“Literally,” Bobby replied. “One of them’s a teleporter, remember? For all we know, they could be on the French Riviera right now.”
“Hold up, amigos. Time for a little protective action.” Grunge took a moment to absorb the molecular structure of one of the cobblestones that still stuck up through the asphalt in patches here. He started to hum the theme song from Rocky as his skin darkened, turned gray and grainy, and then stopped being skin at all. In the blink of an eye. Grunge’s body had morphed into solid rock. Grunge thrust out a finger in an exaggerated wrestling pose. "Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?!’’
“Yeah, from all the way over here,” Sarah whispered. “Keep it down.”
“Oh, for.... Will you guys please shut up?” Roxy snapped. “There’s a fight coming, y’know?” She produced a disposable lighter and lit the cigarette between her lips, without taking her eyes off her shadowy surroundings.
Kat looked at Roxy with concern. Roxy had started to get past her fear, which was a good thing. But, as near as Kat could tell, she was overcoming it by channeling the anxiety into attitude instead. It was a tactic that Kat had seen Roxy use before. In fact, she suspected that Roxy had been using it all her life. By and large, it had always seemed to work reasonably well for her. But Roxy was really scared now, so the strategy had wound up taking her beyond attitude and all the way into a raging, free-floating anger. Kat worried that it could make her careless.
Actually, Kat had similar concerns about Bobby, as well. Bobby was worried about his father. He was furious with his captors. He was just too emotionally involved.
Ordinarily, Kat would have trusted either of them with her life. In fact, she’d done it many times, without question or a moment’s hesitation. But even by their standards, they were up against an unusually dangerous foe this time. Every one of them needed to be calm and clearheaded. They couldn’t afford to get sloppy.
Ironically, it was Kat’s preoccupation with such issues that almost kept her from noticing the thirty-foot-long tractor-trailer that was hurtling through the air toward them.
Kat braced herself to try to catch the airborne vehicle, although she knew full well that it was too big to stop completely. Even if she could absorb the truck’s forward momentum, its sheer size meant that it would probably wrap itself around her and still do a whole lot of damage to the rest of the team.
Before it could come to that, though, Roxy hit the oncoming truck with a massive burst of negative gravity. Still in motion, the truck veered sharply upward in midair to soar over their heads.
It would have been a good idea... except that it sent the truck smashing straight through the second-story wall of the meat packing plant behind them. Broken bricks and mortar rained down from the wall. Instead of keeping an eye out for Gen14, the team had to devote their full attention to intercepting the shower of bricks with flame, wind, weightlessness, and fists before it could smash down on the heroes.
Not to mention dealing with the falling truck.
It was the sort of mistake that never would have happened if Roxy hadn’t been distracted by her anger. It was exactly the kind of thing Kat had been worried about. And it kept the team occupied long enough for Gen14 to be all over them.
It was as though Gen14 had appeared from nowhere. In fact, with Sidestep around, they probably had.
The well-coordinated attack skipped the preliminaries and sailed straight into high gear. With both numbers and power on their side, Gen14 had the advantage. And as they launched into their offensive, it was clear that they not only knew it, but had no intention of giving it up. Within seconds, the battle was raging on five fronts simultaneously.
Knockout laid into Grunge with a flurry of titanic blows. Unlike their last fight, Grunge wasn’t stuck as a motionless bronze statue anymore. This time, he could move freely, and he had the might of a two-hundred-pound boulder on his side.
On the other hand, though, Knockout’s strength could shatter boulders.
Grunge managed to get in a few good shots of his own, but his rocky form was starting to crack under Knockout’s pounding. His only hope was to keep parrying and deflecting the rapid-fire series of punches.
Because a solid one could take his head off.
It took all of Grunge’s concentration to keep up. He couldn’t do so much as spout a wisecrack. Then, Knockout did something that took him completely by surprise: She dropped to the ground.
