Wald was slightly surprised to see Jessica suddenly transform into a Dopant. However, his movements didn't falter; instead, he channeled more energy into his magma fireballs and hurled them toward Jessica and Luke.
Watching the magma fireballs approach with rolling heatwaves, Jessica calmly raised her hand and fired an energy sphere, shooting the magma out of the sky.
"It seems Ms. Kate O'Hara's intuition was correct. The collapse of that Stark Industries subsidiary building was likely caused by you using the power of a Gaia Memory," Jessica said, looking at the defeated magma splattered across the ground, burning fiery pits into the pavement.
Wald gave a triumphant smile and confessed directly: "It was me. And I just came from the Stark Industries headquarters building."
Jessica's expression shifted, her voice filled with shock: "You actually attacked the Stark Industries headquarters!?"
Wald snorted coldly. "If it weren't for some guy in red armor using an unknown Gaia Memory showing up to stop me, the Stark Industries headquarters and Iron Man Tony Stark would already be history."
He sized Jessica up and continued, "Since you also possess a Gaia Memory, there's no need for us to keep fighting. How about we each go our own way? You're just detectives on a job, and there's no personal grudge between us. Let's just mind our own business."
From their brief exchange, Wald knew he couldn't take Jessica down quickly. Considering his identity was now exposed and he was likely being hunted, he planned to settle the matter peacefully.
Wald didn't care much about the New York police, and he wasn't afraid even if Tony Stark came looking for trouble in his Iron Man suit. His only real concern was Frank finding him.
However, Jessica shook her head. "We promised Ms. Kate O'Hara that if you truly carried out a terrorist attack, we would find a way to stop you. Furthermore, leaving a dangerous person like you unchecked would undoubtedly cause massive harm and threaten the lives of many."
Wald was clearly an extremely dangerous individual now. Just moments ago, after only a few words, he had attacked without hesitation and used a Gaia Memory to transform.
Because his opponents were Luke and Jessica, they survived; had it been an ordinary person, that punch from the Magma Dopant would have burned right through them. If left alone, any minor conflict in the future would likely result in Wald using his Gaia Memory powers, inevitably leading to casualties.
"What right do you have to judge me?!" Wald shouted, his emotions turning frantic as flames erupted from his body. "Since you want to do this the hard way and insist on meddling, I'll finish you both off first."
Wald stopped throwing fireballs. His entire body glowed with an intense light, the temperature of his molten outer layer rising to its limit. He charged directly at Jessica, intending to end the fight quickly.
Jessica only had time to fire a single energy bolt at the charging Wald before he was upon her. Since the injured Luke was right behind her, Jessica had to grit her teeth and tank Wald's attack head-on.
In fact, Wald had deliberately charged toward Luke to force Jessica into a direct confrontation.
Wald succeeded. Although he took an energy bolt from Jessica, he managed to slam into her with the terrifying heat of the Magma Memory. Jessica's Clay Doll Dopant form shattered into a pile of fragments under the high-heat impact.
"This is the fate of those who oppose me—smashed to pieces," Wald laughed triumphantly, stroking the spot where Jessica's energy bolt had hit him.
"Now, it's your turn." Wald walked toward the injured Luke, but he didn't see the panic or fear he expected on Luke's face.
In fact, Luke didn't even react to Jessica being shattered like porcelain; he simply stared behind Wald with utter calm.
Wald felt a pang of unease. Sensing something was wrong, he spun around only to see the shattered Jessica reconstructed in her original form, firing an energy bolt directly at him.
Unable to dodge in time, Wald was sent flying.
Jessica gave him no room to breathe. Taking advantage of the fact that Wald was reeling from the hit, she unleashed a continuous barrage of energy bolts, hammering Wald deep into the ground until he couldn't even stand.
While the Clay Doll Memory allowed Jessica to recover instantly even if she was broken into pieces, the sensation of being shattered was far from pleasant. Naturally, Jessica was harboring a great deal of resentment.
As the saying goes, every debt has a debtor. Her anger was naturally vented on Wald, the perpetrator.
"That's enough. Don't actually blast him to death," Luke said softly, reminding Jessica as he looked at Wald, who was barely moving in the large crater nearby.
Jessica huffed but stopped her bombardment.
Wald stood up shakily, looking at Jessica with a hint of terror before turning to flee. After seeing her terrifying regenerative abilities, he realized he couldn't win. Taking flight was the best option.
However, before he could take more than a few steps, Jessica flew into the air and knocked him down again with another energy bolt. Wald was forced to temporarily abandon his plan to escape.
"What exactly do you want?" Wald asked, feeling stifled and humiliated.
"You've lost your mind to the power of the Gaia Memory. To prevent you from using it to harm others, hand it over so I can destroy it," Jessica said, looking down at him.
Wald refused instantly. "Impossible. If you want to destroy the Magma Memory, you'll have to kill me."
Jessica hesitated. She couldn't bring herself to destroy both Wald's life and the Memory together.
Seeing Jessica's indecision, Wald's mind raced. He immediately said, "Either destroy me along with the Magma Memory, or get out of my way and let me leave."
With that, he deactivated his transformation, turned his back on Jessica, and began walking away with large strides.
"You can't leave!" Jessica shouted.
Wald ignored her completely.
Jessica fired energy bolts into the ground around him, but Wald didn't flinch or stop his pace.
"Damn it!" Jessica watched Wald's "kill me if you dare" posture, feeling a bit at a loss for what to do.
"Since you're not going to act, I'm leaving," Wald said, glancing back at Jessica with a smirk.
At that moment, the low roar of an engine rapidly approached.
In the blink of an eye, Frank arrived on his motorcycle from around the corner.
"I'll do it!" Frank got off his bike and pointed his Engine Blade at Wald.
A mechanical beetle flew down from a nearby wall, circling around Frank.
(End of Chapter)