“Inside!” I screamed, drawing my pistol.

  I didn’t wait for acknowledgment from my team, instead focusing on Thurisaz. Five shots rang out as I pumped round after round into one of his knees. Normal damage, even if he was a big fucker. He cried out and swiped a hand at me, slapping it uselessly against my projection as I shifted my aim. I emptied the magazine into his other leg before he managed to swing out a fist and connect with my extended arms.

  My pistol was crushed into scrap, though my projection kept my fingers from being hurt. I dropped the twisted remains and retreated into the store and down the hallway. Nadir and Zeke beckoned me from further on, and I came to a stop in front of them, panting hard.

  “Shit man, he got here fast,” Zeke said nervously.

  “We can handle this,” I said. “Get back on the phone, tell them we have a villain and need PRT backup now. Nadir, stay behind me. If he comes in, you’re going to have to hold him down.”

  “Not a lot of room,” Nadir said shakily. “Our backup won’t be able to come down the alley without—”

  “We’ll figure it out,” I cut her off. “Maybe break through into the store, but right now we need to focus on staying alive til they get here.”

  “Right,” she said, nodding. “Okay, so let’s—”

  “Fucking cowards!” Thurisaz roared so loud it felt like the building was shaking. I saw him come into the hall on his hands and knees, still massive. “I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands!” Nadir yelped and I put my arm in front of her, pushing her back.

  She remembered her part quickly enough though, and Thurisaz grunted as he was struck to the floor by a pulse of gravity. His teeth clicked loud enough that I could hear it from here, and I let out a sigh. I wasn’t sure what had me so worried about him, of course his massive bulk meant Nadir would hit him harder. Well, now it was just a matter of waiting for—

  He shot forward with a bellow of rage, crashing into me before I even had a chance to flinch. Nadir shriek and I struck her as I scrambled back, barely managing to not fall over. What the fuck? Thurisaz shrank to a slightly more human size, just barely fitting into the hall, and swung a fist at me.

  I blocked the blow almost automatically. Even through my projection, I could feel what Tattletale meant about him hitting harder than he should. The strike felt more like something from Leviathan than a mere Brute. But he was still human, still vulnerable.

  Another fist swung and I ducked under it, reaching up and gripping the elbow of the offending arm. It barely fit in my entire hand, but I had enough of a grip to crush the bone under my fingers and make it go limp. It barely got a reaction, I just felt another blow hammer on my back like he expected something to change on this try.

  A yelp escaped my lips as I rose into the air, then was driven down and slammed into the floor. My body shook as Thurisaz lifted me up and did it again, then again. I could hear yelling and knew my team was there, but I had no idea where there was. My stomach flipped as I was thrown head over heels and smashed into the wall.

  Looking up, I saw I’d been thrown to the far end of the hall. The door was gone, in its place a hole nearly twice as wide. The suspects were gone too, their zipties on the ground outside. Fuck. No time to worry about that. I rose and charged up the hallway as the giant was struck to the ground by another pulse from Nadir’s gravity, and I could hear her screaming.

  The black and red of his tightly fitting costume glistened where I’d pulverized his kneecaps, but I could see pale flesh shining out from the holes I’d blasted. How had he moved with those injuries and the gravity on top of it? I saw one of his legs folded under him, muscles bulging, and realized with an electric shock. I leaped forward, hand outstretched, and gripped the heel of his other leg before he could blast himself off the ground using the recoil from his stupid strength.

  He whirled on me instead of taking off, reaching out with a massive hand. I snagged two of his fingers and crushed them, yelling past his bulk for Nadir and Zeke to run. Thurisaz yelled in pain as I destroyed his ankle, and then I was airborne yet again. I hit an open door halfway down the hall this time and felt myself get dragged through it.

  “Come on!” Nadir yelled as she helped me up.

  We were in the inventory room, with high shelves absolutely packed with toys. We didn’t stop, running through the shelves towards a door marked with a glowing ‘EXIT’ sign. I toppled down a few of the shelves behind us, even though it probably wouldn’t slow Thurisaz one bit, then followed my team through the door.

  The alarms were ringing and lights flashing in the storefront as we charged through it. Some of those lights, I realized, were the red and white of cop cars outside. I raced ahead of my friends and crashed through the display window and onto the street outside.

  “Don’t move!” a cop yelled, raising his pistol at me.

  “Heroes!” I called back, raising my hands. He lowered his gun and I jogged towards him. “When’s the PRT getting here, we have—” There was a roar and the sound of crashing from the store behind us. “No time,” I finished in a breath, turning and raising my fists.

