Zero Sum

A Triad Against One

"You think you can make a fool of us boy?!" The plasmorph flew through the air as his fangs and claws found the neck and back of his target. 

The jaws and claws of a lion are strong enough to kill bears in one blow, decapitating, shattering bone and caving in skulls. Right now these incisors are about to bury themselves into the sole source of resistance of the bank robbers. 

The plasmorphs name was Ivan and his visored companion was called Sam, "Why is Sam having so much trouble with one crook?" he wondered.

Rock, as the robber would come to be called, had little time to react as he turned to see the lion-like Ivan sink his fangs into his right shoulder.

"His flesh seems much denser than it should be" thought Ivan as his jaws struggled to sink into the skin of his target. 

Rock cried out through clenched teeth, careful to withhold showing any hint of weakness, at the sensation of having a veritable bear trap sink into his skin.

"Perhaps", Ivan hoped to himself "I was worried over nothing, I have torn apart criminals tougher than this puny criminals' shoulder muscles after all." 

However, Rock did not seem to be staggering, rather he seemed to be composing himself instead.

"Either way," Ivan reassured himself, "if I can't take him down, I'll hold him down just long enough for Sam to incinerate him."

While being suspended above his opponent, this of course leaves the plasmorph at a disadvantage. While in the air, lacking the power of flight, he cannot change his direction. All he can do is to clench down on his target even harder, seemingly unable to properly takedown his stubbornly stiff prey.

Through sheer instinct, Rock begins to lower his center of gravity. "Get offfa me you overgrown rodent!" He shouts, while still being clawed by the big cat, Rock starts to somersault in a forward direction midair. Now both of them are airborne. 

Now instead of predator Ivan has become prey. Sensing his efforts to subdue the criminal are failing. The force of his pouncing has been redirected and is now being turned into an overhead throw. No longer in control of the momentum, it is now the plasmorph who is the one being himself flung in another direction.

"Why the hell am I upside down now?!" mouths Ivan through his clenched jaw, which is slowly losing its grip on the target, due to the sheer force of the throw.

Rock tumbles forward in the air. Spinning the now hapless predator overhead with a surprising amount of force. Instead of using his fangs and claws to perforate his prey, Ivan is now using them to hang on to the prey to prevent himself from being thrown uncontrollably far away by this unexpected literal turn of events.

"Go join your friend," Rock says and now grabbing the lionman by his mane "it looks like he is missing you." Using the redirected momentum from the somersault, added with substantially more force than an average bank robber should be able to muster, especially against a lion-like predator, Rock launches him off of his shoulder.

"Ivan's plasmorph form is based on an creature that can take down bull oxen with a single paw. Why is he having trouble with this simple crook?" Sam wonders to himself and starts to question just who it is that their unit is up against. 

But there is no time to be asking questions right now, and thanks to his experience in combat, the dazed Sam is already preparing another ocular blast to put a stop to this unprecedented amount of resistance. "Go down you freak!" shouts Sam as he faces his foe and fires his kinetic ocular blast.

Whether intentional or not this criminal had the foresight or sheer fortune to have flung the predator on a trajectory that is on a collision course with the visored man. Whether or not this criminal suspected this sneak attack from Sam or not remains a moot point. Because Ivan has now been turned into a projectile. The predator has been launched, his prey having thrown him off and in Sam's direction faster than he can prepare a counter.