“Heroes pay no heed to words of evil.” Atlas said.

  The alley shuddered faintly as his presence seemed to settle into it, dust lifting from the ground in thin sheets. My wire surrounded him completely—loops layered at varying heights, all taut. The darksteel lines hummed faintly under tension, reacting to the subtle vibrations caused by his breathing, his weight, the minute shifts of his stance.

  He was encircled. Space itself was denied to him.

  But Atlas did not tense.

  He was surrounded by my wire, he has enough to worry about.

  He grasped a line with his right hand, and another line with his left. The instant his fingers closed, the wire shrieked under pressure. Blood surged violently into his hands, veins swelling until they stood out like cables beneath his skin. The ground beneath his feet fractured slightly as he anchored himself, weight settling downward.

  He snapped them both.

  The sound was explosive. Darksteel fractured, shards whipping through the air fast enough to embed themselves into nearby concrete. The recoil ripped through my arms, wrenching my shoulders forward as the tension vanished all at once. “I am above darksteel.”

  I pulled my right hand in, and a wire snapped towards his neck. The line cut the air sharply, creating a sonic crack as it accelerated. Atlas caught it mid-flight. The force tore into his palm, skin splitting open as blood sprayed outward, droplets flashing red before splattering against the walls.

  He straightened his arm and swiped all of the wire. The movement displaced air violently, creating a pressure wave that rattled nearby windows and sent loose debris skidding across the alley. The remaining lines wrapped around his bicep and forearm, cutting deep into muscle. Blood flowed freely, streaking down his arm and dripping onto the ground below.

  He had space now.

  The wounds closed as muscle contracted and skin tightened unnaturally, sealing the damage. Blood already lost pooled uselessly on the concrete, but his breathing remained steady, his posture unchanged. The loss meant nothing to him.

  I understood immediately—this fight would not be decided through attrition. It had to be settled in an instant.

  He took one huge step forward, exaggeratedly so, raising his fist up. The concrete beneath his foot cratered slightly, fractures radiating outward from the impact. His raised arm displaced air even before the strike began.

  A hammer fist.

  His fist came barreling down. Wind screamed alongside, pressure crashing into me ahead of the blow. I turned my index finger, adjusting my wire to block the attack, but he was too quick. I only got three lines of wire in between me and him.

  They shattered instantly.

  The wires snapped apart with violent force, fragments ripping past my face. His fist smashed into my chest, the impact detonating outward in a concussive shockwave. The alley buckled. Walls cracked. The ground beneath me collapsed inward as I was driven down, air exploding from my lungs.

  He followed through.

  It was as if a massive slab of darksteel had fallen from the sky. I felt ribs fracture, sharp pain blooming inward as something ruptured deep inside. My grip on the wire tightened reflexively as I skidded backward across shattered concrete.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I held onto my wire, but I was most certainly hurting. The damage was immediate and undeniable.

  He wiped off the side of his hand. “You lasted longer than I expected.”

  I curled my whole right hand. Four lines of wire surged upward in perfect synchronization, snapping tight around his neck. The wires crossed and overlapped, forming a lethal constriction designed to sever through bone and flesh alike.

  He recognized it instantly.

  He grabbed the wires with both hands, veins bulging grotesquely as he stopped them from tightening further. The tension screamed through the wire, vibrating violently.

  Only his fingers lay him from death.

  My trap was laid perfectly.

  I pulled the wire to my left, and I was like a fish on a hook. My body lifted slightly off the ground as the tension dragged me backward, boots scraping across debris as I retreated out of his immediate range.

  I vaulted onto the roof of an adjacent building, landing hard as the wire remained locked around his neck. “Even you can't break so many of my lines wrapped so tightly.”

  I coughed up blood, crimson splattering across the rooftop.

  In that moment of opening, he broke all four lines.

  The snap was deafening. The recoil sent shockwaves through the structure beneath me. His fingers were shredded, deep cuts gaping across his hands as blood poured freely. He ignored it completely.

  He ducked under the rest of my wire in that alley and jumped. We met midair, suspended for a fraction of a second.

  Eye to eye.

  I threw a line to cut his neck. He blocked it with an elbow, skin splitting on impact. He blitzed forward instantly, crossing the gap before gravity could reclaim us. His fist buried into my gut. The force folded me inward violently, internal damage worsening as something tore further inside.

  I launched a palm strike with wire intertwined around my fingers at his chest. The strike landed cleanly.

  The wire carved shallow cuts across his torso, but the impact failed to slow him. Atlas shifted his foot midair and side-kicked me in the gut again. The blow sent me spinning downward. As I keeled over, he followed with a downward elbow to my spine.

  The strike drove me straight through the roof.

  The building collapsed inward as I plummeted, crashing through floors and support beams before slamming into the basement. The air filled with dust and smoke.

  I used everything I had to retreat to the far end of the basement, dragging myself across broken ground where the ceiling sagged dangerously. Smoke and debris masked my movements as I forced distance between us.

  He descended moments later.

  A dropkick shattered the floor above, raining down violently. The impact shook the entire structure.

  He frowned. “You moved in time.”

  I had about half my wire left. My vision swam, darkness creeping in at the edges. Consciousness threatened to slip away. Atlas stood amidst the destruction like an immovable pillar, unshaken.

  Atlas was truly a champion. Someone worthy of being compared to Leo, Vellin, and Tektite. In overall combat prowess, he's better than Toda. Toda was better in strategy, but Atlas is overwhelming.

  I reached in my back pocket and took ahold of Surge. My fingers trembled as I brought it to my mouth. I chugged it all.

  Seventy percent of its full effectiveness.

  The effect slammed into me instantly. Muscles expanded, fibers tightening violently. Strength flooded my limbs. My senses sharpened beyond normal limits—every crack of settling concrete, every shift of Atlas’ weight registered instantly.

  Then came something else.

  Anger.

  My mouth moved. “Fuck you, you little piss ant.”

  The words shocked me.

  What? Did I just say that? I don't curse, it's unsightly.

  He took out a lighter. “I don't believe I heard you correctly.”

  You absolutely did, bitch.

  What am I thinking now?

  My body wrapped my wire around my fists, movements unfamiliar yet terrifyingly efficient. “Can't believe we share the same body. How long's it been since I've last come out? Ten years?”

  Atlas brought a cigarette to his mouth, lighting it. “I can't believe what I'm seeing and hearing. You had a split personality the entire time? Or are you just faking it?”

  With Surge enhancing my body, I went past his perception. I vanished from where I stood.

  I reappeared mid-motion and punched him in the cheek with my right fist. “Sorry, little bro. You fought well. You won't remember what will happen, and that's for the best.”

  Midair, I cocked my left fist for a follow up. “Someone like Hematite can't get down and dirty the time calls for it.”

  Atlas’s jaw bent unnaturally under the force, then snapped back into place as muscle alone realigned it, "You really are a split personality! This is great!"

  He planted his feet. His eyes burned with ferocity as he raised his guard to meet the incoming blow.

  “Let's get down and dirty, motherfucker!”