Target Tech
"Got another four! Easy there, son, you're all ok now."
Henry just rolled his eyes and gently pushed an elderly woman towards the man's arms before turning back the way he came, blatantly ignoring the rescue team trying to call him back. They were still doing that too frequently and it was holding him up. He didn't have time to explain, there were still far too many people to get to.
Not that he couldn't use the rest. He'd been at this for about an hour now, moving as fast as he could, gathering every trapped, lost or injured person he could find and guiding them safely to evacuation points. His energy reserves were getting low and the constant use of his powers was giving him one hell of a migraine, but he pressed on anyway. He had to. No one else could move with his ease throughout the area, or find stable paths for the civilians, to say nothing for those trapped. Bringing in the equipment and machines needed to save those trapped in the rubble was still an impossibility and would be for a good long time. Far too long for far too many to survive without help. There were enough dead bodies to find already and the number was only rising by the minute.
Taking off at a run, Henry headed back the way he came and scanned the area for more people. The area had always been far too compacted with people for him to hope he'd even found a fraction of the people nearby. A point proven to be true as another hand rose into the air.
"He…he…p-please he-lp!"
"Don't worry, I'm coming!" Henry called, making a beeline for him. Fortunately, the area around the latest victim seemed to be pretty stable, making it a lot quicker and easier to reach the guy than most.
It looked like this guy was one of the luckier ones. He was pinned down by a large chunk of concrete on his back, but other than that, there wasn't too much concern. The area around him was very firm and what could be seen of his body didn't appear to be injured much, if at all. Even his back could only require a little attention as most of the block's weight also seemed to be supported by the rubble around him. In fact, there was very high chance that his weak voice might have just been the pressure making it hard to breathe or even just shock or exhaustion.
Another act of fortune was that the block didn't turn out to be too heavy at all. Upon reaching the guy, Henry was able to lift and toss it aside with ease. That was great, it significantly lessened the chances of unseen damage. As long as the initial impact hadn't caused internal damage, then he should recover just fine.
"T-t-thank you."
"My pleasure." Henry replied, kneeling beside the gasping guy. Running gentle hands over his back, Henry grinned in relief at the absence of swelling or broken bones. "Let's get you to safety. Are you able to stand?"
"Yes, I believe I can." He answered weakly, slowly pulling himself up as Henry wrapped a supporting arm around him. "Thank you…" However, just as he got halfway, he spun like lightning out of Henry's grip and snagged the boy from behind, making Henry immediately freeze as a knife was placed at his neck. "For making this so easy, Henry Wong."
"What?" Henry cried, turning his eyes toward his attacker. "You know who I am? What do you want?"
"You out of the way, so I'm clear to go after the outsider who got me banished." The man answered, making a point to poke Henry with the point of his blade hard enough to draw blood when he shifted. He took the warning and stopped moving, but he still managed to get a good look at the guy. A Japanese boy in his late teens or early twenties with his hair tied up at the top of his head and traditional martial arts robes under his jacket. Which was hiding a lot of small weapons.
Over all, Henry was not impressed with him or his answer. "Unless your 'outsider' is in this mess, I'm already as out of the way as it gets. Now stop wasting my time, I've got lives to save."
"Careful, foreigner. I think you have forgotten who's in control here." The rogue snarled, poking his neck again.
"Actually," Henry started slowly, his eyes sharpening a second before they started glowing green. "I haven't. I just gave you a chance." His assailant didn't even have time to blink before a jerking on the blade ripped it away from Henry and a fist had slammed into his thigh. He started to scream, but before he could even finish that, the same arm elbowed him in the jaw before he was snagged by his newly disarmed and flailing arm and tossed over Henry's shoulder and into the ground.
