Liam was moving, arm aiming at the figure hidden in the gas, as if of its own accord. He only grasped what was happening when his taser dart fired forward. The thunk on his arm added to the effect.

With understanding of what was happening coming back to him, Liam decided not to stop. Skip was on the other side of the room, standing in the broken window of the store. This was Liam’s chance. This was where he would put a stop to the threat to his family. He wouldn’t wait for the man to spew forth some monolog. Skip had attacked Mel, Liam wouldn’t let anyone who did that escape.

Liam imagined the dart connecting. Of Skip falling to the ground, convulsing. Yet life wasn’t that easy and fighting a teleporter was even less. The man was gone before the dart was halfway there. The little projectile was left sailing through where the man had been. A pocket of clean air that was quickly encapsulated in gas. Continuing on, the dart passed through the window and into the void of green beyond.

“Really, is that all you can do?” the former Hero taunted from somewhere in the murkiness around them.

“Who is that, Source?” Wire asked as she twisted around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice.

Liam spun as well, looking for his former teammate. He’d nearly done a full 360 when he spotted a blur of black near the cash register.

Glaring at the man, Liam said, “Let me introduce you to Skip. My former teammate.”

There was a rustle of clothing as Wire reoriented herself. The large hazmat suit she was in was flexible, built for a Hero to fight in. Yet it was still an additional layer over her normal outfit.

The drones around Wire moved. The three forming up behind the two Heroes. They’d planned for this day. Running simulation after simulation. Each a chance to hone their strategy, refine it, and then build upon it. And from all that work, this gave them the best chance.

“Not introducing your companion? That’s not very nic-” Skip started, only to vanish before he’d finished talking.

Liam noticed a blur of movement to his left and turned. He’d been fast, but against someone who could be anywhere in a blink, it wasn’t fast enough. Skip’s arm, knife held firm, rose to meet him. Only it didn’t. A robot, with reflexes Liam could only hope to match, was there. Metal claw reaching toward the fallen Hero. It’d be close, but the robot would arrive first.

The man teleported out of the way before contact was made, leaving Liam scanning the room again. Looking for his quarry. For all the field of green told him he was alone.

A grunt from behind was all the signal Liam got. He spun on the spot. Again a knife was directed at him, and again a robot was there. It’s body blocking the attack mere inches from Liam’s head.

Before Liam could respond, Skip was gone again. Leaving Liam unable to counter attack. It looked like Liam wasn’t the only one who’d learned in the last few months. His former teammate had taken their previous fight to heart.

“Your fight is with me! Or are you afraid to stand like a man?” Liam taunted. Hoping to goad Skip into the open. Against Gladius, the move would’ve worked. But with this man it was a dream not even worth the effort to voice.

There was another goal, though. And that was to keep the teleporter's knives away from his vulnerable teammate. While he was sure his suit could take the beating of a knife attack, he wasn’t sure about hers. Sure it was a combat rated biohazard suit, and could take a few knife attacks, but given the green gas floating in the room, Liam wasn’t inclined to find out just how long it’d last. Not that he was given much time to think about it.

Skip appeared again. This time right in front of Liam, knife somehow gleaming in the gloom of the gas filled room. Liam moved to block the attack, his arm coming up to catch the blade against the back of his forams.

One of the robots moved forward to join Liam. Its arms supporting his as the blade sailed in.

Just as the blow was to land, Skip was gone. Liam, expecting contact, had braced himself. His posture prepared to counter the backward push of his opponent. Now, he was left with nothing to oppose his weight.

The clang on his back was as much expected as anything when facing a teleporter. When it pushed his already off balance form forward, Liam could only frown. Swinging his arms, Liam tried to fall with grace, but ended up in a heap. The only bright spot was Skip’s knife wasn’t able to pry into him during the fall.

Rolling around, Liam faced where the attack had come from, one hand propping up his body. Where he’d been standing, robots clawed at the empty space.

His former teammate was at it again. Using his tried-and-true methods of attack. Liam had known something like this was coming, yet he’d fallen for the attack. He couldn’t be doing that if he wanted a chance at victory.

Liam had spent days planning for this fight. Nights orchestrating the moves like some grand chess match as he drifted off to sleep. Liam growled, he’d known about that attack and still fell for it.

Calm down, Liam scolded himself. He’d have to do that if he wanted this to end the right way. After all, planning for a fight was one thing. To know how it would unfurl was something else entirely. Even if things weren’t going exactly as Liam wanted, he could still stall the man as he worked toward the end game he’d designed.

Liam took a deep breath, he’d have closed his eyes and centered himself, but Skip prevented that. The lack of focus was enough to kill him. Instead, Liam was forced to find what little control he could in the moment.

“I’m going to stab her just like I’ll do to your sister,” Skip taunted from within the gas.

And the calm Liam was working for was gone. The room they were in became a corridor as Liam’s vision tightened. The boiling in the pit of his stomach he’d been feeling since last night was there again. The pressure building as it searched for freedom.

The feeling had no more entered his mind then it was pushed aside as robots swarmed through the opening of the building. He and Wire were in for a tough fight.

...

Nudge moved, pulling the strings of life as he went. From his pockets, the little seeds responded. Green growths pushed outward as they fed off his power. In seconds the plants had grown into true vines and poured forth, from the pockets hidden over his suit.

Each seed he carried was a species he’d specially created. Their genes manipulated in ways people without his power were centuries from mastering. Not that he truly needed the seeds, but the shortcut they provided was always appreciated.

