Atomic Rebooted

42. Titanio

CLAIRE

It wasn't hard to find the source of the explosion. The big hole in the side of the local history museum was a pretty good indicator. Another good sign that that was our problem to solve was the figure emerging from the fire, wearing a mask that I'd only seen in the history books.

Well, it wasn't the same mask. It was similar, with the robotic gunmetal gray covering of the mouth and nose, and the little lights that blinked a sinister blood-red. The suit, of dark green, blood red, and black, it all painted the picture of the villain my mom had fought.

"Dark Titan?" I took a step back and shook my head. I wasn't able to comprehend what I was seeing.

"Close." The voice that came out was distorted, but there was something distinct male about it despite the robotic interference. I knew it like I knew the back of my hand—years of playing on headsets in multiplayer had trained my ears well.

"The name's Titanio. And I hope to someday be as great as Dark Titan." The villain tilted his head—I couldn't make out the color of his eyes, but they caught the lights of the city quite easily, giving off this glowing light.

"I'll enjoy testing my power against you, Psyche." A red light appeared in the palm of his hand.

The way the energy moved and flickered, I instinctively just knew, he had a power like mine.

I held my hands out, letting the silvery-blue light form a little web from my gloved finger-tips, preparing my defenses.

Titanio laughed. "So you have noticed, we have a similar skillset!"

He began to circle me. I turned—I wouldn't dare leave my cape exposed to him.

"What were you doing in the museum?" I slowly brought my hands horizontal, parallel to each other as that little silvery-blue web formed an orb of light, similar to the one in the palm of Titanio's gloved hand. "Don't you know better than to take what doesn't belong to you?"

"And don't you know better than to play the vigilante?" He raised his eyebrows. "We both seem to have forgotten important lessons. But that hardly matters now. Let's see what you've got!"

I spread my hands, and the light between my fingers formed a shield, just in time blocking his energy blast. It fizzled, my shield faltering against an equal but opposite energy.

I splayed my fingers, knitting back together the hole in my shield as he continued to circle me. When I met his eyes again, he stopped and looked down to his hand.

"Impressive." He then looked back to me. "I wonder how much longer that shield will hold up, however. Especially if you don't hold back."

"Give me your best shot," I snarled.

He threw his head back laughing. His laugh rang out like jagged notes from a broken synthesizer, discordant among the usual symphony of the city at night. "Bold—but I have a feeling you'll regret that."

He sobered, and he straightened his arm out toward me, placing the other hand over his elbow, as if he were stabilizing it.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

In rapid suggestion, energy blasts tore through my shield, and the force of the last one hitting sent me flying back.

I scrambled to my feet as he stalked towards me, like a monster in a nightmare. He clenched his fist and red energy began to crackle around his arm, and it transferred to the other arm where his left hand connected to his right elbow.