Gunfire echoed through the room as several dozen Multis opened fire. Rain Dancer’s electricity extended out around him in an electromagnetic shield, either deflecting or redirecting the bullets, some of them hitting friendly targets.
Malcolm dropped low to the ground, glancing over at his fellow champions. Anna was nowhere to be seen. Greenthumb had smashed his potted tree on the floor, and powerful roots were tearing through the metal to reach the Earth below. Tapestry met Malcolm’s gaze and nodded.
“We have to hang back for now!” she shouted. “If we try to help, we’ll only just get in-”
A grenade exploded in the space where Rain Dancer had just been standing, destroying part of the wall of the command center, but missing the demon by a few feet. One of the Multis pulled his arm back to launch another. Rain Dancer struck it with electricity before it left the man’s hand, blowing him up and the three Multis clustered nearby.
This isn’t a fight. This is war.
“Fools!” yelled Rain Dancer. “You will all die!”
He deflected a barrage of bullets into another group of Multis. Already, at least half of the copies were no longer in a state to fight against Rain Dancer, and the demon was taking sadistic pleasure in finishing off the wounded, even as he fended off the rest.
“We can’t wait any longer!” Malcom yelled to Tapestry. She’d picked up a rifle from a fallen Multi and was already staring down the sight at Rain Dancer.
Malcolm ran in a crouch, pushing himself forward with the wind and hurrying around to Rain Dancer’s blindside. One of the Multis tried attacking with another grenade. It made it into the air before Rain Dancer hit it with lightning, exploding it overhead and blowing a hole in the wall nearest to Malcolm. He tried not to shake off how close he’d just come to dying as he prepared to attack.
A hawk swooped in, scraping claws across Rain Dancer’s face. It was Anna, in her transformed state. Rain Dancer screamed in annoyance and blasted out his lightning, knocking her across the room and back into human form.
Malcolm launched himself forward, taking advantage of Anna’s distraction. He managed to get in close and slam his fist into Rain Dancer’s stomach. Rain Dancer, however, was strong even disregarding his powers. The demon immediately countered with a hard elbow to Malcolm’s jaw, followed by a burst of lightning.
Malcolm felt pain explode across his body as he tumbled back across the floor. He lifted his head up, watching as the battle continued. The remaining Multis were trying to pull their numbers into a single unit. Tapestry was running up the stairs to the second level, presumably to find a spot to snipe from.
Greenthumb was wearing a tree. Malcolm blinked in disbelief, his eyes focusing on the details and taking a moment to comprehend what they were seeing. Greenthumb had expanded the tiny potted plant he’d been carrying into a massive, intricately twisted, living body of wood.
It looked like the result of a god twisting a tree into the shape of a giant, leaving a small space in the center for a human to fit inside of. Leaves adorned his head in place of hair. Massive, knots composed the hands, with roots for fingers. It moved far faster than Malcolm would have imagined, the branches creaking from the strain.
Greenthumb descended on Rain Dancer, the demon looking like a child up against a giant. He smashed one of his tree trunk arms into Rain Dancer, knocking him across the room. Rain Dancer’s lightning shot out against the metal wall behind him, somehow slowing him and preventing serious injury as he collided with it.
“A tree?” shouted Rain Dancer. “Lightning is made to destroy trees!”
He blasted a single strike of intense lightning at Greenthumb’s tree body, exploding a section of the wood and lighting it on fire. Greenthumb shook himself from side to side, knocking loose a cloud of leaves which flew toward Rain Dancer, creating a distraction.
Tapestry began opening fire with the rifle. Rain Dancer let out a howl of pain as one of the bullets grazed across his shoulder. The remaining Multis joined in with their rifles. Rain Dancer let out a wordless bellow and unleashed a massive, spherical wave of lightning, knocking Malcolm back and breaking Greenthumb’s tree armor into splinters.
Malcolm rose to his knees, his head pounding. Black stars danced across his vision. Rain Dancer was walking slowly across the floor of the command center, electrocuting the wounded Multis with the same casual efficiency a housewife might use to vacuum the floor.
Greenthumb was struggling to stand, leaves and vines wrapping around his arms and legs to prop up his wounded body. Tapestry and Anna were nowhere to be seen, and neither was the original Multi.
If we give up now, we die!
Malcolm stood to his feet. He leapt into the air, flying upward for a moment before letting himself fall toward Rain Dancer feet first, in a drop kick.
“Fool,” said Rain Dancer.
The lightning hit him and ejected him up and out of the hole in the roof of the command center.
CHAPTER 35
Malcolm managed to focus his powers enough to cushion his fall, but only just barely. He landed in the parking lot outside of headquarters and tumbled for a few feet, feeling his skin scraping against the gravel.
He groaned, and sat to find that he wasn’t alone outside the compound. Shield Maiden stood no more than five feet away from him, just as shocked by his sudden appearance as he was.
“Wind Runner…” she said, slowly.
Malcolm was still amped on adrenaline from the battle inside, and moved faster than she did. He leapt toward her with the wind, managing to get his hand on her wrist before she could encapsulate him in a bubble shield.
He felt the tingle that meant that he’d absorbed her power and almost groaned. Tapestry’s regeneration would serve him better in a fight to the death.
Hold on… Wait a second.
He took a step back from Shield Maiden and quickly called on her power, putting a bubble around her before she could do the same to him. Malcolm waited for a couple of seconds, wondering if she’d have control over the shield, given that he’d made it using her power.
“Let me out of here!” came Shield Maiden’s muffled voice. “You idiot! That’s… how did you do that?”
“We all have our secrets,” said Malcolm. “Hang tight for a couple of minutes.”
He turned back toward headquarters, his body aching at the idea of rejoining the fight. He pushed his exhaustion aside and jumped into the air, using the wind in a directed burst to lift him up to the dome’s roof.
Malcolm dropped back in through the same hole he’d been knocked out of. The situation inside was even more dire than it had been before he’d been ejected. The Multis were dead or dying. Greenthumb was lying on his back, unconscious or dead, with a terrified looking Anna crouched over him.
Rain Dancer was torturing Tapestry, shocking her with the full might of his electric power. He laughed as her skin melted from the intensity of the electricity, her regeneration trying to heal and failing against the onslaught.
“Surprise!” shouted Malcolm. He used Shield Maiden’s power, trapping Rain Dancer in a shield bubble before the demon even noticed his return.
“What… is this?” shouted Rain Dancer. “Shield Maiden!”
“No,” said Malcolm. “Just me.”
“How?” screeched Rain Dancer.
“Sometimes it’s handy to keep the full extent of your powers under wraps.”
He glanced around. Anna wasn’t paying attention to anything other than Greenthumb. There wasn’t a single Multi left standing. It was tragic, but it also meant that Malcolm could hopefully go a while longer without having to reveal his power mimicry to his allies.