A split-second later, Grunge knew why. With Knockout out of the way, Reverb hit Grunge with a tightly focused blast. Knockout’s assault had already compromised the integrity of Grunge’s body, leaving a weblike network of cracks behind. Reverb’s vibrations threatened to finish the job.
He was literally going to shake Grunge to pieces.
For her part, Freefall had eyes for only one member of Gen14. As soon as she caught a glimpse of Bogeyman, she streaked toward him like an avenging bolt of lightning.
Freefall rocketed through the air, with her body arched forward to strike and her face twisted in a grimace of hate. Only one thought filled her brain:
You ’re mine, you little piece of—
If Freefall had been using any caution at all, she probably would have spotted the shimmering patch of air in front of her. But she was in no state to notice much of anything at the moment. Freefall sailed through Sidestep’s teleportational portal at top speed . . .
... and reappeared scant inches from a solid brick wall. Freefall was still going at top speed, but not for long.
Freefall hit the wall with a sickening thud. Barely conscious, she fell to the ground below in a heap.
Growing Boy was already waiting there. The twenty-foot ’tween towered over Freefall’s crumpled form. Of all the members of Gen14, Growing Boy had fared the worst in the previous battles, and he wasn’t looking too bad. Growing Boy wore a few bandages to cover the bums from his previous fight with Burnout, but they didn’t seem to be holding him back at all.
The streetlights cast a shadow over Freefall as Growing Boy raised a foot that was half the length of her entire body. Then, he brought it down.
When Rainmaker dove out of the way of the falling track, she hit the ground rolling. The maneuver sent waves of blinding pain through Rainmaker’s injured side, but it was better than staying where she was and waiting for the truck. Ordinarily, she would have cushioned the impact of hitting the ground with a series of forward tumbles that carried her out of danger, then used the momentum to bring herself back up onto her feet. This time, though, the pain from her ribs broke her concentration. Her arm buckled, sending her awkwardly to the ground.
Rainmaker forced herself to her feet, to find Slash waiting there to meet her. With a grunt, he swung one of his razor-sharp arms toward her throat. If he had connected, it would have severed her head. But Rainmaker dropped back down to the ground in time for his blade to cut nothing more than a few locks of her long, black hair.
In a single, fluid motion, Rainmaker landed on her palms and countered with a sweeping, roundhouse kick that knocked Slash’s feet out from under him. She jumped back up to her feet as he hit the pavement.
Slash quickly rose to a crouch. Rainmaker was already extending her palms toward him. “Back off, Switchblade Boy, or I’ll rust you solid!”
Without a word, Slash used his legs to launch himself up toward her. His arms were extended straight out like a pair of sabers.
The metal blades were perfect conductors. Rainmaker called up a bolt of lightning that sent Slash flying back where he came from. Slash skidded across the ground, already unconscious.
Rainmaker brushed the dust off her clothes. “That’s that. One down.”
She turned away from Slash, and came face to face with another of the Gen14 kids.
Their eyes locked.
Sarah froze in place.
“Who are you guys? Why are you doing all this?”
Even as they battled, Fairchild kept trying to get answers out of Highwire. Highwire wasn’t going for it,
though.
Great. Just great, Fairchild thought. Just when I need information, I finally find a villain who doesn’t like to gloat while she fights.
On paper, a fight between the two team leaders would have looked like a total mismatch—Mike Tyson versus Woody Allen. Fairchild had almost every advantage over Highwire. Fairchild was bigger. She was virtually invulnerable. And she was a whole lot stronger.
But Highwire was a whole lot faster.
Like Roxy before her, Fairchild soon found that, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t land a blow.
Highwire was in constant motion, always flipping or tumbling just in time to throw Fairchild off-balance or stay just out of reach.
Conversely, there didn’t seem to be much that Highwire could do to Fairchild, either. Fairchild was so much stronger that Highwire’s own attacks just glanced off her. She hadn’t even managed to trip Fairchild or knock her over. The fight was rapidly turning into a stalemate.
