14 The agony of arrogance

~She destroyed the eye,~ Jamie whispered, seemingly traumatised at what he had witnessed. ~It would have been so delicious for Master Ben. How dare she waste what is his by divine right.~

Ignoring the nonsense that leaked from the hamster's mind, I focused on taking down the creature before me without using my unreliable nuclear power.

'It only seems to work in times of distress anyways.'

I didn't have long to act as Ana aggressively approached Jamie and Dawn. Hoping my idea would work, I descended into the lab and prepared to face her. "Jamie, don't interfere, no matter what happens," I warned him before turning to the monster. "Hey, pigeon feet, how about some playtime?"

'That should get her attention.'

Ana's head whipped towards me. "I'm not allowed to play with humans. Daddy made me promise," she said, confused but with a hint of excitement, her voice no longer sweet but now robotic and animalistic. "However, Daddy's not here anymore."

With a smile full of rotten fangs, she leapt into the lab after me. Being so close, I couldn't help but notice her grotesque muscles rippling with the energy she had absorbed from Victor.

'This is going to be a challenge. It just had to be an opponent I couldn't touch.'

"So, why do you love playtime so much, Ana?" I questioned, stalling for time whilst I looked for a magical off button.

'If he made this creature, maybe he had a countermeasure in place.'

Unfortunately, as I looked around, all the equipment and documents did not seem to mention anything concerning a fucking deactivation protocol.

"I used to like seeing what makes them stay alive and how long they would squeal for," she responded, her robotic legs navigating gracefully around the lab. "However, after I ate the life force of Daddy, I realised I'm just really, really hungry."

'This is why I fucking hate most kids. They're greedy little shits.'

Having rapidly decreased the gap between us, Ana lunged at me with a scream of hunger. I calmly evaded her by shifting my body to the right and then proceeded to watch as she crashed heavily into a wall.

'She's untrained. This shouldn't be too difficult if I keep her at arm's length.'

"Ahhhhhh!!!! Stay still for playtime!!" Ana yelled in frustration as she got up from the floor. "You are cheating!!"

Ignoring her, I searched for anything I could use to beat this kid as her father should've. Maybe with a trusty tray if I could find one.

'Why is everything either too small or too big? Sometimes size does fucking matter.'

Frustrated at the lack of tangible weapons, I came up with an idea when I saw the V-mist 2.0 sitting on the operating table.

'Maybe that's what gives her powers.'

I wasn't too sure how the orb came into play. However, I might as well see what happens when I get rid of it.

Rushing forwards, I slid smoothly across the floor and grabbed the orb on the table whilst simultaneously ripping off one of the metallic table legs. Looking down to observe the objects in my hand, I suddenly swerved to the left as Ana's glowing right arm jabbed towards the back of my distracted head.

'That was fucking close.'

I quickly sidestepped under the arm and leapt further into the lab. Unfortunately, I was careless, and one of her fingers grazed my elbow. I instantly felt a sharp pain and saw a grey patch form where she had touched.

'This is simply unfair.'

Turning to face her, I used the table leg to block her next attack and, with a smirk, crushed the orb in my hands. I instantly noticed that as the V-mist slowly dissipated in the air, her strength decreased to a manageable level.

Having gained the upper hand, I unleashed a series of combos that left numerous bruises on her flesh and dents in her metal.

'Without the constant mist, she's not as durable, fast or strong as me. However, her power is still fucking OP.'

Anyone else would've had difficulty fighting in close combat without being touched. As luck would have it, I'm not just anyone.

"If I had known you were so shit at playtime, I wouldn't have asked," I taunted as I smashed the metal leg upwards into her cyborg face.

Those words seemed to piss her off more than anything I could have said, and with a guttural scream of frustration, her torso began to glow a bright blue.

'What now.'

I quickly swung at her face to stop whatever process she was trying to start. Unfortunately, this time it passed right through her.

Having used all my strength so that she wouldn't be able to retaliate, I could not control my swing, and I followed the blow into her ghostly body. Falling onto the floor, I shivered intensely as negative emotions bombarded my mental shields.

'What the fuck.'

Easily brushing aside the novice mind attack, I struggled to get on my feet after such an embarrassing fall and began looking for the table leg I had dropped.

'I just had to lose my only weapon.'

Failing to find my baton of choice, I noticed that Ana was no longer attacking me. In fact, I couldn't see her at all.

Sighing, I realised she was probably attempting to ambush me. Seeing as she was nowhere in sight, I decided to rely upon my favourite ability, my super hearing.

'Fuck, she's right above me.'

With a sudden lunge to the right, I dodged her body slamming into mine and rolled to my feet. Turning around, I carefully observed the manic monster. Noticing the debris clinging to her clawed toes, I guessed she had used her chicken legs to grip the walls and climb.