Henry didn't relax however, for before thump occurred, multiple small, black figures surged at him from all directions. Twisting his back to avoid the first one and pivoting between the next two, Henry instinctively curved and swung his arms as he spun on the spot, landing open palmed chops to two more before finally bringing his spinning to a halt and launching forward with an open palm of the last attacker, landing it solidly into his belly and sending it flying away. With all of them stunned or evaluating him in after what he'd to their allies, he was finally able to do the same and couldn't stop himself from raising an eyebrow. His latest opponents were ninja garbed…monkey's? 'This is getting weird.'
However, that did trigger a realization that came just in time to throw up his arm and block a foot with opposable toes and fling the owner back with a glare as his new enemy landed cleanly on three limbs like an ape.
"If my memory is accurate, you go by Monkey Fist, right?" Henry asked, shifting his stance and his eyes as the monkeys prepared around him. "So I guess my would-be killer was your new hired help?"
"More like returning help." Monkey Fist smirked, shifting into an attack stance of his own. "Though I guess 'help' is a bit of a stretch right now. I'm curious, how did you disarm Fukudashi? You didn't touch it and there's no electronics in a blade."
"I guess there's more to me than you know." Henry calmly replied before smoothly blocking an attacking monkey from behind and grabbing him by the tail, swinging it into the next one while simultaneously kicking a third back into the leaping forth one. All before leaping into an aerial flip, dodging a swooping Monkey Fist, and landing as gently as a leaf on very precarious looking pile of rubble. He was quickly pursued by the few monkeys capable of getting back to their feet, however, that was quickly brought to an end when Henry kicked the pile and smacked every one of them back to the ground and unconscious with the debris before dropping into a stance before Monkey Fist again.
"Impressive. Perhaps even enough to cause me concern." Monkey Fist admitted, leaping in on one hand and lashing out with kicks while the other attempted to snag Henry's leg as he used open palm strikes and sidesteps to deflect or avoid every one.
"Trust me." Henry grunted, batting away a backfist as Monkey Fist spun himself back to his feet before pulling his fist back. "You've made a mistake."
Monkey Fist just smirked as he slid back to avoid the jab, however, it was quickly replaced with an anguished scream as single burst of green energy exploded against his torso and sent him careening into a broken wall. Grunting in pain, it proved quite the struggle just to sit up and glare at the boy raising a fist him, a single barrel raised from his gauntlet and the green glow of his narrowed eyes dulling back to grey. "And here I thought…you were an honorable fighter." He couldn't help but wheeze.
"Normally, yes. However, honor has no place in life or death and I've wasted enough time with you already." Henry retorted, grabbing a metal pipe and bending it in his hands as he approached the down villain. "This area seems pretty stable, so I'd say I can leave you here for now while I help with the rescue, but don't worry. I'll have you in the capable hands of the authorities before too long."
"Oh, I'm not worried, rest assured." Said Monkey Fist, flashing Henry a pained smirk. "We're far from done here."
"You're beaten." Henry stated firmly. "The only concern left for me here is whether I get charged for animal cruelty."
"True, if we were the main force." Monkey Fist's smirk only grew as the flinching villain suddenly forced his legs up, wrapped his feet around Henry's arms and pulled the unprepared boy down to his knees. "We were just the most surefooted."
Henry didn't have so much as the chance to gasp before that claim was vindicated by something slamming into his back and electrifying his body.
….
"We are now an hour in since the world was rocked by twenty simultaneous explosions and rescue operations are well underway. Most affected countries are still struggling with determining how to safely cross the terrain, however, there has been some success. Washington DC America appears to be getting assistance from multiple strange creatures that have sporadically appeared around the country over the last six and half years. Some places, including Sydney Australia and Berlin Germany, have miraculously reported that their explosions were far less damaging and in much less densely populated areas. Their responses are already well underway and so far have generated low casualty rates.
"Meanwhile, here in Metro city, while we have the biggest sinkhole on record, search and rescue responses have been much better than expected and we appear to have Capsule Corp to thank. Not only has the Briefs family deployed their line of new hover cars to assist with difficult locations, but a young man that we have confirmed came from the company has been redefining the term one man army. Many citizens have been successfully evacuated from the calamity by the boy that they described as a late teen of Chinese descent in an orange vest."