Which puzzled Kat. From everything she’d seen and heard about before this, it was obvious that Gen14’s attacks were meticulously planned. Each of them was assigned to a target that he or she was uniquely equipped to deal with. Choosing to send Highwire after her just didn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t they ...
Ohhhh, Kat thought.
Fairchild dropped her hands and stood still. “You can stop now,” she said.
Highwire landed in a crouch and eyed Fairchild suspiciously. She leaped up and flipped head over heels to kick Fairchild in the jaw. Not only did Fairchild hold her ground, but her head barely moved with the impact.
“You’re not supposed to beat me, are you?” Fairchild asked. “You’re supposed to distract me while someone else gets into position. So who am I really going to be fighting?”
Suddenly, Fairchild grabbed her head, reeling, as Rave made Fairchild’s senses explode in psychedelic anarchy.
“Oh, not again,” Burnout said. He glided up in a sweeping loop around Riptide’s cascading jet of water. “This whole fire-water thing’s getting way old. Let’s just cut to the chase for a change:
“ Where’s my father? ”
Burnout pulled back to give himself a little distance and punctuated his question with a small burst of flame. There was a sizzling sound as the fire hit the column of water and boiled part of it away into steam. But Riptide didn’t answer. Instead, the towering water spout curved up and over to circle arouud and rush toward Burnout with the strength and power of a runaway train.
Burnout had absolutely no patience left for this nonsense. While they were dancing around this way, his father could be dying. Every second counted, and he had no intention of wasting even one more on this loser.
Reaching deep down inside himself, Burnout conjured up a superheated mass of intense flame—enough to vaporize Riptide in an eyeblink. Burnout didn’t know whether Riptide would ever be able to reconstitute himself after the blast hit. But as he let it fly, he didn’t much care.
Suddenly, the water parted. The spout began to split into two parallel streams, keeping pace with Burnout’s attack. The ball of fiery plasma shot straight down the middle, staying true to its course without touching either of the streams surrounding it.
As the water divided, though, it gave Burnout a view of what stood behind the torrent. He reacted with horror when he saw the new target that was now directly in the path of the blazing assault.
It was Lynch.
Lynch was there! He’d been running toward them, probably planning to help. But Lynch froze in his tracks when the water split and he saw the speeding mass of flames. It was heading straight for him, and it was too close to dodge.
Bobby shot forward to try to stop the runaway missile. Lynch tried to jump out of the way.
They were both too late.
The white-hot ball of plasma hit Lynch full on. He erupted into flame.
“Nnnnoooooooo!" Bobby screamed.
It was hard even to see Lynch through the inferno now. He screamed in agony as his body jerked around in a macabre dance before dropping to the ground.
Bobby tried everything he could to extinguish the blaze. He tried to beat out the flames. He tried to absorb them into his body. But by the time the fire was out,
Lynch was little more than a blackened cinder. Every inch of his body was covered with third-degree bums.
Bobby was numb with shock. He cradled Lynch in his arms. Bits of Lynch’s skin flaked off into ash at his touch.
“Dad! Dad!” Bobby cried. “Talk to me! Say something!”
Lynch coughed, and even that simple reflex made him convulse in pain. Through his tears, Bobby could see that every movement increased Lynch’s suffering all the more. Slowly, painfully, Lynch opened his eyes. He moved his lips feebly, trying to speak.
“It’s okay, Dad. It’s okay,” said his anguished son. “I’m here. I’m listening. It’s okay.”
Lynch’s face registered the unimaginable agony that grew as he tried to form words. But he had never let pain stop him before. He had something to tell his son, and nothing was going to prevent it. Bobby could see the herculean effort that it took.
When Lynch’s voice finally came, it was a harsh, raspy whisper. “B . . . Bobby . .
“Yes, Dad. I’m here.”
“Yo ... you ...”
Bobby leaned in closer to hear the muted words.
“You . .. you . . . killed me.”
Lynch died.
Bobby’s scream tore through the night.
