Author's Note: I feel like I should apologize for not knowing that reviews from guests weren't turned on by default, I'm not too familiar with 's layout or settings, criticism of any kind towards my story is welcome, trash it, praise it, be indifferent towards it, I don't care, and will not moderate any reviews as I do not believe in censorship of any kind.
I was unable to find the perfect format, as the new format type that was used was unsuccessful in translating without error to the site,
For anyone wondering "Where's Jenny?", as Mr. Incredible once said, "We'll get there when we get there."
I felt a need to take some creative liberty with Smytus in this by making him a bit more… competent, honorable, confident and brutish, so sorry in advance to anyone that was expecting the following to be an entirely perfect match to his demeanor/personality in the show.

I tried to figure out Smytus' height from the show by using Jenny (who is 6 foot 6 inches tall) for scale, and came up with 10 feet of height, Smytus is 10 feet tall, you heard it here first folks.

(You guys can use that information to figure out Lightspeed's height later on in this chapter if you're curious.)

Chapter 3- Smytus' Folly

Lightspeed felt a chill uncomfortably worm its way down his spine in response to the eerily glowing eyes of the cluster automatons, their hawkish barrel chested leader and their 2 captives falling on him.

The all too familiar caustic metaphorical mixture of primal terror and anger began diluting the much needed adrenaline that was coursing through Lightspeed's brain and body.

Lightspeed was already teetering head first over the metaphorical cliff of all he considered to be normal and knowable, and was about to fall headfirst into the utterly alien and bottomless chasm of the unknown that lay in wait below it.

As terrifying as the rapidly approaching experience could be, Lightspeed would have to weather the storm, he couldn't let the apprehension growing within him get the best of him, the chips were down and he had to fight.

A small volley of laserfire accompanied by what Lightspeed could've sworn was the "clinking" of metallic chunks hitting his armor's internal spall liner snaps him out of his split second stupor.

In his split second stupor, it would seem that a dozen of the lesser cluster automatons surrounding Brad and Tuck had gotten their hands on much needed armaments and split off from the main group, charging towards Lightspeed whilst firing their laser-rifles at him.

After a few milliseconds, Lightspeed chooses to meet his foes head on instead of allowing them to come to him, charging forwards with no regard for self preservation, whilst picking up speed at a rapid rate.

After all, the "contact scenario" between his right fist and the first automaton's torso hadn't caused his end or the end of this dimension, so it was unlikely that more "contact scenarios" of a similar nature would.

Smytus stands unmoving, a spectator to the rapidly incoming clash between his soldiers and the uninvited and unrecognized interloper in their midst, with an expression of pure annoyance on his face.

Brad and Tuck are spectating from within the grasp of Smytus' arms, with nothing but a mixture of pure excitement and apprehension on their faces, practically on the edge of their metaphorical seats.

Within a few seconds, the literal clash comes, with Lightspeed plowing through three of the small group of cluster soldiers with (some) ease, sending them sprawling to the ground or trampling them underfoot, costing him nothing but the stability of his footing for a brief moment.

In part to the absolutely absurd amount of momentum that can come with his armor whenever he gets up to speed, and the muddy conditions, Lightspeed goes sliding on his feet a solid 20 feet past the remaining and still standing cluster soldiers, who immediately turn around and chase after him.

"Permission to assist our comrades in their fight against the armored interloper, Supreme Commander Smytus?" the automaton to Smytus' right asks.

"Denied, I want to see how this goes." smytus replies rather cooly.

The automaton that asked the question simply nods his head in response to Smytus, and continues observing the action alongside his commander.

Before the now diminished wave of his adversaries can reach him, Lightspeed jogs forward once more to meet them head-on once again, coming to a complete stop within arms distance of the automaton leading the charge.

Before the automaton leading the charge can even react, Lightspeed grabs ahold of the laser-rifle in the automaton's grasp with both of his hands, and rips it from its metallic pincers, before sending the automaton sprawling to the ground back first with a hard right kick to the torso.

The automatons surround Lightspeed and a rather rough and chaotic melee ensues, with the automatons managing to batter Lightspeed's armored form multiple times in the ensuing chaos with their laser rifles to more effect than firing them at him (these blows actually hurt.)

Lightspeed retaliates to each blow in kind, bludgeoning a cluster soldier atop the head two times with the barrel of his own new-found laser rifle, said soldier had just previously scored a blow to his back with the butt of his own laser rifle.

A cluster soldier shoves his comrade who was now falling to ground in response to Lightspeed's ruthless bludgeoning to the side and steps in front of Lightspeed and cracks him across the chest with the butt of his laser rifle. This attack causes a sudden and massive wave of pain to shoot up Lightspeed's torso, for it had exacerbated the already perilous condition Lightspeed's chest was in, given his broken ribs.

