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Welcome to Olympus City, where super-powers, physics-defying tech, and unearthly creatures are all possible now. Human nature, however, remains unchanged.
No one is born a perfect superhero, but a few strive to live up to the ideal anyway.
Previously: A marketing company offered Ken a job endorsing products as Mr. Amazing. Before he could definitively turn them down, he learned of a situation in progress—a humanoid wolf was robbing a bank.
Part 2
Fiery lupine eyebeams zapped a police car and ignited the engine, sending the officers scrambling for cover. The remaining vehicles dared to flash blue lights at the wolf-man, so he slashed one, slicing deep gashes into the hood. The car bled various fluids.
Ken landed behind the action, next to the sacks of loot deposited on the sidewalk. It was rather brazen, leaving the stolen goods right there for anyone to take. But there was a certain level of confidence that came with being a laser-eyed wolf-man—or Laser Wolf, as Ken decided to think of him for now, in the absence of any known name.
“Excuse me.”
As Ken called out, Laser Wolf spun around, his beady eyes sizzling. The black leotard suggested he was more man than wolf, though wolf was a significant part of the mix regardless. Fur spilled out at the arms, legs, and neck.
“This money doesn’t belong to you,” Ken said. “Stand down before you make things harder on yourself.”
Laser Wolf flexed his humanoid hands and brandished his claws. “Stay out of this, or that scar on your face gets some friends.”
He sounded like he was gargling gravel—like a man gargling gravel. Fiery though they were, the eyes exuded intelligence, not animalistic savagery.
“I just want to talk,” Ken said.
“That’s not an option.”
Laser Wolf leapt at Ken, who raised his hands, tensed his fingers, and concentrated. Telekinetic force suspended the snarling man in the air, further eroding his disposition. Sizzling eyes looked up and blasted the bank’s stone canopy.
Ken dove away from the crumbling masonry, then met with a flash of fur and claws. He twisted away as his side ignited in hot pain, which flared up through his skull. Blood sprinkled the sidewalk.
Laser Wolf hoisted a jagged hunk of stone over his head, and he advanced, like an Atlas cursed with lycanthropy.
“I’m sorry I have to do this.”
He cocked the stone, prepared to launch. Ken threw some thoughts at it.
The hunk of stone split into three pieces, which all tumbled onto Laser Wolf’s head. Ken followed with a telekinetic punch, and for one ignorant moment, he thought he had this guy on the ropes.
A hairy fist drove into his gut and knocked the air out of him. Laser Wolf pounced and pinned him to the pavement.
Claws dangling over his face, humid breath gagging him, Ken realized this guy didn’t actually want to kill anyone. He was still breathing, after all.
“You’re interfering in matters you know nothing about,” Laser Wolf snarled.
“Then let’s talk.”
The claws withdrew as the clenched snout quivered, almost like he wanted to speak. Then he slashed Ken across the chest, just deep enough to be agonizing.
“I’m sorry.” He was already padding to his loot.
Ken grunted and groaned and waved a hand. Laser Wolf crashed face-first onto the unforgiving concrete while Ken groaned some more.
The lupine man sprang back to his feet. “I’m trying to—” And he shut himself up. The effort was visible.
“What?” Ken said, even though it hurt. “What are you trying to do here?”
Laser Wolf might have answered. But the cops seized the opening and fired. He writhed and barked, tolerating the bullets enough to remain standing.
“Stop shooting!” Ken shouted. “I’ve got him!”
The bullets ceased as Ken wrapped his telekinesis around the man’s throat and squeezed. Even now, Laser Wolf fought back, as though he might tear the invisible force off his neck. But he could not. He collapsed, and Ken redistributed the telekinetic pressure more broadly, pressing the hairy bulk to the ground while the police rushed over with manacles.
“You okay, Mr. Amazing?” one officer asked.
Ken was covering his chest wounds with one hand and the gash in his side with the other. Blood seeped between his fingers.
“Wouldn’t mind a medic,” he said. “But let’s get this guy restrained first.”
“Hang tight. Ambulance is on the way.”
Sirens backed up the claim. Ken inhaled a deep breath. The sooner the police had Laser Wolf locked up, the sooner he could focus his telekinesis on stemming the bleeding.
“Doomed her,” Laser Wolf muttered.
“What’s that?” Ken said. “You ready to tell me what’s going on?”
“Can’t. She’ll—” He clamped his jaw shut, and his eyes sizzled.
Ken forced the lids closed and dammed the lasers in. His palms moistened further.
He wished Alyssa was here to pry the information out of this man’s skull. He wished Miranda was here as well. The three of them working together could have contained this situation in no time, and with considerably less blood loss. But Alyssa was at work, and Miranda was out of town visiting family.
“What is your problem?” Ken said. “Is someone threatening you?”
It was hard to picture anyone threatening this guy. Ken wasn’t looking forward to meeting the person who could.
Laser Wolf looked down to indicate his own chest, dead center. He nodded at it, pointing at something.
Ken ran his telekinesis along the muscles and bones within, careful not to shake any organs. He hit upon something unexpected where the stomach met the chest.
“Do it,” Laser Wolf said.
Ken hesitated.
“Now!”
At Ken’s mental command, a tiny computer chip burst from Laser Wolf’s chest, about the size of a bullet. Blood and flesh spilled onto his fur, but the wound was already drying up. Ken envied him.
“Crush it,” Laser Wolf ordered.
Telekinesis crumpled the chip. “Done. Now—”
“Doctor Hades has my fiancée. Will you help me save her?”