Standing over him, Bogeyman reacted with no visible emotion whatsoever. The illusion was so perfect that Bobby didn’t even notice when Riptide started to drown him.
As Reverb’s vibrations intensified, it took everything Grunge had to try and hold himself together. Already, the cracks were widening. Chips of rock were flying from his body. It wouldn’t be long before he shattered completely.
If Grunge kept this form, he was doomed. But if he changed back to normal, the deep cracks would become gaping wounds. He'd bleed to death in seconds. Either way, he was finished.
Grunge had to do something. He stamped his foot down in a mound of slush .. .
... and started to change.
Instantly, his body began to soften. Its color shifted to a murky brown. Instead of chiseled and hard, Grunge became watery and semi-solid.
The vibrations ripped Grunge’s body into a million pieces. Bits of Grunge splattered all over everyone and everything in sight.
Reverb and Knockout stood there for a bit, gazing impassively at the mess that had been Grunge as they checked their kill. Satisfied, they nodded to each other and headed off to make sure the rest of Gen13 was under control.
... And the pieces started to move.
Little by little, the bits of slush oozed, flowed, and trickled back toward the spot where Grunge’s feet had been. Slowly at first, but then more quickly, the mound grew until it resembled a filthy, brownish snowman.
A filthy, brownish snowman that looked a lot like Grunge.
The snow-Grunge pumped his dripping fists in the air. He threw back his head and shouted: “Who da man!”
Grange’s desperate, last-ditch plan had worked! He knew that if he let himself be blown apart in his rocky form, all of the bits would have to be pieced together perfectly before he could have a prayer of returning to human form. And that wasn’t likely to happen in his lifetime.
But water and slush don’t work that way. They flow and mix. Grunge had prayed that merely getting the bits back in contact with each other would be enough to let him reshape himself. From all appearances, it looked like he was right.
Snow-Grunge looked up to see Rainmaker hovering just above him. “Yo, Sarah!” he called. “Let’s go kick some underage butt!”
Rainmaker gestured. Instantly, a howling storm appeared from nowhere, pelting Grunge with a heavy downpour of driving rain. “Sarah, no! Stop!” he cried. “When the water hits me ...”
But it was too late. Grunge was already melting. The ra
in was literally washing him away.
The strategy that had saved Grunge’s life was working against him now. He’d managed to re-form his body because the nature of the watery slush was to flow together and blend. However, if this new water mixed in with the water molecules in his body, Grunge wasn’t sure that he’d be able to separate himself back out. Ever.
Rainmaker watched the scene without any visible sign of emotion. On the outside, anyway. Deep in the recesses of her mind, Sarah was screaming. Ever since Override had taken control of her body, that was all she could do.
Grunge struggled mightily to hold his body together. At the same time, he was also fighting to revert to flesh and blood before he reached the point of no return. Slowly, painfully, Grunge regained his human form—
—just in time for a hurricane-force wind to blow him off his feet. He tumbled helplessly through the air, smashing into the side of a commercial van that was parked at the side of the road. The side of the van crumpled under the impact. Grunge fell onto the street, unconscious.
Rainmaker’s stolen body looked around to see how the rest of the battle was progressing. Burnout had already passed out from lack of oxygen by the time Riptide dropped him on the ground. Freefall was still sprawled motionless across the sidewalk where Growing Boy had left her.
Only Fairchild was still on her feet, reeling under Rave’s sensory assault. Rainmaker called down an immense bolt of lightning that lit up the sky for miles around. The bolt struck Fairchild with an electrical blast that could be measured only in megavolts.
Still under the effects of Rave’s powers, Fairchild never felt a thing. But that didn’t prevent her body from suffering the effects. She went rigid, and her red hair stood on end. The air smelled of smoke as Fairchild lit up like a lightbulb, then went dark and collapsed. Her breathing was shallow as she lay there in the gutter. But at least she was breathing.
Rainmaker and Highwire exchanged a nod. There was just one last piece of unfinished business to wrap up.
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