Who do you think you are? A Superhero? ACT I The One About Trash

Chapter 17 - "The One About Primals"

Massimo moved as quickly as he could, but hadn't gone far before a swishing sound filled the air and he jumped quickly to his side to evade the coming blade. The knife hit the ground with a thud just a distance from him and sank into it halfway. His eyes moved from the knife and followed the path the blade had travelled. They locked onto Trash's form at the top of the stairs. She shifted her weight to one side and smiled at him. The dim light in the corridor highlighted her features and showed the gleam of another blade in her hand as well as the malice deep in her eyes.
"Oops! My bad, the knife must have slipped," she said, feeling the weight of the knife in her hand as she twirled it between her fingers.. Massimo's eyes gleamed with a feral intensity and his claws stretched out while he kept his gaze on Trash. "I gotta say though, Captain, I've been thinking of you a lot since that day at the market. Have you been thinking of me too?" She fluttered her eyelashes and eased each word out carefully.
"It's over, Trash. Stop your games."
"Oh, you seem on edge. I can help you," she slid her fingers over the rails of the stairs seductively, "loose some of that tension."
There was no time for all of this. Massimo released a breath and lunched himself up the stairs with a snarl, his muscles tensed and claws outstretched. Trash grumbled something underneath her breath about Massimo being no fun, rolled her eyes and then surged forward herself. She sent her knife ahead of her, glinting in the dim light and aiming for Massimo's chest.
He struck it out of his way, letting it clang to the ground a distance away, and pushed his feet harder as he ate up the space between them. They closed the distance between each other and in a resounding...
Clash!
Claws struck against metal. Both gritted their teeth hard as they sent strikes at each other. Trash wielded her knife with lightning-fast speed, swinging and hurling them at Massimo from all directions. Massimo was quick to evade them all, sifting to his sides and hitting her at blindspots. As she threw a smaller knife at his face again, Massimo feigned right and as Trash turned in that direction, he dove to her left and threw a kick that sent her falling down the stairs and rolling a few before she caught herself.
Trash panted as she rose back to her feet, her chest heaving. She dug her hands into the ground and the earth shifted, shaping and refining into a dagger. Massimo hid his surprised at her ability well. Earth manipulation. Trash quickly made her way towards him, striking hard at Massimo. He blocked the coming attack with his arm, and Trash tightened her grip around the hilt of the dagger, pressing down hard. The blade sank into Massimo's skin and spilled blood. He held back a groan of pain and held his stamina. They were both so close now, Massimo could feel her hot breath rolling towards his face as she spoke.
"You fight well, Captain. Can't say the same about the dead dog downstairs," she told him, pulling her mouth into a dark smile.
Massimo's ears twitched and something dark grew in his eyes. He pushed back hard, and send the fist of his free hand flying towards Trash's jaw. The impact twisted her face to one side and cracked the air in a sickening crunch as it sent her flying across the stairs and back to the top.
Trash hit the ground with a loud cry. Regardless, she rose to her feet quickly, a raspy breath forcing its way out of her mouth. She clicked her jaw back into place and then spat blood on the ground beside her. Her eyes moved to the dagger in her hand, coated in Massimo's blood. Massimo's movements halted as he watched her move the dagger closer to her mouth and slide her tongue over the blood stain. He grimaced in repulsion while Trash seemed to smile even more and a deranged smile split her face in two.
"Would you look at that? Looks like I hit a nerve with mentioning that dog of yours. A half-breed. Really, Captain?" she chuckled lightly and then cracked her neck. "And here, I thought we had something special." She leaped forward, crossing the stairs and closing in on Massimo with alarming speed. Her movements showed no signs of the attacks she's taken. She was ferocious, if anything.
Massimo was ready for her when she sent three knifes flying at him. He jumped out of the way, evading the ones he could and striking the other down. When he looked back ahead, Trash wasn't on the stairs like she had been moments ago.
Sharply, Massimo looked towards the ceiling, a bit taken aback as he saw Trash hurling towards him at great speed with her blade gleaming. Massimo leaped into the air, using the wall as a momentary padding. He twirled and sent his feet claws striking at her. There was nothing Trash could do to escape his attack.  Not in time anyway. She raised a small wall of earth but it was no use. His force shattered the earth wall into dust and sent her crashing into the stairs with a loud rumble like she was just a bundle of meat tossed aside.
This time, Massimo didn't wait for her to recover from the attack. He hit the ground lightly and then he prepared his claws to strike at her before she could move, ending the battle once and for all.
He had only taken a few steps towards Trash's body when he froze, pausing in his movements as a small object click and rolled on the ground towards him. His ears perked as he recognized the small bomb, same as the ones used in the market the other day. Massimo spun around and jumped just before--
BOOM!!!
The grenade detonated. Dust and debris filled the air and there was now a gaping hole on the stairs where Massimo had once stood. The explosion has rocked the ground they stood on and left a ringing in Massimo's ears.
He groaned as he rose back to his feet and looked up to see Trash through the settling dust. She had risen from her position as well, bruised and wounded and was clutching her arm tightly. She spared a look at him and still managed a smile before she made a run for it.
A  number of figures appeared through the dust behind her. More hyenas. Massimo gritted his teeth. Trash hadn't played fair, and there was no way he would let her get away this time.
"Captain!"
He heard movements behind him and turned to see Izzy and Dominic rushing towards him. His attention returned to the hyenas. He stretched out his fingers and a low growl rose from the back of his throat.
Massimo charged like a rabid dog, striking down everything and everyone that stood in his way until he made it to the second floor and the entrance of Trash's office. He left bodies and screams behind him while Izzy and Dominic handled the others. He burst through the door leading to Trash's office. His eyes narrowed as he locked onto Trash's figure behind her desk, a smirk playing on her lips. She seemed to have been packing something in a bag on the table just before he entered.
"I knew you'd follow, captain," she cooed gently.  "I'm sure my men greeted you well? And if they didn't, perhaps these idiots will."
She wasn't alone. There were four muscled hyenas positioned around her while she watched playfully. They sprung into motion immediately, yelling as they tried to strike down Massimo. Just before they reached him, Izzy and Dominic burst out from his sides and tackled the attackers down, striking at them.
Massimo only spared them one glance before his eyes returned to Trash who rolled her eyes. He snarled and lunged forward, attempting to cross the distance between them. Without missing a beat, Trash raised a hand, and with a flick of her wrist, bars of iron and earth shot up from the ground, blocking off Massimo.
Massimo staggered his movements to a halt at the sight of Trash's current abilities.
And right then, as dust settled he registered the changes she'd undergone.
It was her primal form. Her form contorted and twisted as her features changed. She was taller, no doubt, and those reflexes of hers were sharper than before. Her muscles in the upper body bulged and rippled beneath her skin. While her lower body seemed like it had shortened, almost like, if she was entirely another person. Her claws glinted in the light and Massimo noticed they were longer and metallic, same quality as her knives. The hair on her body were raised so stiffly that a part of Massimo was convinced they were metallic themselves. She bared her teeth, revealing sharper fangs that could easily bite off someone's head.
"What the--" Izzy gasped at her position as she held off one muscled hyena.
"--hell is that" Dominic finished the words Izzy was unable too. It was impossible.