"The wall was crumbling on us and then he appears out of nowhere…"
"I'm on it, chief! I'm only waiting for my other test pilots to arrive and five more hover vehicles will be on their way." Bulma declared as she reentered the lab, winking at her phone screen.
"The Metro City police force is incredibly grateful, Miss Briefs. I thank you again." The chief replied before apparently hanging up.
"It's a shame this tech's still so new." Jazz sighed, offering Bulma a cup of coffee that she accepted with a thankful smile. "You have almost a whole fleet, but too few people are qualified to drive them."
"I know. Talk about a wasted asset." Bulma sighed, taking a long sip of her mug. "Of course, they're not the only ones. This also just had to happen while all of the Z Fighters are out of town! Videl's on her way, but she was across the country, so she'll take a while. Goten and Trunks are at Chichi's and I doubt they even know what's happened, not that I'm sure that they're mature enough to safely help with this anyway, and apparently Gohan's in China. If anything, he'll go help in Hong Kong."
"Ron would have been a great help too." Wade commented from behind them, where he was still searching for the villains' exit point. "He could have made all of the debris float up and away, clear paths. And throw it at whatever army's coming our way." He added darkly, drawing the girls' attention back to his work.
"Any luck on finding their new location yet?" Bulma asked with a sigh. That was just another reason she wanted to throttle Vegeta and the other Z Fighters right now. If the very people who attacked Go City were also the ones that blew up twenty major Global Justice bases, a fact that was still being hidden from social media, and they were all here, then they could really use their powerhouses right now. Their supply of heroes has gone from well stocked to short staffed at the worst possible time.
"No. Not a trace." Wade groaned, surprising the others as he actually stopped typing and rested his head into his arms. "The phone lines are going absolutely crazy right now! Everyone's trying to track down loved ones or organize responses or whatever and it's so much that even the fluctuations' readings are completely drowned out once they reach the city. They could be literally anywhere and who knows what they want?"
"It might have simply been an escape attempt." Jazz offered. She figured someone needed to stay optimistic. "After all, they did leave their evidence of teleportation behind in Go City. Maybe they realized that we'd found them out and fled to a place they knew they'd be hard to track in."
"Yeah, I suppose it is a possibility, but we still need to be prepared." Said Bulma. "After all, they have chosen the city that Wade's in. If Kim is a target, like Global Justice theorized, then Wade could be an objective too. In addition to that, there isn't a thief alive that wouldn't love to get their hands on Capsule Corp tech and it would take a small army to try and steal from us, even without our alien macho men around. That's why I had my dad tighten our security. This kind of chaos is perfect for a lot more than just hiding and scattering, after all."
"Like attacking someone out in the open." Wade added, slowly raising his paling head.
"Well, yeah, but what would make you think that of all things?" Bulma asked with a concerned frown. Wade just raised a finger to the news broadcast in response. Turning their attention back to the screen, the girls could only gasp and cry out in panic.
"In devastating turn of events, it appears that our new hero is being surrounded and attacked."
….
"Uuhhh!" Well, that was unpleasant. It was also embarrassing. Someone actually got a working taser close enough to use it against him. At the risk of sounding like Ryo, he sure hoped Rika never heard a word of that or he'd never hear the end of it.
"He's still conscious."
"We have an audience."
"Grab him."
Ok, he couldn't let that go on. He had to get back into gear. Every fiber of his being was burning from the jolt, but he'd have to just walk it off. After he used it to his advantage. After all, the thugs above him were confused by his wakeful state for good reason. On the average person, the question would be less about if the victim was conscious and more about whether he'd survive being struck by an electrical surge that powerful. Henry, however…
He could channel the electricity.
Forcing his body to relax for just a moment as red clad arms picked him up, Henry took every bit of external energy he managed to store before it dissipated and released it all at once.