The pain quickly fades allowing Lightspeed to retaliate, he smacks the offending automaton across the face with his laser rifle, shattering the glass cover for its optic sensors, the impact of which sends it sprawling to the ground.

Wielding the now rapidly deforming and denting laser rifle like a club, Lightspeed cracks another cluster automaton on the right side of it's head, sending it sprawling to the ground without provocation.

Realizing that the "melee and surround" approach wasn't going to work and they had just lost another quarter of their group, the automatons step back, forming a rough circle around Lightspeed, creating about 10 feet of distance between themselves and the armored interloper that had cut their group's numbers in half.

Without warning, one of the cluster soldiers to Lightspeed's right mindlessly charges towards him, Lightspeed reacts to it by turning his attention towards it, scoops up a handful of mud and throws said handful of mud at the soldier's face with his right hand.

The mud hits its target and splatters across the automaton's face, obscuring its vision.

Despite it's vision being obscured, the automaton continues to sprint towards Lightspeed, upon it entering arm's distance, Lightspeed sweeps the cluster soldier's legs out from under it with his right leg.

The automaton falls to the ground back first, before it can get up, Lightspeed delivers a jumping stomp with both of his heels to the fallen cluster soldier's torso, driving it's body deep into the mud.

"ENOUGH!" smytus shrieks.

Lightspeed diverts his attention back to Smytus, who now has both of his hands free, the two boys are now being held captive in the arms of the two cluster soldiers to Smytus' right and left.

"Units S-999, S-222, S-998, S-111, and S-505 dis-engage and return to formation, and leave your fallen comrades behind!" smytus barks whilst glaring metaphorical daggers at Lightspeed.

The remaining cluster automatons surrounding Lightspeed mindlessly race back towards Smytus and the remainder of their comrades without a second of hesitation.

A few seconds of silence and absolute stillness from both parties pass, save for Smytus' eyes silently studying Lightspeed's armored form up and down, as if sizing him up.

Lightspeed's armored chest is slowly rising and falling with each breath he takes, which Smytus immediately takes notice of.

A smug smile that practically oozes confidence forms across Smytus' face, a few seconds afterwards he says the following:

"I must say I'm impressed, despite having the grace, subtlety and versatility of a blind elephant you've managed to defeat 7 units of one of the best cluster drone squadrons the cluster empire has to offer." smytus says with a mocking congratulatory tone.

"You're definitely no creation of Dr. Wakeman, you're flesh and blood under that metal." smytus states.

"Is my breathing really that visible?" lightspeed silently thought to himself whilst thinking of a reply to Smytus' statement.

"I have no idea who this … Dr. Wakeman is." lightspeed replied.

Smytus goes wide eyed in response to Lightspeed's statement, which immediately sends a shiver down Lightspeed's back, a shiver that he hoped went unseen by Smytus.

Lightspeed couldn't help but feel that he had made a huge mistake and said too much.

"Well then, with this newfound information, you have my full attention, you're not from around here, are you?" smytus asks, his voice dripping with malignant undertones of malice mixed with curiosity.

Lightspeed cringes in response to Smytus' question, it was times like this that he was thankful that his face (and more importantly his emotions) were completely obscured by his armor.

The last thing Lightspeed wanted or needed was to let Smytus know he had more or less hit the nail right on the head.

Now overflowing with worry that Smytus would figure out he had hit uncomfortably close to the mark due to the resulting silence that now filled the air, Lightspeed quickly blurts out the following retort:

"What's it to you?" lightspeed said with a rather unconvincing resolve in his voice, whilst silently cursing himself for not putting more bravado into his tone before speaking.

"You should feel honored, it's not everyday that Supreme Commander Smytus, The Destroyer of Worlds diverts his full attention to anything, especially a flesh wearer!" smytus said matter-of-factly, with an arrogance that was beginning to really get on Lightspeed's nerves.

"What do you call yourself, may I ask?" smytus asks, his voice practically overflowing with curiosity.

After internally debating with himself on whether or not to give Smytus the real answer or a fake one, Lightspeed comes to the conclusion that there would most likely be no harm in giving him his hero alias that he used back home, after all, Lightspeed wasn't his real name, it was just that, an alias:

"The name's Lightspeed." lightspeed replies.

Lightspeed could feel the loathsome pain of his broken ribs returning to his chest, his second wind was starting to fade and he knew it, he had to think of a plan to finish things, rescue Brad and Tuck and he had to think of one fast.

