Hyperdrive

Chapter Four - The Encounter

Codeus stands upon a raised dais overlooking the entrance to the control centre and the room around him. Machines all buzzing and beeping, lights flashing and upon the balcony an exit doorway to somewhere K'aarn can't quite make out as he walks in through the hole in the wall where the door was previously.

"I told you if you came hunting for me again I'd make the rest of your short lives horrid" Codeus grunts in the same croaky gargle as before.

"And while you were beating my near unconscious body I told you I'd rip your fucking spine out, you should've seen this coming."

"Funny, you didn't rip my spine out while I was beating you last time."

"This time you don't have your backup dancers, and this time I don't have holes in my arms. So yeah maybe last time I was at a bit of a disadvantage but as of now it's spine ripping time."

He leaps towards the balcony area upon whichever the dais rests, his black lightning coating his arm as it begins to reach peak voltage, he nears closer to Codeus' face and begins to swing his fist. He makes contact with a large spiked ice barrier, his fist shattering through the magical wall, but the manoeuvre has given Codeus just enough time to dodge out of the way. He makes a beeline for Arya as she draws her subs, raining down hot plasma at him, the ice he summons as a shield deionises it to a gas instantaneously. Spikes begin to fly at Arya and her shooting abruptly stops as she desperately rolls and flips around attempting to dodge the cold shards of death, he follows up with a kick to the head, as Codeus leaps towards her, arm outstretched as if reaching out to touch an angel he is grabbed by the leg, and dragged backwards through the air.

K'aarn's fist slams hard into Codeus' plexus with the force of a meteorite. The wind is knocked out of him again as his body smacks against the metallic flooring of the center. K'aarn grabs him by the throat and launches him into the balcony on the opposite side of the room. Following up with a blast of lightning so hard Codeus' leftmost face plate begins to melt. 

"Arya, I promised you that you could kill him, so hurry up and kill him already."

In the second that he is distracted Codeus forms a shard of ice and pushes it hard into K'aarn's chest. The brittle spike snapping against his armor like a twig.

"This is a Kevlar-thread with added Vanadium, you stupid fuck, you really think a little bit of frozen water is gonna pierce through me?" K'aarn scoffs. 

K'aarn feels the blunt force of a kick to the chest as Codeus puts all his strength into the ball of his foot, snatching one of K'aarn's pistols from the holster as he does. He takes a steady aim at the visor on K'aarn's face but a well placed shot from Arya takes his fingers off. Codeus knows he can't win alone. He takes his chance. Shortly before jumping over the railing of the balcony he runs to the console near the wall hole. A loud screech pierces the air and an alarm, different to the one from before starts. Codeus leaves through the archway on the balcony.

"Self-Destruct in fifteen minutes..."