  Thurisaz tore through the window I’d broken, along with a chunk of the wall. He grew rapidly until he towered over the building itself, the twisted face of his mask leering down at us. Long tendrils of matted hair tied up with rings and razor wire swung from the bottom of it like a hideous beard.

  The cops shouted in surprise and raised their pistols, firing round after round into the towering giant. No effect, of course, and when he swiped out to strike them I leaped in front of the blow and caught it on my shoulder. The world lurched and I was driven to the ground, Thurisaz collapsing shortly after me.

  The heavy feeling that knocked me down disappeared, but Thurisaz was faster than me. He grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder, back into the store. I hit a display and came to a stop, buried under a pile of colourful stuffed animals.

  I could hear them yelling outside as I rose unsteadily, reeling from the gravity pulse and my unplanned flight. Thurisaz was on his face, and Nadir was walking around him in a circle, keeping the cops and Zeke away. It seemed a little wider than two meters, but I wasn’t the expert on that stuff. The green and white lights of a containment van pulled up outside, and I breathed a sigh of relief; the cavalry had finally arrived.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I limped towards the entrance as they began spraying down the giant with confoam. Nadir stayed close by, keeping a careful eye on both Thurisaz and the PRT team, making sure they didn’t get within her circle. Well, shit, I hadn’t been expecting them to actually...get here, at least not in time. I guess sometimes they actually took me seriously, a pleasant surprise.

  Thurisaz roared and I heard a tremendous cracking noise. He shot forward without warning, scattering chunks of the street and gobs of containment foam before slamming into the PRT’s van. Nadir went down as foam pelted her, the cops turned and fled, and the troopers tried to keep foaming Thurisaz to down him.

  It wasn’t working. The giant was able to keep himself mobile by pushing off the street, crushing the surface and destroying the foam’s foundation. Gobs still stuck to him, but didn’t seem to be affecting his ability to fight. A sinking feeling settled into my stomach as I saw a trooper knocked aside by a flying chunk of asphalt.

  We were losing. The PRT hadn’t sent in enough firepower to fight, not even a hero to assist. He was either going to escape, or worse… I bit my lip and ran into the back room of the toy store, tearing through the debris-strewn path Thurisaz had cleared. No fucking way was this rotten piece of shit going to get away scot-free.

  I ran into the armoury, past the military style rifles and submachine guns. The two, huge sniper rifles had been knocked off their racks and to the floor below. The scope on one had broken, with glass on the floor around the gun. I grabbed the other and hefted it onto the counter, scrambling around to find ammunition.

  Fortunately they kept a box nearby. A crash outside made me flinch as I started loading rounds into the gun. It had an internal magazine, so I had to feed the cartridges in one at a time. It was slow going, painfully so. Finally I was done and slammed the bolt shut, then filled my pockets with ammo before hefting the rifle with a grunt and running out of the armoury.

  The gun was heavier than Thurisaz looked, and even just lugging it this far had me out of breath. With my lungs and arms burning, I raced as fast as I could from the store and onto the street. The PRT officers were alternating lethal shots and confoam at the villain, slowing him maybe but not keeping him down. But I had the solution to that.

  I took a knee and raised the rifle, bracing my elbow on my thigh to prop the monstrous weight up. Thurisaz roared and threw a chunk of street, hitting two PRT officers who’d been firing confoam and stun grenades at him. I took aim through the scope, held my breath, and squeezed the trigger.

  My ears rang as the report from the rifle deafened me, heat and smoke washing over my face. The effect on the other end was nothing short of spectacular, though. Thurisaz screamed as his leg folded under him, his knee vanishing in a spray of gore. I racked the heavy bolt and took aim again, firing and blasting a chunk from his shoulder as he grabbed hold of a street lamp.

  The throaty roar of an engine made me turn my head, and I saw a motorcycle racing towards me. I turned and began to raise the rifle, before realizing it was Miss Militia, finally arriving to back us up. When she leaped from her bike, I just pointed towards the regenerating Thurisaz, took aim, and blew out his knee again.

  “Joints!” I screamed at her as the giant roared in pain.

  Miss Militia seemed to catch on, a rifle with a large magazine and massive muzzle brake appearing in her hands. She fired, and one of the villain’s arms went limp. The PRT officers began to rally as I fired and struck Thurisaz in the thigh, with Miss Militia putting another shot into the same leg.

