Once the timer hit zero, I didn't immediately rush off.

Even if there were several floors between myself and another Disaster, it would only take Roy—or a destructive Roxy—a few seconds to reach me. When stuck in such an unfortunate position as this, the options were either to break out to more favorable terrain or to make the best out of a bad situation.

Within the confines of the structure, the latter was more likely to provide results. Until first contact, anyway. After that… things would be dicier.

I turned and stepped over to the doorway between this small corridor area and the open office. Kneeling, I brought out a trip wire from my toolkit and fixed it across the opening. For now, I didn't use any explosives, as taking the limbs of my friends might not go down well.

Once secure, I moved to the other entrance of this wide room to do the same to the other side. While attaching the second side of the wire, a deep vibration ran through the building. Difficult to tell, but instincts told me that it came from below.

If that put Roxy on the lower floors, that meant I would have a better chance. I paused for a moment before pulling a Flash grenade from my vest, attaching the loop to the trip wire.

Although I had been created as a superhero killer, I had been a support character in my squad. Blood on my hands, I was certain, but some of my brothers, like Chevalier, were more of a powerhouse when it came to direct combat. An ironic statement given everything I had been through lately, but that just added weight to the fact that clones of my other brother could be a genuine threat.

As such, my role here was one of patience. To win, I had to exploit each of their weaknesses without putting myself at too much risk. Perhaps a much more calculated approach to how I would have acted in the past, but I had learned a lot in the last few weeks. The Natural Disasters had also grown to the point that my being recklessly aggressive against them wasn't a valid tactic anymore.

It made me a little proud.

In a game of tug-of-war, in trying to find ways to kill them, I hoped they would ascend past the point that I couldn't. It kept them safe from people similar to me, but who didn't care for them.

I stepped over to the middle of the room and placed some of my plastic explosives supply behind one of the dividing half-walls. Enough to allow me an exit to the floor below, should I need it. Once done, I pulled my knife from my belt and stabbed it into one of the wooden slats covering a window. It should be secure enough.

Another vibration came from below, this time a little closer. I took off my trenchcoat and hung it on the end of the knife. The wooden board creaked and complained, but it remained in place. Satisfied, I then went and crouched in the opposite corner of the room. A dividing wall gave me 3/4 cover, while offering escapes in two directions should someone attempt to pin me.

I calmed myself completely. Every synapse connection and driving power within my body lay dormant. Not quite as stealthy as Silhouette, but I'd give him a run for his-

The flash of my grenade going off stopped that train of thought dead. I stood as my gun-arm flashed with sudden power; the barrel aimed right at whoever stepped through the door.

Before I could fire, an intense gale of wind pushed me back. My arm shook as I tried to keep it level, but there was no denying who had found me first. As the buffeting wind died down, she was there, crouched with her bow up. Aiming at my trenchcoat for barely a split second, she turned to snap to my actual position. We fired at the same time.

Her arrow burst almost immediately in front of her, killing most of the power of my Nerve shot. The slower pellets didn't even pierce through her outfit. Empty shell popped from the side of my gun-arm, and she already had her next arrow up.

I rolled behind my cover, and the magical arrow burst through the wall inches from me, hanging there halfway through the debris. I spun on my lower back and put my boots against the wall. V-Force drives hissed as I funneled power out the bottom of my feet, destroying the wall as the fragments of stone and wood burst out toward the elf.

Fresh Nerve shot loaded in from the magazine, and I raised my arm to fire through the cloud of powdered wall. Rather than raise an arrow, Ren had hopped onto her bow like a hoverboard and zipped across to the other exit of the room, trying to make some space between us.

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I activated my plastic explosives. The floor exploded, and while she was out of the main burst, the concussive force sent her bow upward a couple of feet. The elf hit her head on the concrete ceiling and fell from her weapon, landing behind another dividing wall.

Back on my feet, I hopped over the debris before me and fired off my grapple to the opposite side of the room. I sped through the warmed air, over the crater I had made down to the next floor. Gun-arm at the ready, I dropped down to where she was-

With bright red blood running down her face, Ren leaped up as soon as I landed. Slim knife in her hands, she slashed upward into me. The blade went through my tactical gear, skin and muscle, and bounced off a metal rib.

I swung my fist, but she ducked and twisted around. Probably would have stabbed me through the thigh if I didn't have cybernetic legs. Instead, she braced for the inevitable knee, which I provided promptly. She slid backward before rising to her feet, spinning the blade in her grip.