"Well Lightspeed, I think that our little…." smytus states before being cut of mid-sentence by Lightspeed:

"I have a proposition for you, Smytus." lightspeed interrupts, with a confidence to his tone that surprised even himself.

A mild look of shock appears on Smytus' face, as if Lightspeed's statement had caught him completely off guard.

A few seconds of silence pass before Smytus regains his composure and responds with the following:

"Go on…" smytus said with a confident tone to his voice that had undertones of uncertainty metaphorically leaking out of it.

Lightspeed didn't know what Smytus was capable of, but it was obvious that if he accepted Lightspeed's proposition, a fight with him wouldn't be as one sided as his fight with the cluster drones.

"You and me, right now, if I can make you yield in hand to hand combat you and your forces withdraw and go home empty handed." lightspeed said.

Upon realizing that Smytus wasn't biting, Lightspeed was quick to add:

"Come on, what do you say, as one warrior to another." lightspeed said, adding on to his previous statement.

The "warrior" part was a half-truth at best, Lightspeed may have been adept at fighting but he was no killer, the thought of crossing that blood-red line he could never return from and slaying another sentient creature (besides the void entity and it's minions) outside of a life and death scenario made his stomach churn.

After a few seconds of silence passed, Lightspeed's heart was beginning to sink, he was losing his opportunity to make Smytus bite and fast.

Lightspeed didn't want to have to resort to the "chicken card" as it was childish and it might anger Smytus to the point where he'd refuse to accept and attack Lightspeed outright, but Lightspeed was running out of options, and given the ego that Smytus wore on his nonexistent sleeve, it might just work.

"What's the matter, afraid you might lose?" lightspeed said, with a tone filled to the brim with as much overconfidence as he could muster, before quickly adding:

"To an organic no less?" lightspeed said, metaphorically rubbing salt into the wound.

Smytus' allies turn their attention to their leader, as if expecting him to do something, he turns around and meets their gaze with a "don't you dare say anything" look to his eyes for a moment before turning around to face Lightspeed, who is still around 50 feet from him.

"And what if I make you yield?" smytus spat, a look of intense anger forming on his face.

Bingo, Smytus had taken Lightspeed's bait, hook, line, and sinker, now all he had to do was reel him in with what he had to offer in case, lord forbid, he lost.

"You can take me to Cluster Prime in the stead of those two boys." lightspeed said, and was quick to add:

"There I will show you the secret to the alloy that this armor is made of, I'm certain your Queen would be very interested in learning how to make it, as weapons of cluster design are powerless to damage it." lightspeed said with as honest a tone to his voice as he could muster.

Now that part was a bold faced lie, the secret to the alloy that Lightspeed's armor was made of was one that he would take to his grave.

All Lightspeed could hope for is that his tone of voice didn't betray his intentions and that Smytus was stupid or arrogant enough to not consider the possibility of Lightspeed going back on his word once they got there… assuming if he lost of course.

"DON'T DO IT LIGHTSPEED!" tuck managed to scream out loud before a mechanical pincer from the cluster drone holding him captive covers his mouth.

"Do we have an accord?" lightspeed said, ignoring what Tuck just screamed, whilst slowly closing the distance towards Smytus with an outstretched and open right hand, as if wanting to "shake on it."

Smytus scrunches up his face and goes silent, mulling over the possibilities of accepting Lightspeed's request.

If he lost, he would be humiliated, would go back to Cluster Prime empty handed, and Vexus would not be pleased.

On the other hand however, if he won, and Lightspeed kept his word on that alloy, the rewards and their implications would far outweigh whatever leverage the cluster had to gain from using 2 fleshy humans as bargaining chips against XJ-9.

After a few seconds of internal deliberation, the answer was very obvious, Smytus would accept, he was no fool, after all, what chance could an armored organic have against The Destroyer of Worlds?

Smytus puts his best "poker face" on, trying his best not to betray his internal feelings of excitement and anticipation and begins to walk towards Lightspeed, opening and extending his metallic right hand.

"I never thought I'd see the day when someone would display a confidence at the prospect of facing me greater than XJ-9, but here we are." smytus said.

"I have no idea who or what XJ-9 is." lightspeed replied simply.

A small smile forms on Smytus' face in response to Lightspeed's statement, accompanied but what Lightspeed swore was a small chuckle.

The two soon to be fighting foes meet each other in the middle of the clearing, with about 20 feet between them and the group of cluster drones, with nothing but the intense falling of rain droplets all around them and the occasional "crack" of thunder, as if the heavens themselves were emphasizing the already growing tension that was accompanying the rapidly approaching clash the two were about to undergo.

