
A red light appeared.
ACCESS DENIED.
The second Mauler looked at his brother.
"Maybe we should've kidnapped someone more important."
"I work in logistics!"
"Exactly what someone unimportant would say."
The employee raised his hands.
"It requires a supervisor's fingerprint."
The first Mauler grabbed his hand and pressed his thumb against the reader.
Another red light.
BIOMETRICS UNAUTHORIZED.
The Mauler sighed.
Then tore the entire panel from the wall.
Cables and circuitry were exposed.
"Or we do it the fast way."
He pulled two wires, tore through a third, and connected the device stolen from Robot to the system. Lines of code raced across the small screen.
His brother watched the empty corridor.
"I told you that if we monitored the city's movements, we'd find the perfect opportunity."
"You also said breaking into a GDA base would be easy."
"And so far, it has been."
The door opened a few inches before locking in place.
Both twins pushed their hands into the gap and forced the steel sections in opposite directions.
The metal groaned.
The opening became wide enough for them to pass.
The employee stared at the destroyed door.
"They'll know you were here."
One of the Maulers pushed him inside.
"Did you think we expected them to blame the rats?"
The next corridor was colder.
The walls changed from concrete to white metal, and the doors carried no identification besides numbers. Low lights followed the floor toward a larger room at the end of the wing.
The employee stopped.
"I can't take you beyond this point."
"You can."
"No, I really can't."
The Mauler pressed the device harder against his back.
"Would you look at that? You managed."
The man entered another code.
The door slid apart.
Cold air escaped from the room.
The Maulers entered and stopped.
At the center stood a metal table surrounded by advanced equipment.
The Immortal's body lay upon it.
His skin remained pale. Scars surrounded the neck where his head had been reattached, and dozens of sensors monitored brain activity that did not exist.
One twin approached.
"Well, he looks less immortal like this."
The other touched the corpse's shoulder.
"These idiots don't know what to do with him."
Behind the main table, glass panels separated several other medical capsules.
The Maulers looked beyond the reflection.
War Woman remained suspended inside one, surrounded by tubes and internal supports. Red Rush occupied another, his motionless body beneath equipment that kept his blood circulating. Green Ghost, Darkwing, and Aquarius were distributed among the remaining capsules.
Machines breathed for them.
Pumps moved their blood.
Electrical impulses preserved tissues and organs despite injuries that should have ended any possibility of life.
The employee lowered his eyes.
The Maulers' amused expressions faded for several seconds.
One of them walked among the capsules.
"The GDA keeps a breathing morgue."
"That must be expensive."
"Maybe that's why taxes are so high."
The employee looked at him.
"They're being preserved for research and potential recovery procedures."
The Mauler examined War Woman's body through the glass.
"So they aren't dead."
"Clinically, they are."
"But the machines are still running."
"Yes."
The twin turned toward his brother, then examined the capsules, evaluating each body and the condition of its tissues.
"We could take all of them."
"And carry an entire collection of corpses through the corridors?"
"We have arms."
"We also have a short window before someone notices the medical sector has stopped responding."
The first Mauler returned to the Immortal.
"Besides, he's enough."
The employee swallowed.
"What are you planning to do?"
Both looked at him.
"Research."
"Potential recovery procedures," the other added, repeating his words.
A short alarm sounded from the wall panel.
It was not the base's general alert.
A message appeared on the monitor.
COMMUNICATION FAILURE — MEDICAL SECTOR C-7.
SECURITY TEAM EN ROUTE.
The second Mauler tore the sensors from the Immortal's chest.
"Visiting hours are over."
The first picked up the body and placed it over his shoulder as if carrying a heavy coat.
The employee retreated toward the wall.
They returned to the corridor.
Behind them, the former Guardians remained inside their capsules, held between death and some possibility the GDA was not yet prepared to abandon.
The containment door tried to close.
One Mauler placed his foot in its path and tore it from the tracks.
In the distance, footsteps began echoing through the corridors.
The twin carrying the Immortal adjusted the body over his shoulder.
"I told you it was the perfect opportunity."
His brother looked at the emergency lights beginning to activate.
"You always say that before the part where we have to run."
They advanced.
The employee was dragged along with them.
When security finally reached the medical sector, they found destroyed doors, burned circuitry, and an empty table.
The other capsules continued operating.
The Immortal was gone.