THIRTY-SIX

The Hoarder’s fist came at The Athlete’s face. Instead of flesh it hit the metal stretcher the hero was tied to. The Olympic champion had managed to loosen the binds to his right side, moving away from the villain’s blows.

The Athlete rolled off the stretcher. “The mastery of my body and joints are perfect, Hoarder. No big deal for me to wriggle out of something like that. Houdini’s got nothing on me!”

The Hoarder’s fist came at the hero in superspeed again. The Athlete barely managed to step away. Invulnergirl was amazed how fast his reflexes were. She was pretty sure he had no real superpowers, but still he was able to dodge a punch at superspeed. If only she could get out of her binds as easily as he could. Guess that was where his years of experience came in?

The Athlete ran to Invulnergirl. The Hoarder ran past him at superspeed, blocking him. The hero feigned a punch at The Hoarder’s face that the villain easily dodged. The punch was just a ruse for the real attack. A kick against the villain’s knee. There was a cracking sound that made Invulnergirl slightly nauseous. The villain lost his balance and fell down.

Quickly The Athlete tugged a knife that was hanging from The Hoarder’s belt out of its sheath. With a few quick cuts he freed Invulnergirl.

“That was amazing!” she said.

“Yeah. Hate to do damage like that to someone, but breaking his knee will slow him down enough for the bubblegum to wear off,” The Athlete said.

The Hoarder drew a gun from his belt. It looked very futuristic to Invulnergirl. “I don’t need to be able to walk to kill you!”

The villain fired the gun, a laser blast emitting from it. Now it was Invulnergirl’s turn to show what she could do. She jumped in front of it, taking the blast right in the chest without any harm.

“You’ll find me very hard to kill,” she said. Then she did a spin kick that caught The Hoarder right in the face. The bubblegum flew out of his mouth.

The Athlete showed his lightning quick reflexes again, jumped and caught the gum in his hand.

“Now we’d like the rest of the gum you have,” Invulnergirl told The Hoarder.

“You really think I’m that easily defeated? I’ve got some more tricks up my sleeve,” The Hoarder set. He pushed a button on his belt and suddenly there was an awful screeching noise.

Invulnergirl’s ears hurt so much she went down on her knees. Apparently her superpowers couldn’t defend her from a sonic attack. She covered her ears, but her hands couldn’t really keep out the noise. She didn’t know how The Athlete was able to stand it long enough to reach the villain and tear the belt off of him, but he did. The noise stopped.

A blade ejected from The Hoarder’s gauntlet like a stiletto. It slashed at The Athlete, who was just able to evade it. The blade drew some blood, leaving a red mark on his chest.

“Enough!” The Athlete said and punched the villain with all his might. The Hoarder dropped down right on his face.

Invulnergirl gently touched The Athlete’s chest. “Oh god… You’re bleeding…”

“Just a scratch. I’ve had much worse. Let’s search The Hoarder’s clothes for more of the bubblegum. He won’t be out forever. I suggest you do the searching. He might have some boobytraps on that costume of his.”

“Sounds logical,” Invulnergirl said. She did however, worry about it a bit. She’d come to trust on her invulnerability but had twice found out now her indestructibility didn’t protect her from all danger. First the gas, then the sonic attack. Of course, a hero was a real hero because she dared to face danger even though she could be in mortal danger.