  Together, we advanced and alternated our shots to keep the villain immobile. Gouts of foam sprang up under him, locking his twisted and broken limbs away from anything he could push off. We still kept firing, destroying each of his uncovered limbs every time he tried to swing a blow at us or make an escape.

  Finally, blood-soaked and almost entirely buried in foam, Thurisaz went silent and limp. The pile of confoam he’d been contained by flexed slightly from his breathing, but there was no other sign he was even alive. I racked the bolt on the rifle, breathing hard, then dropped it to the ground and began casting about for my team.

  “Amaranth,” Miss Militia said, only getting a glance from me over my shoulder.

  “It can wait,” I said flatly. “Need to make sure my team is okay.”

  At least she didn’t try and stop me as I began looking for them. I found Nadir struggling against a piece of confoam that had expanded to cover her entire arm and stuck her to the sidewalk. I got her to calm down, explaining how the foam worked. She settled down after that, waiting on the PRT to get the solvent out.

  Zeke I found talking to one of the PRT squaddies by the van, trying to badger them into getting their ass moving and helping Nadir. I dragged him away, if only so we didn’t start a fight over something that was going to happen anyway. We joined Nadir where she was stuck to the pavement and sat with her, watching the troopers manage the scene.

  “We did it,” I said, voice dry and rattling.

  “You mean you did it,” Zeke said, elbowing me. “Ain’t seem someone handle a goddamn cannon like that before.”

  “Sorry I wasn’t helpful,” Nadir sighed. “Really thought my power would do more. Don’t know how he still managed to move.”

  “Remember I said he hits things harder than he should be able to?” I got a fractional nod from Nadir. “Yeah, so, I think it’s the same for recoil. Pushes off stuff and can launch like a rocket or something.”

  “Huh, interesting,” she said, frowning. “How did you figure that out?”

  “I’d like to know as well,” Miss Militia said as she approached our group, her large rifle replaced with a knife at her hip.

  “Just saw him do it, or try to, back in the store,” I said, shrugging. “Also, hey ma’am, appreciate the assist.”

  “Are you all okay?” she asked. I glanced at the other two and got nods all around.

  “Just fine,” I said, shrugging and wincing as my shoulders twinged. “Well, besides getting thrown around like a rag doll.”

  “Where did you get that rifle?” she said, glancing back at where I’d dropped it.

  “Found it,” I said innocently, jerking a thumb at the smashed-up store. “You wouldn’t believe the hardware they had in there.”

  “Show me?”

  “You leave my team alone,” I said, narrowing my eyes. She furrowed her brow, crossing her arms.

  “We’re here at your request,” Miss Militia said flatly. “I had no intention of doing anything to your team besides getting their statements.”

  “Okay...good.” I nodded and rose from the pavement. “Come on, let me show you around…”

  “Hot damn!” Zeke said as we headed for home. “Shit, I’m still buzzing.”

  “Was a hell of a fight,” Joy said, slumped in the back seat. It had taken nearly an hour to get her unstuck and we were all exhausted.

  “You okay?” I asked, turning in my seat. “Did he hit you?”

  “Just with the foam,” she said, shaking her head and yawning. “Stuff’s so annoying, I couldn’t move.”

  “That’s the idea,” I replied, chuckling as I suppressed a yawn of my own. “Glad you guys didn’t get hurt. You did good Zeke, getting clear when shit started going hot.”

  “Man you won’t even let me carry a piece on these jobs, what else am I gonna do?” He turned and offered me a shit-eating grin, then pulled an SMG from beside his seat.

  “God fucking dammit,” I sighed, massaging my temple. “I’m barely even mad. When the fuck did you grab that?”

  “I’m like Houdini, never reveal my secrets,” Zeke said, hiding the weapon again. “Be cool, I’m sure Papa can hook you up.”

  “No, it’s whatever,” I muttered. “Just don’t go flashing it around, okay?”

  “I’ll keep things lowkey,” he replied.

  “Starting to wonder if I should get one,” Joy mumbled sleepily. “Power didn’t work today, might not work against other villains.”

  “I mean, if you really want,” I said, scratching my neck and frowning at an odd sensation. I pulled my sticky fingers away and clicked my tongue. “Shit. Joy, can you pass me some gauze? Opened up my neck.”

  I pressed the bandage to my throat when she passed it to me, settling back into my seat and staring out the window. We’d won and had even managed to take down Thurisaz alive. I couldn’t help the grin growing on my face. Tattletale’s little plan to get rid of me wasn’t going to work. The heroes were still on my side, despite everything.

  Hopefully that would last a little while longer.