"Wha-AAHHH!" Five men, all in red body suits and wielding electrified staffs found their weapons crashing into their bodies and flinging them away with a flash of green. The rest found the ground ripped from under them as metal debris was expelled from the area too, send them all plummeting to the ground.
Not giving his latest startled captor a chance to respond, Henry snapped his foot out and struck him on the back of the ankle before slamming his elbow into his back as the screaming thug fell, leaving him groaning in the dirt.
"You know…I'm sick of these sneak attacks." Henry growled between breaths, shaking the tension out of his body as the other grunts in red got back to their feet. "There are still far too many people who need help out here, so I'll give you one more chance to walk away unscathed. I suggest you take it."
"Not a chance, Bub!" The biggest one retorted, already charging right in. With that said, Henry's only response was to do the same. He'd tried the peaceful way, but if they weren't open to it, then he didn't have the time or energy to waste on them any longer than he had to. So that meant throttling them.
The thug shifted his staff for a stab, but before the two even met, a flicker of green on Henry had it spinning up and smacking the guy in the head with enough force to see stars before flying out of his now lax grip and into Henry's as the boy ran by, pushing the guy hard into a pile of rubble on his way to the next one.
More wary now, the others tried ganging up on him, some even tossing their clearly compromising weapons aside, but it still proved a futile effort. Blocking one guy's staff with his own, Henry easily overpowered him and sent the staff flying up as the thug fell back into an ally before kicking the third in the gut, easily sidestepping the fourth before snagging and tossing him and sweeping the fifth's feet from under him before giving him a quick, nonlethal jab of the staff's electrical current. The others charging in seemed a little more keen to keep their distance now and started tossing their staffs like spears, but with a single glare from Henry, every one already airborne had its electrical currents suddenly blow up and out, leaving them flailing in the air and harmlessly deflected by Henry's own staff, while those still holding theirs screamed as the electricity surged and struck them and left them twitching on the ground, effectively halving their numbers.
"Just what is this guy?"
"Trouble, man. Trouble." Henry just charged in at that, eliciting a couple of screams as the still standing thugs immediately halted their own charge and tried to scramble the other way. However, before they could get anywhere, Henry tossed his own staff like a javelin, sending it ploughing into the side a shaky pile of rubble and sending it crashing down right in front of the thugs, cutting off their escape. The men in red could only quake in their boots as their young adversary aerial flipped in between them and instantly started a fast series of chops, elbows, kicks and backhands. Within seconds, all of them were on the ground either groaning in pain or unconscious.
"Hai! You will make a worthy opponent." However, before Henry could even blink, another dark mass appeared out of nowhere. Spinning around, Henry's eyes widened in horror as a flash of metal filled his vision.
"AAHHH!" It was only by the miracle that was unstable terrain and a loss of focus that Henry didn't lose his head. Stumbling back, the boy found himself slipping and falling as rubble beneath his feet rolled away, narrowly avoiding the kill with a knick near his ear. Gritting his teeth and ignoring the rocks and metal scraps ripped into his hands and back, Henry flung himself into a roll to avoid a stomp before forcing his body into a sweep kick, forcing his newest attacker back just long enough to get a good look at him before flinging up his arm to block the katana with his gauntlet. "I thought Kim already put you back in jail?"
"No jail can hold me! I am ninja! I am strong as a mountain." The Sumo Ninja exclaimed, shifting his blade as he put more pressure down on it.
"You need a new line." Was all Henry said as his other arm shot up with a flash of green. The overweight ninja just gaped for a second as his blade was separated from its hilt before being blasted back with a scream. Though it wasn't nearly as affective as Henry thought it would be, for the Sumo Ninja quickly pulled himself back to his feet and stared warily at the energy blade coming from Henry's left arm's gauntlet and the four barrels that had been extended on its twin.