"Are there any conditions that I should know about?" Smytus said, whilst glancing down at Lightspeed, whom he towered over by a whopping 3 feet and 10 inches.

"Just two." lightspeed said, whilst somewhat shakily staring up at Smytus who towered above him, adding:

"Number one, hand to hand only, no tricks, no cheating of any kind, and number two, both of your feet stay firmly on the ground the entire time, those wings on your back are not to be used or I'm out of here and far away faster than you can blink, understood?" lightspeed said with an almost emotionless tone to his voice.

"Understood, you have yourself a deal, Lightspeed." smytus said whilst offering his hand to Lightspeed.

The two "shake on it" for a few seconds, with Lightspeed managing to offer as firm a hand-shake to Smytus as he could muster.

Lightspeed could feel the pressure the internal side of the plating of his armor was placing on his hand in response to Smytus' grip, it was just as Lightspeed had suspected and feared, Smytus was much stronger than his cluster drone counter-parts.

The two cease their cordial gesture of "shaking on it", back up a few steps from one another, and place both of their hands at their sides, slowly tensing up whilst balling their hands into fists.

An awkward few seconds of stillness and silence pass, with neither committing to attack the other, before Smytus breaks it by saying the following:

"Because I'm feeling generous today, I'll give you the first blow for free, no tricks, no retaliation, give me your best shot, right here." smytus said whilst pounding the lower part of his metallic chest a few times with his balled up right fist, as if to emphasize his point.

After some hesitation, Lightspeed breaks into a full sprint towards Smytus, upon closing the distance between himself and his much larger opponent, Lightspeed puts all of his body weight and speed into it and swings his fist at Smytus' torso with as much force as he could manage without running the risk of breaking his own right hand.

The fist flies forwards with nothing but a deafening "crack" and a small shockwave to accompany it, as if Lightspeed's right fist just broken the sound barrier.

The sound of Lightspeed's blow coming into contact with Smytus' chest finally arrives, a deafeningly loud "thud", sounding more like a tank shell slamming into the armored plating of an enemy tank than a punch.

A wave of pain immediately shoots up Lightspeed's right arm, originating at his knuckles; he had overdone it and had most likely broken them.

Not expecting that powerful an impact, Smytus loses his balance and ends up falling ass-first onto the muddy ground a few feet from Lightspeed.

Smytus briefly gazes down at the newly formed fist shaped indentation on his chest plating before gazing back up at Lightspeed, wide-eyed and dumbfounded at the unexpectedly high brute strength of his opponent.

Not one to show weakness, Smytus immediately regains his composure and stands up.

Smytus lets out an audible grunt and throws a right hook at Lightspeed's torso, Lightspeed attempts to dodge just out of the blow's reach, but he loses his footing in the mud and the blow lands dead on, breaking his already broken ribs even further, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling to the ground.

As he lay there, trying to regain his wind whilst still reeling from the pain in his chest, Lightspeed came to realize that his armor was as much of a hindrance in this situation as it was a help, the cumbersome weight of it was causing his feet to sink into the mud like tank treads.

Lightspeed's usual strategy of punishing every mistake and whiff his opponent made that was standard for fighting any opponent larger than himself wasn't going to work here, the mud wouldn't allow it, he would have to mindlessly trade hits with Smytus and hope that Smytus fell before he did.

"Had enough yet?" smytus sneered whilst looking down at Lightspeed who was still lying on his side.

Lightspeed silently gets back onto his feet in response to Smytus' question, before beckoning Smytus to come to him with his right index finger.

Smytus sprints towards the now un-moving Lightspeed, and delivers a hard right hook to the left side of Lightspeed's head, Smytus momentarily loses his footing after delivering the blow, but regains it quick enough to not fall face first into the mud.

Unlike last time, Lightspeed absorbs the blow fairly well considering the size difference between the two foes.

The impact of Smytus' fist momentarily makes all vision in Lightspeed's left eye darken and blur, after the initial "thunk" of the blow comes the unmistakable "clinking" of metallic chunks hitting the armor's internal spall liner, a sound that always horrified Lightspeed whenever it occurred.

Lightspeed responds to the blow and returns it in kind two-fold before Smytus can attack him again, thrusting his left and right fists into Smytus' chest.

Smytus slightly staggers backwards in response to the two blows, but is otherwise un-phased, save for the two new dents on his metallic chest.

The "bout" between these two fighters had very quickly devolved into an "Irish Stand Down", with no maneuvering around the metaphorical "ring" they found themselves in, all that was left was the apish stratagem of the two opponents taking and throwing punches at one another.

