LABORATORY #5
Barry the Chopper was not having a good day.
The big guy was QUICK. Which wasn’t fair, because he was strong, too. Barry had several dents in his armor, from where those metal glove-thingies had pounded the holy hell out of him.
It wasn’t a one-sided fight though, Barry had gotten in a few swipes. None of them had been any good hits, but he’d scraped a little skin from his arms, and gotten a light gash in on his side.
Barry wasn’t too worried. The big guy was only flesh and blood, after all. MEAT! Soon enough he’d be tired, and Barry would be ready with his knives…
Major Alexander Louis Armstrong was not having a good day. He’d lost two good men to this maniac’s knives, before he could step in. What’s more, the fellow wasn’t being cooperative. His punches should have been rattling him around in his armor like a mouse in a bell, but the man didn’t even seem to be slightly hurt. He’d managed to knock the giggling maniac back a few times, but he’d always sprung right to his feet again…
And his armor had bulletholes in it at various points. Bulletholes, but no blood. Major Armstrong frowned. Something is wrong here. I’ll have to end this quickly.
He pounded his cesti together. Hate to do this, but he’s a menace that I can’t ignore!
“What’s wrong?” Called the armored man, in his strange, hollow voice. “Getting tired already?”
“Hardly! I merely wanted to show you a technique that’s been passed down in the Armstrong family for generations…”
And he charged Barry the Chopper.
Barry shrieked in joy, and ran up to him, bringing his cleavers screaming down at Armstrong’s shoulders…
“THE FAMOUS ARMSTRONG FLYING LEG DROP!”
…As Armstrong lowered his center of gravity, slammed his hands into the ground, and FLIPPED head-over-heels, slamming his feet into Barry’s chest! The cleavers, aimed for the bulk of his torso, gashed the cloth of his trousers and the skin of his thighs as the two of them collided! Barry’s knives went flying, and they rolled in an ungainly heap, over and over before fetching up against a wall. Major Armstrong held him pinned, his knees folded over Barry’s arms, and his arms holding his legs. He was practically sitting on Barry’s head.
And having trouble staying put. Barry was strong! “Now, Colonel!” He called.
Hughes knew his cue when he heard it. There was a BANG.
Barry’s helm jerked under Major Armstrong’s rump, a neat hole appearing in the side of it.
Barry stopped moving.
Major Armstrong sighed, and stood, walking back to his squad as he brushed blood from his legs. Close one. Another few inches closer, and those knives would have carved through my knees…
He nodded to the rest of the squad. “Lt. Ross, take command out here. I’m going to-“
She was staring at him, horrified. He watched as her gun came up
What?
The gun barked. He flinched.
And there was a CLANG behind him.
He comprehended, just as Barry’s heavy metal form slammed into his back! Lt. Ross’ shot had thrown his charge off-balance, just enough that Armstrong could roll with the attack, and throw him to the side.
Barry rolled, knocking down a soldier, and snatching up his nearby cleaver as he regained his feet. “Uweee hee hee! You’ll not beat me that way!” He chopped down at the stunned soldier, and there was another scream and burst of blood.
Major Armstrong glared. “Everyone, get clear. He’s MINE!”
“Ha!” Barry advanced slowly, swinging the cleaver in whooshing arcs. “You’ll make great prime rib, meatball…”
Major Armstrong surged forward as the rest of the soldiers scattered, slammed his hands together, and sent his fist screaming down toward Barry’s helmet! Barry yelped, and dodged! The attack missed, and sent a narrow crack splintering through the ground, as the Major’s fist slammed into it…
“Alchemy? Oh, that’s just not fair!”
Major Armstrong panted, leaped into the air, and tried another powerful punch… Only to miss, with the same results. This time, Barry flicked out his blade and cut a small nick out of his shoulder.
“Ha! You can’t keep this up for long!”
Leap, pound, crack.
Leap, pound, crack.
Barry skittered around the courtyard, unable to get a good attack in. Still, he didn’t mind.
He’s staggering now… Can’t do this much longer, and… YES!
He chuckled, as the Major collapsed against one of the few walls still standing, holding his gashed shoulder in one hand, and resting on his haunches.
Barry walked up, grinning in the clouds of dust that the Major’s futile attack had raised.
“What was the point of that? Seriously, now I’m going to carve you into giblets. You just made sure that you’d die tired.”
“On the contrary.” Rumbled Major Armstrong.
“You’ve fallen prey to a technique handed down through the Armstrong family through generations. SPONTANEOUS SCULPTURE!”
Barry flinched. He glanced around, as the dust settled…
…And saw that each crack in the ground of the courtyard formed a part of an alchemical circle.
Barry was standing right in the middle of that circle.
He turned to run.
Major Armstrong slammed his hands into the ground.
There was a flare of light, and Barry felt his very skin crumbling away…
And then knew nothing more.
Major Armstrong blinked.
The surviving seven soldiers stared.
Lt. Maria Ross, the sternest among them, moved forward to the small heap of fur and leather that was surrounded by red dust. As she covered it with her pistol, the dust started to blow away in the wind…
“Major… What did you DO to him?”
Major Armstrong shook his head, just as surprised.
“I merely oxidized his armor. Rusted it right away from him, all the metal parts, anyway. There should be a living, nearly nude man there right now.”
Lt. Ross flipped over the fur, and more red dust blew away in the wind.
“There isn’t.”
“I can see that.”
For a few seconds, the soldiers watched. Then another explosion rocked Laboratory #5, as greasy smoke billowed into the night sky.
Major Armstrong glanced up. “Something is wrong. Lt. Ross, take command. I’m going to shore up the internal assault!”
“Yes sir!” Hiding her concern, she started posting the soldiers in a loose picket. If anything left, they’d see it.
And bandaging his injuries as best he could, Major Armstrong dashed into the depths of the Laboratory…