Only she stumbled awkwardly. Her right leg was numb. Empty Nerve cartridge clattered to the floor. I had fired at the same time as striking her with my knee. In readying herself for some melee action, I had stepped up toward her while she faltered. With an open palm, I hit her with an empty blast of V-Force.

Air knocked from her lungs, she slammed into the back wall. Dagger bounced from her grip to the floor. As she went to pull something from her belt, I was there. Metal fist around her neck, I lifted her up by a foot against the wall. Her death was only a split second away. One comforting call of the void, and I could kill this superhero if she didn't tap out.

Neither of us spoke a word. Her bright blue eyes burned with fury, half bathed in crimson as she glared at me. I didn't want to have to knock her out, but she was giving me no option. Another Nerve shot loaded into my arm.

Then, an arrow burst through my left shoulder. It hung there, piercing through my body, before detonating. Agony ran through me as blood painted the surroundings. Unfortunately, my cybernetics didn't budge. I remained in place, my hand still around her neck. Warmth ran down my left arm as I looked over my shoulder.

Her artifact bow hung in the air, drawing another arrow by itself. So she had learned how to activate it while only being close by. Clever.

My synapses burned as I used Dispel to counter the next arrow, barely preventing it from erupting behind me.

[Bang. Nerve shot through your neck. I'd rather not leave you here unconscious.]

"Fuck. Fine, I tap," she growled at me.

I lowered her to the ground and released her. She gasped for air for a quiet moment before glaring at me. "Sorry about your arm."

[You should have gone for my heart or lungs. I'd be dead.]

She grunted and wiped blood from her forehead. "If those were the stakes, then you'd have started with something more lethal than Nerve as well."

[We'll glaze and evaluate later. Go get patched up by Clara; I have more Disasters to maim.]

The elf gave me a dry smile before nodding. Her bow floated over, and she hopped onto it. With one last glance back, she ducked to escape through one of the open windows.

I inspected my left arm. Not great. If Ren had used her maximum power, I'd have lost the limb completely. As it stood, it looked as though someone had shot a soda can through me. Muscle and tendon damage, which made it unresponsive and numb. I tried to form a fist, and my fingers only bent slightly.

For me, it was something that would heal over time. If I had the chance to meditate, I could even get the limb functional in ten to thirty minutes. After making such a racket, it wouldn't surprise me if another Disaster was on their way here. There was no option but to continue on like this.

I walked over to my trenchcoat and awkwardly pulled it back on. The knife came out of the board and went back into my sheath. Swapping magazines was nearly impossible with one hand, so hopefully I didn't go up against Roxy next. The super was surprisingly resilient to Nerve shots, and would be even more so now that she could bleed out foreign substances with lava and create protective rock plates.

Grapple was out of action now as well, but I could still grab grenades and tools with my shooting arm - assuming I wasn't using it for exactly that.

Now I had to decide whether to go up or down. Statistically, it was more likely I'd come across Roy next. Belle would likely hunker down like I had been, with her skills working better reactively. The other remaining supers were more offensive, and the speedster could cover the most distance quickest.

With that in mind, perhaps getting caught out on the stairs or on an unknown floor wasn't ideal. I had drawn the most disadvantageous lot… but that was only one way of thinking of it. For a superhero killer, this was the most efficient way to trap more heroes, surely?

Maybe it was just the blood loss talking, but I had to protect my nest.

I pulled a Smoke grenade from my vest and placed it on the flat of a dividing wall. A little walking never killed anyone, after all.

It was barely a minute later when the next fly found its way to my web.

I was sitting by the hole in the floor, braced as if I were considering hopping down. With the hum of displaced air, Roy appeared at the doorway with an untripped wire. He glanced down at it before giving me a wild grin.

Part of his suit on the left side was melted, and still smoking. Most likely from a run-in with Roxy. My bet was that he didn't beat her, but just escaped. In his right hand, he held a brick. Not the most advanced weapon, but it would be a quick way to knock someone out. Or shatter their skull.

Whatever his plan was, I could tell he intended to do it in one quick burst. He knew that dragging out a fight with me was just begging for me to find novel ways of destroying him and myself at the same time.

As soon as his expression cooled, I knew he would act.

I burned through Reflex and hoped it would be enough.

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