The two exchange blow after blow after blow, with neither side gaining the upper hand in this "Irish Stand Down", that is until Lightspeed delivers a gruesomely brutish right hook to Smytus' jaw, which stuns him.

Not being one to miss the opportunity that came with another opening to attack Smytus, Lightspeed throws another right hook, which Smytus casually blocks with his left hand.

Before Lightspeed can pull his right fist away, Smytus clamps down on it with his left hand, and try as he might, Lightspeed couldn't rip it free.

In retaliation to his right hand's newfound and unjust imprisonment, Lightspeed throws a left hook at Smytus' face, which Smytus blocks with his right hand.

Before Lightspeed can react, Smytus also clamps down on left hand, with a smirk forming across his face in response to Lightspeed's feeble attempts to free it.

A gruesome grapple quickly ensues, with both parties attempting to force the other to the ground whilst struggling to maintain their balance and footing in the mud, looking more like a German and a British soldier engaging in a death struggle in the trenches of World War 1 than two opponents grappling.

Neither side seems to have the advantage and despite their best efforts, the struggle between the two very quickly reaches a stalemate.

The audible sound of the internal servomechanisms of Smytus' upper body and arms "screeching" in protest accompany the arrival of this new struggle between himself and Lightspeed.

Smytus was at the limit of his strength, but given the very obvious shaking of Lightspeed's armored arms, he was as well.

If Smytus didn't want his internal servos to overheat and seize, he would have to break this stalemate with Lightspeed, and fast.

Smytus releases his grip on Lightspeed's hands and sends him sprawling to the ground and skidding along it with a right kick to the chest.

Lightspeed comes to a stop on his back a solid 30 feet from Smytus, unmoving and seemingly lifeless.

"Had…. enough yet?" smytus asked with a fairly exhausted sounding tone to his voice.

As much as Lightspeed hated to even think about it, he didn't want to get up. Every second of this fight and every blow he took or dished out, was absolute agony for him, as every single last drop of pain-numbing adrenaline had long since disappeared from his system.

What other choice did he have though, he didn't have the luxury of giving up in this situation.

Besides, he was never one to stay on the ground after being knocked down unless he was physically incapable of getting up, unfortunately for Lightspeed, he was rapidly approaching that point, as the pain in his chest was starting to become too much for him to bear.

Gathering what little strength he had remaining, Lightspeed gets back onto his feet once more, and begins sprinting towards an exhausted looking Smytus, who looked too exhausted to even avoid the incoming attack.

This would be Lightspeed's final chance at victory, he would hit Smytus with every ounce of strength he had left in his body, even if it shattered every bone in his right arm.

After a few milliseconds of sprinting, Lightspeed closes the distance between himself and Smytus, and with a deafening "crack" even more intense than the one from the first blow of the fight, delivers a blow that shatters a portion of the metallic plate the covers Smytus' chest the size of a football.

The force of the impact sends Smytus sprawling to the muddy ground back-first, with oil dripping from the new-found hole in his chest plating.

A look of shock and horror forms on the faces of the cluster drones who had been observing the fight, their gazes rapidly darting between their wounded commander and the armored interloper that had just defeated him.

After a few seconds of hesitation, seemingly taking time to "collect" himself after what had just occurred, Smytus stands up whilst clutching at the newly formed hole in his chest plating with his left hand before saying the following:

"Very well fought, Lightspeed, as much as it kills me to have to say it, I'm going to have to concede." smytus said with a tone of exhaustion.

"I value my life far more than my pride, and I know when to go while the going's still good." smytus bellowed, with oil leaking from the gaps between the metallic fingers on his left hand.

"Keep the two flesh-wearers, we'll come back for them and you later!" smytus hissed, regaining some of the bravado to his tone that had previously seemed lacking.

Smytus snaps his right thumb and index finger together producing a metallic "clunk", in response to this, the two cluster drones restraining Brad and Tuck relinquish their hold on both of them, and shove the two boys to the ground face first.

The two boys immediately get up and make a b-line towards Lightspeed who is standing still and looking at Smytus, coming to a stop within arms reach of their savior's left and right.

"Enjoy your small victory while you can, Lightspeed, because you've just painted a target on your back!" smytus screams.

"S Units, leave all fallen behind, we are departing for Cluster Prime!" smytus bellows after turning his attention to his fellow automatons.

Without warning, Smytus soars into the sky and boards the cluster starship that had been hovering above ominously with the use of his wings, the cluster drones follow suit.

Within seconds of the automatons boarding, the Cluster starship's afterburners roar to life once more with an audible "boom", before flying away and disappearing into the dark sky and out of sight.