The seeds he was calling forth now were his favorite. Not because they were the most sophisticated, but because of their practical use. The vines were naturally fast growing and strong. And with his control, they became a hundred limbs only he could use.

The vines from his pocket expanded until they were thicker and stronger than anything found in nature. Easily as wide as a bodybuilder’s thigh. And with their strength they bore him into the air.

It wasn’t just the seeds in his pocket Nudge called to act. The weeds between sidewalk blocks, the flower hanging on a shop window, even the grass, heeded his call. All growing out of their confines and into the broader world. Each plant, a part of him sitting at the back of his mind. Like a whisper floating by.

Reaching out with his power, Nudge felt the people of the town. The adrenaline pumping through their bodies, the rapid heart rates, all clear signs of the fear that was gripping them.

Nudge also felt those succumbing to the gas, closing in on a final rest. Their bodies being torn apart by the chemical within.

Nudge could’ve healed those close to death. Or at least suppressed the effects, but he didn’t. He needed all his attention on the man on the roof. Any mistakes now and the man would escape. It was his actions that had allowed all of this to happen. He would make sure they ended it today.

The lesser action he could’ve taken was to calm the fear running through the civilians. Unlike healing, that would’ve been an easier task. Dispensing the adrenaline in their bodies and allowing them to think clearly. Yet he stopped himself from that as well. Through decades of work he’d found that people who can analyse a situation, yet don’t comprehend what they were seeing, tended to face indecision paralysis. A situation that would lead them to their deaths. Fear on the other hand broke that nasty little problem. Triggering the fight-or-flight responses every animal had. In this case, the civilians had chosen to flee as a group, a good decision.

Then there was the last reason Nudge didn’t act, his rules. First amongst which was not to meddle with other peoples bodies without their permission. It was so entrenched in the core of who he was, he’d barely used that ability in the last decade. The lack of practice made him question his fine control over such a large area with so many subjects.

Yet he wouldn’t make it through the day without using the power again. With Bank-Breaker nearby, he’d have to use that ability to bring the man down. All he had to do was get close enough to the man. Fine control wouldn’t be an issue then, he’d brute force the work.

Nudge took to the air, his vines lifting him upward as Tank continued on the ground. Her speed sent her forward faster than he had any hope of matching. Even with his stories tall green legs.

Ahead of the pair, in the streets around their target, robots rose into view. First a few, then dozens, until hundreds of the flying machines were floating there. Their glowing red eyes staring down the approaching Heroes.

Nudge knew the man wouldn’t come by himself. He was nothing if not a coward. So the new arrivals weren’t a surprise to him. Plus, the whole scene had a certain flair of nostalgia wrapped in it.

Nudge nodded at the choice. If Bank-Breaker wanted to end things like they’d begun, he could get behind it.

Bank-Breaker, standing on his own building, seemed to acknowledge Nudge’s feelings. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the machines forward, signaling the beginning of their final fight. The hundreds of metal creations followed the order. Each moving in perfect unison as their metal claws clanked open and shut.

Red flashes followed a moment after. The robots blasting lasers at Nudge. Each shot begging to tear through him.

As the shots sped forward, the gas twirled in their wake. Little eddies of green in the sea around them.

Nudge pushed his power into his green friends. Plants from the ground grew into the attack’s path. Each strike was soaked up by bark and branches. The destruction to the plants left Nudge under no delusion. He wouldn’t be able to take more than a few glancing blows of its fury.

During the barrage, Nudge fired a few blind shots at Bank-Breaker. A mailbox, plant holder, and street sign joined into the parade of projectiles sent flying towards his opponent by his vines. Nudge wasn’t under the impression that any of these attacks would work. Yet he wouldn’t just sit there while the other man attacked him. He had more pride than that.

Each of Nudge’s attacks, that got close to Bank-Breaker, was met with a metal clang. Robots swarming up to take the attacks in place of their creator.

Through the exchange, the Heroes pushed forward, into the withering barrage. Closing less than half the distance, Nudge needed to use his power when the opening salvo came and the sides clashed in earnest. Tank, fulfilling her namesake, charged ahead. Absorbing blow after blow as the robots swarmed around her. With every two attacks she took, she left a broken robot in her wake. Any foolish enough to get within striking range met a swift demise.

The display was enough to give Nudge pause. If he were to take all of those attacks, he’d crumble, yet Tank did it with ease. Holding firm against impossible odds.

Shaking his head at the woman’s ability, Nudge took advantage of the wake she’d formed and sprung ahead. His vines took him over the center of the fighting in one leap.

Closing in on his target. Nudge glanced at the man on the building, expecting his opponent to be on the move, building distance between them. Against expectation, Nudge found the man standing still, ignoring the fight as if waiting for the bus. His hat and coat concealing most of his form from an imagined rain.

Lunging forward again, Nudge faltered, then started to fall. One of his vine legs had given out.

Using his still functioning leg, Nudge pulled himself to a stop, balancing on his solitary green pillar.

Looking at the failing leg, Nudge found the problem. Metal claws were tearing away at the plant. The robots proving metal was in fact tougher than a vine.

Looking back to Bank-Breaker, dozens of the robots had returned from their initial attack to hover in front of him. The man was still just out of Nudge’s range. This was going to be a little harder than he expected, Nudge thought as he crushed the robots attacking his former leg. With that problem taken care of, Nudge readied himself for the next phase of the fight.