Pain #139

Cassandra couldn't help but grit her teeth as she cartwheeled to the side, letting the bearded woman roll past her as she looked at Nightwing throwing spherical capsules at the flaming man.

The capsules would explode once they hit the flaming man, releasing a blue foam that would wrap the latter and extinguish his flames before he'd shrug them off.

Nightwing still took advantage of the momentary distraction and hit the flaming man with Wing-Dings as the fire surrounding the latter's body made direct physical confrontation impossible.

However, they did almost no damage as the flaming man would push the projectiles away with his power, softening their momentum before they hit him, putting them in a deadlock.

Cassandra wasn't doing much better as she could do nothing but dodge the rolling bearded woman since the latter's fat absorbed her attacks like the world's softest mattress.

She deduced her only chance was to attack the bearded woman's pressure points to put her out of commission, but the latter's fat got in the way, covering and protecting her nerves.

Left with no other choice, Cassandra firmed her resolve and retrieved the jade pin in her hair, undoing her pun and causing her black mane to fall to her shoulders, gently swaying with the air.

Cassandra did not like hurting others. She hated using the pin, which her father gave her, even more as it was the weapon she used to take her first life. However, she kept it for a reason.

Despite her kindness and almost blind optimism, she knew there would come a time when circumstances would force her to compromise and use what she learned from her father, even if it meant causing severe harm.

Cassandra frowned in concentration as the Big Top turned and started rolling towards her, stepping aside to dodge as the bearded woman approached.

She quickly turned to the side and stabbed the pin into the bearded woman's side, causing her to scream as she immediately stopped behind Cassandra.

Cassandra quickly threw the pin at the bearded woman's back to stop her from retracting into a ball again as she closed the distance. She mounted the latter's shoulders with a leap and buried two fingers in her neck.

She hit the bearded woman's pressure point to knock her out. However, the latter's fat armor still protected her from losing consciousness despite being immobilized temporarily.

Cassandra did not realize this and heaved a sigh of relief as she turned to Nightwing to see how he was doing, only to smile as she watched him standing over the flaming man, having engulfed him in the blue foam, robbing him of his power.

However, Cassandra's smile instantly turned into a grimace as many people started crawling out of the shadows, and her expression worsened even more as she noticed their faces and outfits.

Each and every one of them, old, young, male, female, had the same face, that of an ugly doll straight out of a horror movie, dressed in frilly shirts and skirts as they quietly moved towards an unwitting Nightwing.

Cassandra tried to dismount off Bit Top's shoulder to help Nightwing as she was incapable of warning him, only for the bearded woman to regain her mobility and take advantage of her distraction.

"Got you, you brat!" Big Top exclaimed, happily grinning as she caught Cassandra's foot and slammed her into the ground before throwing her towards the dolls, who promptly gripped her limbs and restricted her movement.

Alarmed by the commotion, Nightwing turned to the source and quickly realized the situation. He took out his Wing-Dings, and prepared to use them on the dolls to free Cassandra.

However, one doll quickly reached the flaming man and freed him from the foam with a knife, and the latter attacked Nightwing, catching him off guard.

Nightwing tried to resist, but the flaming man gave him no chance as the dolls converged around him, and he was soon in the same situation as Cassandra.

Cassandra and Nightwing resisted and kept attempting to breack free. But they only received a beating for their effort as the dolls surrounded the duo, keeping them in place and beating them into behaving before trying them up.

The beating stopped as loud footsteps echoed in the area, and the dolls parted, revealing a man in a pig mask, slowly walking towards Cassandra and Nightwing.

"Two new darlings... in pain..." Professor Pyg said, tilting his head as he stopped before Cassandra and Nightwing, alternating his gaze between the two.

"No worries. Pyg make it better, make you perfect..." The Professor said with a demented laugh akin to a pig squealing in excitement more than anything else.

"There will be more pain, but that's just the body's way of saying thank you to Pyg..." The Demented Professor added with a snort of excitement as he slowly reached toward Cassandra.

"Let's see how thankful you'll be once I'm done with you then..." came an exclamation as a figure materialized behind the Professor before he flew away with a sickening crunch of breaking bones.

"Get him, my darlings! Make him one of us...! F-fix-- him..." Professor Pyg, who'd miraculously clung to his consciousness, instructed the dolls before his body went limb and he was out cold.

The numerous dolls, the flaming man, and the bearded woman needed no further convincing as they all lunged at the newcomer in an attempt to overwhelm him with numbers.

The first to arrive was the bearded woman as she rolled towards Gray with a speed that no one her size hand any right to, but he was prepared for her, having spectated the fight.

Gray held his ground and stopped the bearded woman in her tracks, lifting her overhead with a grunt of effort before throwing her at the flaming man who was right behind her.

The dolls were unfazed by Gray's show of strength and lunged at him, and he did not spend much effort on them as he dodged their attacks, jabbing the occasional pressure point to knock them out without harming them.

Quickly taking care of the closest dolls, Gary retrieved several knives, which he threw at Nightwing and Cassandra, cutting their restraints and freeing them.

"These... things..." Gray remarked while looking at the Dollotrons. "They were regular people before Pyg changed them somehow..." he added as he turned to Cassandra and Nightwing.

"I don't know if they can be changed back, but don't hurt them unless you have to..." he added, turning away to face the flaming who'd already recovered and was preparing to charge.

...

I quickly switched to the bulletproof equipment into a fire-proof outfit as Rex sent a searing wave of flames toward me to shield Cassandra and Nightwing, who was still behind me.

"Shit..." I cursed as I felt the heat bypass my fire-proof outfit and sear my skin as I hadn't perfected it. However, my healing factor quickly kicked in, and I was as good as new in seconds.

I've been working on it in my spare time to avoid getting in the same situation as when I fought Whisper and Abbot on the docks, and I ended up creating several prototypes.

I created several suits that were fire-proof, acid-proof, shock-proof, and cold-proof to prepare myself for any future elemental-themed enemies, but they were, as I've stated, nothing but prototypes and needed more work.

"I'll take care of the two circus freaks... you two stay out of my way," I said as I took off my fire-proof suit since it would only get in the way, tattered as it was already.

Nightwing looked like he had something to say, but I ignored him, keeping an eye on the flaming man as I absorbed the residual heat energy lingering in my body.

Phosphorous Rex unleashed another wave of flame, and I quickly retrieved my wire and swung away to dodge as the Cassandra and Nightwing were ready to move out of danger on their own.

I put away the wire mid-air as the flaming man began rapidly firing fiery bullets at me, spinning myself to dodge. Big Top observed my movement and started rolling towards where she thought I'd land to crush me.

I didn't bother to adjust my course and merely stepped on her and leaped away, causing the flaming man's attack to hit her instead, causing her to lose control and crash into a tent, immobilizing herself.

'Let's try this...' I mused as I retrieved Ebony and channeled my energy and the risidue heat in my system into it while the flaming man kept shooting fiery bullets at me.

I charged Ebony halfway before releasing a big, red energy projectile that absorbed the flaming man's fiery bullets in its way, growing larger with each until it became the same size as Phosphorous Rex before hitting him.

...

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