BANG! And the battle was over. The thundering crash of the collapsing building echoed through the night as brick and mortar flooded the sidewalk. In the heart of The Bronx, New York's most abysmal Borough. Such an event would normally be the spark of bedlam, with cries from the inhabitants filling the air as they ran for their lives. But in this case, not a soul uttered a sound. No surprise to those who knew that neighborhood. It responded to the chaos in familiar indifference. Such was the way in the home of the wicked. No one would come…well almost no one.
“Crooked eye!!” roared Reacto, the hero, stepping towards the gaping smoke-filled hole on the side of the dilapidated building. His tight ash-colored super-suit was torn in several places with the most notable being an oozing red slit across the hazard bio symbol in the center of his chest. His muscular frame was flashing in the dark from the pulsating glow emanating from his rubber boots up to his red biker helmet. He was cloaked in a cloud of steam that had formed from squeezing the mutilated carbon spinal cord in his hand. The crimson dynamo on the side of the android’s metallic skull slowly fading to black.
Reacto began to climb up the hill of debris towards what would have been the second-floor living room. The owner of the building had spent a lot of time and money to make such a place as forgettable as possible. The bricks were the typical red that matched its neighbors, and it had an old glass door that had not been cleared of dust in many months. The building was perfectly squared, and not taller than any other on the block. It was designed to be ignored and its sole resident put that to good use. However, the unremarkable, seemingly vacant apartment was now a mass grave of humanoid androids and a mess of burning lobs of plasma and bullet casings. Inside were the remains of a workshop. Workbenches and swivel chairs were next to now-collapsed shelving. The floors were littered with melted plastic containers and scorched power tools. Almost everything was on fire. Reacto had made it back inside and upon surveying the situation, the floor around him began to warp as his blood boiled.
Less than twenty feet away he saw his partner. She was on her back and covered in soot. Her white cape torn to pieces, and her short silver hair, a frizzled mess. Her thigh-high, metallic, high-heeled, boots were pinned to the floor. The visible gears on the sides were motionless, now that her power was taken. “STILETTO!” Reacto shouted. She turned her head towards him, a crack along the emerald visor that matched her eyes. She acknowledged him briefly before turning her attention back to the hulking figure above.
The mechanized exoskeleton that had trapped her was covered in gashes and dents. It loomed over fifteen feet high, weighing as much as a mack-truck with the strength to throw one. White with black accents, it had thick mechanical fingers with large rectangular limbs. Its massive barrel chest hung open with a protruding, partially melted cannon swinging up back and forth above Stiletto's head. Her face was one of surprise, but never panic or fear. Reacto felt solace in knowing that hadn’t changed.
The shattered glass dome between the mech's shoulders revealed a young man. Brown skin with an unkempt hairline, a pair of baby cheeks, along with a lazy left eye. He wore a tight, orange jumpsuit with his emblem, the red outline of a cupcake in the center of his chest. His face, one of stoic competence. His gaze never left the silver hero whom he had pinned down under his giant body. Here, we have the Villain of this story.
“You still rush into things, Sil.” The villain said in his low, raspy voice. “That’s why these things hap-” Before he could finish, a blue light appeared out of the corner of his eye. The Villain ducked inside his suit just as Reacto unleashed a wave of pure gamma energy from his hands.
The flash zipped past them, forming another hole in the already destroyed apartment. Heated steam began to trickle off the upper part of the mech, eroding the edges where the light touched. A buzzing sound erupted from the chest of the mech before it fell forward. Stiletto gasped, attempting to shift herself away before the melted cannon crushed her skull, but she was blocked by the giant metal arms that had collapsed on both sides of her.
“NO!” Reacto shouted, realizing what he’d done. Stiletto closed her eyes before the moment of impact…But it never came. The sound of struggling gears echoed throughout the room, then silence. She opened her eyes to see the Cannon just at her nose, the mech hands wrapped around it. It was, if only barely, holding it in place. She let out a heavy sigh of relief. Face still composed, body trembling.
Reacto, in a panic, attempted to blast the large mech away but dropped his arms as an agonizing burn shot through his hands. In a matter of seconds, his limbs felt foreign, not of his own body as they had swelled like balloons and become useless twitching lumps. “Shit,” he said, dropping to his knees.
“Internal thermal nuclear overheating again? That's why I always told you to design a suit with a cooling supply!” The Villain's voice carried over from behind the mech. Reacto looked over to see a small latch had been flipped open on the back of the suit. The villain had carefully slipped out, only to duck right, using the crippled machine for cover. “If your body starts producing too much heat it's going to affect your muscles, joints, your central nervous system- hell, hehe, you might even explode if you're not careful,” he sneered. “Not that I’d mind that. Just food for thought,” he continued from his cover.
“Shut it!” Reacto shouted again “What? You feel like playing nice now?”
“Nice? No, not at all. I’m just proving I’m right again,” The Villain retorted, laughter hanging on his voice.
“You aren’t winning this! WE-” Reacto began shouting just as a pair of mechanical arms rose from behind, grabbing the hero in a full nelson, his head pinned downward with his arms locked in place unable to move. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt this cold, unwarranted, embrace. The android had a distorted hollow mask for a face that resembled its master, but even more soulless and terrifying. The fully unscathed machine must have hidden away, waiting for the chance to strike. It pushed Reactos body forward, bending him at the waist while the android's grip tightened.
“Son of a bitch!” he shouted as his nemesis appeared from behind the still body of his mech suit. He had a small ray gun in his left hand. His dominant right hand was a cluster of broken fingers.
“I'm not winning? Please. Beating you is going to be a cakewalk!” he declared, pointing the tip directly at Reacto’s head.
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