'What the?' That didn't seem right. 'Normally after that shot, they stay down. I'm usually worried that shot will break ribs and damage vital organs. How is he-'
"FOUR!" He didn't get the chance to finish that thought, for a second later, white projectiles were causing explosions all around him.
"GAH!" Blown right off his feet by the blast and pelted by debris it was ripping up and around him, Henry struggled just to get his bearings as he crashed down and rolled, only stopping as his shoulder slammed into an upright pipe. Biting his lip at the pain, Henry opted to just be grateful he'd ran into it rather than onto it and used it to help get back to his feet as he followed a maniacal laugh to find a pudgy man in a kilt standing on a large, fallen building.
"I shoot a good game, don't cha think, laddie?" The man, who could only be Duff Killigan, called down, already setting up more golfballs. "You never know where ma backspin will take it. FOUR!"
He wasted no time taking his club to the balls, even as the Sumo Ninja started his own next move, but this time, Henry was ready. With a simple wave of his hand and his eyes alighting again, Duff found himself screaming in terror as the balls curved back and exploded in the air, knocking him right off his perch, leaving Henry plenty of time to grab the kick coming his way and throw the big guy over his shoulder and…through the ground?
As unprepared and confused as he was for that, he didn't have to ponder it however, for even when he was in motion, he'd caught sight of another eight men, these ones already shooting darts from the distance, and was forced to move aside.
"Just how many people have they got after me?" Henry growled, glaring up at the new bunch as he took cover behind an upturned truck. The ones were wearing dominantly grey suits with a small red triangle on their chest and seemed to be far more fit than the red thugs from before. They were clearly smarter too, they weren't using mechanized weaponry to fight him and they were keeping their distance so he couldn't use his superior strength and agility against them.
'But still, they're only kidding themselves now.' He thought as the group prepped another round. They were out in the open and far too comfortable at the high ground. So, despite the terrain, there was no risk to anyone but his targets as Henry activated all of his gun barrels.
"Gargo Mega!" Jumping straight up onto a truck, Henry thrust his arms up and unleashed a barrage of bullet sized blasts, blanketing the latest batch of thugs and blowing them all back the way they came and, if their screams and thumps were anything to go on, down an apparently very steep fall. "That was easy. Maybe I gave them more credit than they deserved." Henry mused, frowning at where they'd been before. "I was expecting some kind of decent response."
"Such as keeping you distracted?" Another, heavily accented voice called from the left. Whipping around, Henry tensed as he spotted Professor Dementor with what looked like a Fenton Bazooka knockoff aimed, charged and already firing right at him.
"Oh nuts!" Henry was stuck. He was wide in the open, there was no way to slip away in time and as the electrical blast was already coming at him, mentally mangling the machine was pointless. Therefore there was only one thing left to try. So, Henry raised both of his gauntlets and targeted the incoming shot, preying he could charge enough energy in time. Mega Barrage!"
Every barrel simultaneously unleashed a green beam and sent them to meet the threat. Most converged into each other and crashed right into the opposing blast, bringing it to an abrupt halt while one from each arm bypassed it entirely and flew straight from the now wide eyed and terrified Professor Dementor.
"NO-ARGH!" He was blown right off his feet and sent spinning far away through the wreckage by the one that hit his left shoulder and upper chest, but in retrospect, that probably did him a favor. For it allowed for a little distance as the other made a direct hit with his bazooka which barely had any time to fly in the opposite direction before it blew it up. A display that was only magnified as the main cluster of Henry's beams, no longer impeded by the shut down blast, crashed right into the area with a huge boom and even more flying dust and debris.
Quickly cutting off his own attack, Henry couldn't stop himself from noticeably sagging and stumbling. He'd been pushing it for far too long even before this fight began and Mega Barrage was never a move to make lightly. He'd used more power than he knew he had and now his body had had enough. His breath was ragged and his knees were weak. It was taking a lot just to stay on his feet and his ability to maintain his stability was well and truly gone. His senses weren't much better. He was growing lightheaded and his mind wasn't registering everything he heard or saw properly. If this kept up, he could very well pass out before the next round.
