Singularity: Part 18
No first aid I’d been taught included how to handle how to save someone you’d stabbed with a sword made out of your soul (or whatever), and I didn’t have time to take off Scream Eagle’s armor to see if I could help him anyway.
I could only hope that if he did die, it didn’t make much of a difference in that fight to steal Jody.
Flying closer to me, Grandpa asked, “Did Lee teach you that?”
“Uh… Future stuff.”
Grandpa gave a nod, his helmet dipping, and pointed, “Cap.”
“Right,” I said, and we shot toward where Cap fought Power Burst.
He was doing better than you’d think.
I remembered reading through Grandpa’s notes and running across devices he‘d designed to fight Dixie Superman. I didn’t have time to recreate them when we fought Izzy while she was influenced by Evil Beatnik, but I’d thought they were clever.
Like Izzy, Dixie Superman’s sonar allowed him to effectively see through walls and hear conversations miles away—provided he could filter through to what he cared about.
Grandpa designed his devices to overload the filter.
When Power Burst flew toward him, Cap must have thrown out a dozen or more of what Grandpa abbreviated as SPUs—Sonic Protection Units.
They spread out and created bursts of sound and noise. Even better, it was directed noise, so while still painful to hear and see, it targeted Power Burst.
As long as our fight with Scream Eagle had felt, it had only lasted seconds. In that time, from what my implant’s summary showed, Power Burst had flown toward Cap only to be effectively blinded and deafened at least three times. Each time, Cap and the SPUs had repositioned while Cap fired a series of plasma bolts at Power Burst.
None of them had made it through his shield, but each time it took power and that was the point. Between the plasma rifle and the SPUs’ lasers, Cap could wear him down.
Of course, Magnus’ power up made that harder, but it hadn’t improved Power Burst’s senses enough to “see” through the visual and audible noise.
It didn’t take much to guess what Power Burst would next—scream. Izzy, like the rest of our team, referred to it as a sonic attack. Dixie Superman had called it his “rebel yell.” I had no idea what Power Burst called it, but it stood a good chance of destroying Grandpa’s tech. He couldn’t have designed it with Magnus’ power up in mind.
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I could see Power Burst pulling energy in, though, so Artificer energy must benefit the yell somehow.
I didn’t have time to switch on everything I’d turned off to face Scream Eagle, so Grandpa and I were close enough that he could shout, “Distract him. I’ll take him down.”
I didn’t argue. I still had the sword out. Grandpa could be backup.
As I began to pull ahead, though, something else happened. Magnus, either impatient or no longer confident of Power Burst’s ability to win, fired one of his massive burning beams at Captain Commando.
Cassie’s father fell to the ground, his costumed burned and blistered. I avoided looking at his skin. I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. Anyway, he had the least to worry about of anyone. Assuming Magnus’ beam didn’t turn off his healing factor, he’d be fine.
The more relevant problem? Power Burst’s no had the option to go after other targets—us for example. The beam had also slagged the SPUs, so Power Burst wasn’t disoriented anymore.
Frowning as he saw Cap, he turned toward us because, of course, he could hear us. I noticed a flash of anger in his face as he glanced toward Magnus, but when he turned toward us, he opened his mouth.
I’d been hit by Izzy’s sonic blasts both in training and on the job. This was worse. Even with the extra protection I’d built in against sound, everything vibrated.
I worried about Grandpa, but didn’t need to. His armor may not have had the same level of sonic protection as mine but, it had protection. Not only that, but he’d been drafting off me, flying just behind me, not only getting pulled forward by me, but in this case getting cover.
Not only that, but sonics were going off in ways that my suit recognized as similar to the sound cancelling system of my buzzer technology.
In fact, he’d begun to aim the plasma rifle he’d shot the Cabal soldiers with at Power Burst. I doubted it would do more for him than it had for Cap, but maybe he had an idea.
It was good that he had, though. In the crush of Power Burst’s blast, my sword had disappeared.
I willed it to exist again, knowing I barely had enough time before closing with Power Burst.
Power Burst’s eyes widened when neither Grandpa nor I went down to his yell and widened even more as my sword reappeared in my hands and I began to swing.
He dodged to the right, but I saw his shoulder begin to dip and corrected course, intercepting him anyway. I hit him with the sword, but didn’t manage to stab or cut through the torso as I had with Scream Eagle.
The sword’s glowing blade sank an inch or two into his side, running down his torso before he twisted away. He felt it, too, giving a shout that was less an attack than a wail.
It didn’t take him out, but it did make him a sitting duck as Grandpa nailed him in the middle of his face. At least it was where his face would have been if the silvery shield hadn’t appeared.
Worse, Grandpa flew a little too close with the rifle and Power Burst grabbed it. Grandpa didn’t contest it, practically letting Power Burst pull it out of his hands and twisting away to avoid the wall on the edge of the room.
That’s when the rifle turned into a bomb, exploding in a blast of blue and white flame that knocked Power Burst out of the air.
He didn’t get up.