I could see Dynamo and Cheshire beyond the torn gate of the factory. The former was pulling chunks of concrete the size of her torso from the sidewalk, hurling them like baseballs at Visionary. The Artisan whirled and twisted in the air in a series of smooth dodges, his spheres hammering her with more laser fire but struggling to push her back.

  Each shot slapped into her with earth-shaking force, and the few that missed had carved deep, red hot trenches into the asphalt.

  Cheshire, meanwhile, was rapidly teleporting around him, baiting out blasts from Visionary’s helmet. It was never enough to get a clear opening to actually hit him. They were doing what they could to keep him off balance, but the bastard knew how to multitask.

  I focused back on Trailblazer, who jumped away from a diving strike from the creature that smashed a broad swathe of asphalt. The Speedster hurled a flurry of fireballs from both hands, each one exploding against the creature and making him shriek in pain.

  The burned flesh blistered, glowed where the flames struck, and the heat waves rose off him in rippling streams.

  Foresight seized on the opening, one of his eye beams striking Trailblazer in the side and sweeping him off his feet. “Choke on it!” Foresight shouted. I whipped my yo-yo down, the hard shell driving into the hero’s stomach in mid-flight and slamming him into the asphalt hard enough to fracture it.

  I wasn’t worried about Trailblazer being able to take the hit. Guys like him were superhumanly sturdy by their very nature. They had to be, or their own speed would tear them apart.

  Still, I allowed myself to smile as he bounced and rolled across the broken ground. Getting a hit on him felt damn good.

  “Come on, pour it on, don’t let-”

  I was cut short as he rushed away, Foresight’s next blast striking where he’d stood a fraction of a second later. I felt him before I heard him, his shoulder tackling me and sending me tumbling, a throb of pain flashing through my chest. I skidded, struggled to halt myself. All for nought as I crashed through a wooden crate, crushing it flat in passing.

  Lassie lunged at Trailblazer, who’d halted in place landing that hit, the tazer in her mouth digging into his back. Trailblazer howled and spasmed in place, screaming “FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!” His body vibrated with tremors of immense speed, hard for the naked eye to track, doing what he could to try and dislodge her. Lassie clung tight to him, pressing the assault, clinging to him with limbs that could bend steel. Her tazer was stronger than a store-bought stungun, that was for sure, but not enough to down a man as sturdy as Trailblazer.

  I struggled to my feet, wobbling uneasily all the way, just in time to see Trailblazer whirl around in a flourish of speed that launched my fucking dog into the nearest wall. Her armor bore the brunt of the impact, bricks heaving and shattering away from her, and she let out a synthetic howl of pain.

  I grit my teeth, the cords of my neck flaring. “You fucker!” I hissed.

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  “Keep... down,” Trailblazer huffed, a few twitches rocking his lean body.

  Sudden tremors rocked the ground, and I spun around to see the creature charging at him. He looked different, his once smooth hide now speckled with scales. A wave of fire washed over him, yet he kept charging without a care. His bulk slammed into Trailblazer, too dumbstruck to react, driving him into a wall.

  Stretch’s arms unfurled like a pair of whips, palms broadening, and she pinned him harshly in place. I moved in to close the gap, whipping him across the face with the yo-yo in a series of harsh strikes that echoed across the yard. “Don’t touch my fucking dog!” I snarled. Took a lot of restraint to keep the blades in the casing retracted.

  Trailblazer groaned, lurched, blood trailing from is mouth in thick streams. The creature padded closer, hissing, his claws raised high. That snapped me to attention. I didn’t like the guy, but killing a mask was bad news, even for second stringers like Trailblazer.

  Dad had explained it to me once, the masks had been on a tear after Silver Wolf got killed by the Mad Men. Superheroes, like cops, did not take kindly to one of their own being killed. It would set a bad precedent if a killing went unanswered and so they would scour the world for their quarry, and most villains would give you the cold shoulder rather than risk being caught up in the mess. My career as a supervillain would come to a very sudden end if this creature gutted the guy.

  “Hey. HEY” I whipped the yo-yo out, the steely cord wrapping around his wrist and growing taut. “Stop!” I pulled with all my might, digging my heels in, but it was like trying to tow a truck.

  And yet the creature did stop. He turned slowly and stared at me with dull, uncomprehending eyes. Then he moved away, leaving Trailblazer hunched in Stretch’s grasp. He turned away from the Speedster, forgetting him entirely. Lassie made her way over, a slight gait in her step.

  “One down,” the rubber girl said, dumping him on the ground.

  “Okay,” Foresight said, looking toward the exterior of the lot. “Then I guess that just leaves-”

  A thunderous boom echoed around us, the noise of steel tearing and ripping filling the air. We rushed closer to the torn gate and I could see one of the Vision Spheres slamming Dynamo into a row of cars, crushing them into a great pile of scrap.

  Cheshire appeared in front of us, huffing for air. “Shit, Toymaker. This guy... is tricky,” she said.

  “Clearly,” I replied. “But...” I reached into my pouches with one hand, gripping a handful of jacks. They regained their charge over time, once they remained in proximity to each other. By now that should have been enough, and I could feel a tingle up my arm as I gripped them. “I’m gonna try and make an opening.”

  Someone had to, with the spheres striking and blasting Dynamo to keep her off balance.

  I sprinted forward before the others could say anything, doing my best to ignore the creature as it started to pad after me. Visionary had wheeled toward me, cursing when he realised his partner was out cold. He started to pull his platform back, perhaps going to call for reinforcement,

  I focused on the springs in the soles of my boots, the hollows of which I had asked Binder to leave for me in the first place, and launched myself several meters into the air with a cartoonish boing noise.

  The lines of Visionary’s orb-like helmet lit up with a blinding blue glow and at that moment I hurled my jacks forward, braced for what was to come. Electricity danced between them, the barrier shuddering and straining against the blast. But it held, and I was free to whip my yo-yo forward and rocket it into Visionary’s gut. He wheezed, struggled to hold himself upright, leaving enough time for Stretch to elongate her arms and catch his platform by the edges.

  Something whistled through the air and smashed into his size, a silvery lump of scrap metal, and that impact sent Visionary flying from his perch. Foresight blasted him before he hit the ground. His body crashed into one wall across the road, bricks splintering and cracking apart. He went limp as he finally hit the ground, but I could see he was breathing.

  “Shit,” Cheshire said, her voice edged with laughter. “We actually... did it.”

  I nodded, trying to quell the thunder of my own heart in my ears. Glancing aside I could see Dynamo heading our way, emerging from a large and smoking crater with broken chunks of Vision Sphere tumbling from her hands. They had gone at her like a barrage of artillery, and had still failed to leave a mark.

  She punched her fists back together, returning to normal in a flash.

  “Come on,” I huffed, quickly scooping up my fallen jacks. “We gotta grab the lathe, and the guns, and get the hell out of here.” I turned slowly, staring up at the stupid looming creature.

  “This guy might be a tight fit in the van,” I mumbled.