Short Change: Heroes with Oddly Specific Powers
Page 5
“Seems you’re out, then,” he said.
“Guess so.”
“My offer still stands. You could learn the untapped secrets of resonance. You could become something magnificent.”
Miles sat, crouched down a shade, only a few feet from the Iron Giant. The fumes from the vat were going to make him pass out before long. For a moment, he contemplated Richard’s offer. It was … well …
“Your offer is tempting, Mr. Adamson.”
“Isn’t it?”
“I really would like to be a part of it, but …”
“But what?” Richard asked, with an irritable tone.
“But what you do to gain that knowledge … what I’d have to live with …”
“Yes?”
He let it hang in the air for just a little bit, before he smirked.
“Life’s too ‘short’ for that.”
“Confound you and your detestable puns, Miles Emmerson! I will carve you!”
Richard reached out to grab him, but Miles nimbly jumped back, just barely avoiding the gesture. He pulled out his last two rolls of pennies. The good old-fashioned standard. With one powerful punch, he lined them all up into a bar and pummeled it repeatedly into the iron clad Richard. Each pound rendered a few pennies useless from the attack as Richard swung left and right to diffuse them.
“It’s useless!” he shouted. “Each attack you make is one you can no longer use!” Miles kept up the pressure. Slowly, he worked Richard back toward the edge of the beam. “What do you hope to …?” he started, before he must have also noticed the overwhelming heat from below. “No!”
“It’s over!” Miles screamed at the top of his lungs with the final strike that shoved the goliath off and into the pit.
He watched with exhaustion and labored breathing as the piles of thick iron fully submerged into the molten metal. He didn’t hear screams or cries for mercy. Rather, it was swift, like dipping into a pool. Smoke and fumes blew up and filled the air, and for a brief moment, it blinded him as he staggered back.
The path of the Iron Giant came full circle and with his passing, Miles breathed a deep sigh of relief. Whatever direction Savage Steel was going to take from here on … well, he didn’t have much of an idea, but at least for the moment, things were going to die down. First thing’s first though. He needed to vanish … and quickly.
“Simon? Still there?” Miles waited for a reply, but nobody answered. “Hey! Simon!”
He scanned his surroundings. There weren’t any employees. Apart from the suicide squad, nobody else would have seen him. He jumped off the beam and onto the balcony. Miles walked over to the gargantuan hole in the wall that led to the building’s atrium. He peered through to check for any signs of activity, but the unit seemed to have dispersed. It was getting close to noon. With careful hands, he stepped over broken glass and took a deep breath of fresh air. It was good to be out of the furnace, for sure.
“Can you hear me now?” Miles asked one more time.
“You did well.”
Miles whirled his head upwards from where he heard it. High on the second floor of the atrium, a man in dark clad gear and a long coat stood bearing down at him with a high-powered rifle.
“Arc,” Miles said with a grin. “Come to finish the job, huh?”
“I don’t think so,” Arc replied. “I couldn’t find Mr. Adamson’s killer. The fool escaped before I had a chance to confront him.”
“You’re serious?”
“Do you want me to reconsider? Go before I change my mind.”
“Right,” Miles said.
He started before he heard Arc mention, “One more thing.”
“What’s that?” Miles asked, stopping in mid step.
“Mr. Adamson knew of resonance for nearly two decades. He did extraordinarily well to keep it secret … but that privacy won’t hold for much longer.”
“So, what do you suggest?”
“Be the voice of resonance in the new world.”