Which was a serious problem, because the Sumo Ninja clearly either was or was possessed by the ghost accomplice Global Justice had revealed to them. Intangibility was the only way his disappearing trick made sense. He didn't even know if he could take down a ghost at his best!
"HA!" Speaking of the devil, he chose just that moment to appear out of nowhere again. Stumbling back with a yelp, it was only Henry's lack of balance leaving him falling backward that once again saved him from a very deadly fist. Sadly, it did nothing to stop the spin kick that followed a second later.
"GAUGH!" Pain exploded through Henry's side as he was sent almost bouncing across the rubble, its sharp edges ripping and tearing at his skin and clothes, until he smacked into and rolled up a fallen tree trunk. It was a struggle just to breathe, it felt like his lungs had frozen in place for a moment before the sensation was viciously replaced by hacking up bile. Though, he guessed he should be thankful he wasn't spitting up blood. After that blow, that was a miracle in itself. Though he was still losing blood from plenty of other places right now, most notably from a cut on his head. The red liquid running down his forehead was only making it harder to see.
"He is done! Victory is ours!" The Sumo Ninja cheered, raising a fist into the air as he almost swaggered his way across the battle field. Henry would have scowled at the display of arrogance if he wasn't fighting just to remain conscious. However, even that was a fast, losing battle. His vision was only dulling further and his body was growing more and more unresponsive. It would only be moments now before he'd pass out.
'Damn it! Not now.' He honestly wanted to cry, but he was well passed that point. 'I didn't even finish what I started. There are so many peop…'
It was at that moment that his wandering eye caught sight of it. A hand sticking out of the rubble. It was so small, definitely a child's. He hadn't seen any of it before, but this area had had a lot of debris tossed around in the last few minutes. They must have unearthed a buried victim…who was still alive! The hand was moving, weakly clawing at the world around it, trying to dig out. And it was right in the Sumo Ninja's path. He wasn't paying any attention to the ground whatsoever and even if he did, he wouldn't care. He was going to step on it, leave the child for dead and continue to Henry.
'Over my dead body!' At that moment, it was like a damn had burst open inside the technopath. His vision cleared and narrowed as he forced his lungs to take in air. A sudden surge of energy flooded through his veins and practically propelling him back to his feet, startling the Sumo Ninja into a complete stop just inches from the child, if only for a moment before he prepared to charge again.
Henry refused to let that happen. Every fiber in his being was screaming the same thing; save the child no matter what, and that's exactly what he was going to do. He had no idea where this energy came from, but he was going to use every drop of it to take out every single thing that dared to threaten that child. Starting with the ninja.
Even Henry had no clue how he did what happened next. One second he was standing by the fallen tree, the next, green energy exploded from all around him and he flew straight at the Sumo Ninja with a flying kick at the speed of a bullet. The ninja's eyes bugged right out of his mask as the shot hit right in the gut, sending him flying away. In addition, a car went zooming right after him, while metal scraps were violently ripped from the ground and flew in all directions. The resulting crashes was thunderous, but Henry didn't pay any of it any mind, having already whipped around and started digging for the kid, not even noticing the glow around his body or that the metal around him was still rising. Though that did make the excavation a lot easier and it was only a moment later that he was safely pulling up a gasping, coughing, very weak little boy out of the wreckage.
"Hey there. Don't worry, you're going to be ok." He muttered a soothingly as he could, wrapping the poor child snugly to his chest and rubbing circles into his back as the boy just cried into his shoulder, clinging to him as tightly as his weak and battered form could. While ensuring the kid had no obvious, significant injuries, Henry looked up to the sky. Multiple helicopters were hovering around the area. They were all from the media, but that was expected. The others were prepared for rescue, not the battle field this had turned into, and there were still countless people needing help elsewhere. Attempts to help here were too much of a risk for everyone. That was fine though. It didn't matter who they were, they would suffice as long as they came down.
The only problem was that they wouldn't land here. The area had only grown even more unstable with all the shifting metal and collapsing piles and, on top of that, there was no way to tell if all the villains were down for the count. At the very least, he knew Monkey Fist was still conscious and who knew about the others? No, he had to find another, more stable location.
So, without even thinking about it, he narrowed his eyes on the flattest area he could find, ignored what sounded like a heap of metal slamming together behind him and started leaping right for it with the same crazy speed he'd used to take out the Sumo Ninja. The booming clang of metal following him with every step he took, it took no time at all to cross entire fields to his destination.
The moment he was sure of mutual safety, he turned his attention back to the nearest helicopter and waved at it, motioning down and pointing to the kid. It took a couple minutes of hesitation from the crew and a few more demanding signals from the irritated Henry before he decided enough was enough and mentally reached out to the controls himself, thankful that the thing was flying low enough for his range.
Not even waiting for the helicopter to touch the ground, Henry ignored the group's spluttering and shoved the child into the arms of the reporter. However, before he could jump in himself, a scream from the pilot had him whipping his head around to find the damn Sumo Ninja already after him again. That settled it, he was possessed. He'd gone down to Team Possible far too easily to be able to get back up after what Henry did to him without supernatural help. And if that was the case, then flight was well within his power. Getting on the helicopter himself would only endanger everyone else in it. "Get him out of here! NOW!" The pilot needed no help with that demand, the second Henry let go of his mental hold on the controls, he had them taking off at top speed. In mere moments, they were a speck in the air.
Unfortunately for Henry, that was the end of his strength. He had just long enough to sigh in relief as the kid made it to safety before it felt like every drop of energy that appeared was sucked away. His vision was dulling, the pain coursing his body was returning fast and his limbs felt so heavy, a weight matched by his eyelids. It took everything he had just to raise his left up try to charge power into his gauntlet. There was no way he'd get any power to the one barrel he did miraculously manage to activate, but it was all he could do. Any attempt to move any more would simply have him collapsing. A single shot was his only hope.
The attempt ended in vein anyway, for before he could even make a spark, a black blur surrounded in a blue glow slammed into the gauntlet and smashed multiple barrels right off of it, leaving Henry screaming as the force of the blow sent waves up his arm and sent him flying back. A second later, a swampy coloured blur appeared right in front of him and spat what looked like a giant loogie at him, binding his entire body. Pointlessly, really. Henry barely made it to the ground before his exhaustion consumed him and his vision completely faded out.
….
Vlad had to admit, that turned out to be a lot harder than he'd expected. Every one of those who'd fought were well battered. It was a miracle they hadn't lost any one, other than the Sumo Ninja anyway. It was very fortunate that Bertrand had decided to overshadow the guy again and take him from his cell, for without the ghost, they may never have stood a chance. Even so, that host was far too injured to help any more, to the point where Bertrand had to resort to shapeshifting into him just to pursue their target. Hopefully, no one would notice the overweight man they were leaving behind until it's too late. As it was, his pawns were struggling to get everyone else and their prize out of the area as police and military forces finally came into view. They had no choice but to leave that loose end behind.
"So, the boy has more going for him than I thought." Vlad mused, rubbing his chin as he watched the news clips of the fight. "The skill set I was aware of suggested that this terrain should have given our team the advantage. I should have realized that you might have been packing something like this though. Some kind of electro-magnetic ability it seems." That would explain how he could move machine parts and wires together, items that couldn't possibly move themselves, without touching them. Vlad had seen him do it while spying plenty of times. There was just nothing from his records suggesting he could do anything this big. Well then, that made things more difficult for Vlad too. He needed to start preparing an answer to his new problem immediately. He needed a new holding place, fast. After all, he likely needed Henry conscious for what he wanted and it wouldn't do to have any metal he could use as a weapon anywhere near him.
Fortunately, he already had an idea.