"You don't play nice," she yelled angrily as her eyes glowed blue, "Play!! Nice!!"

Her words were quickly followed by a powerful blue laser beam exploding from her eyes.

"Shit!!" I yelled in surprise.

With barely any time to react, I was hit with full force in my chest and was quickly pinned to the ground. Although the damage caused was less than Butcher's, the might behind it was intense.

'How many powers does this bitch have.'

"I'm not finished with you yet," she hissed as her laser pressed me back to the floor. "I'll show you how to play!!"

"What is it with people wanting to eye fuck me," I quipped between gritted teeth as I struggled against the beam.

Grunting in annoyance, I began to stand up against the laser when without warning, vines wrapped around my limbs and forcefully dragged me down.

'Great, another fucking power.'

However, unlike the others, this one brought back memories of Herogasm.

I ignored the odd sense of familiarity and, with relative ease, was able to break the vines keeping me from moving. Unfortunately, every time I broke one, five took its place.

In seconds I was cocooned in plant matter, with only my head free. Ana lowered herself to my level, her rancid breath washing over my face and causing me to almost vomit at the scent.

"Fucking hell, did your dad never tell you to brush your teeth," I said grimly as I struggled in vain.

Her only response was a lopsided smile before she grabbed my throat with her vampiric hand.

I instantly felt unimaginable pain as she sucked the life out of me. Oddly enough, it reminded me of the time I got Carrie Fisher that job.

'She always knew how to return a favour.'

I was shaken from my memories when the pain increased in severity. Staring daggers at the freak before me, I noticed how the flesh on her face was gradually reforming as my life force streamed into her. Unfortunately, the amount my body produced could not keep up with the amount she absorbed, and I could feel my death approaching.

'I can see why Victor thought he could rule the world.'

My vision began to grow dark, and in the reflection of her cold eyes, I could see the signs of age slowly but surely creeping upon my body. First was my hair, which quickly turned grey. Then it was my skin, which began to show wrinkles, and lastly, it was my eyes, which dimmed as my time grew near.

"Still a fucking stud," I brokenly croaked as I took in my GILF appearance.

Regrettably, as I aged, I grew progressively weaker whilst she grew stronger and stronger. Throughout, I attempted to fight her grip; however, I ultimately gave up when I no longer had the muscle strength even to speak.

'I was arrogant, and now I pay the price for that arrogance.'

All of a sudden, a tiny but fierce squeak filled the silent lab, and through the cataracts in my eyes, I saw a shadow barrelling into the side of Ana. I instantly knew it could only be Jamie. Whilst small, he was still pumped full of compound V and was able to knock her off her feet.

With her attention on me now gone, the vines holding me in place quickly wilted and died, and the effects of the ageing began to slowly reverse as my life force was able to overflow once more.

I sighed in relief and carefully picked myself up from the floor as the cataracts in my eyes disappeared. Unluckily, my arthritis and brittle bones were taking their time at reversing, so standing was a slow process. However, I could not leave Jamie to handle this freak alone.

As I struggled to get off the floor, I noticed, with some worry, Ana quickly getting back up with a livid expression. Just as I feared, she proceeded to smack the floating hamster far into the other side of the lab. His small body crashed, and he fell into a heap with a whimper.

'That fucker!! Jamie, better be ok.'

"Wait your turn, Jamie!!" Ana screamed before looking at me and licking her now perfect teeth. "You taste so much better than daddy; I might keep you."

'That sounds so wrong.'

I shakily grounded myself and locked eyes with the bitch before me.

"Sorry, kid, you're a couple of years too young for me. I prefer my women with a fully developed frontal lobe, preferably menopausal," I said in a light tone before adopting a serious expression. "I think it's time I showed you how to respect your elders."

Whilst I couldn't touch her. If I wanted to keep Dawn and Jamie safe, there was one more thing I could try.

'I've done this once, and I can do it again.'

As I stood there, facing Ana's approaching figure, my mind raced to find a way to focus and harness the nuclear power that was stored deep within me. I could feel it pulsating within, demanding to be released. However, no matter how hard I tried, I could not bring it forth.

Just as Ana's hand reached my face, I made a split-second decision. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and allowed myself to surrender to the raw power that was surging through me.

At first, I felt completely out of control, buffeted by the overwhelming force of the energy within me. But then, as I focused my mind and opened myself up to the power, I began to see it in all its glory.

I somehow knew that what was occurring inside me was controlled continuous nuclear fission. Witnessing the sight before me, It was like a sun burning bright within my chest, a roiling sea of energy threatening to consume me entirely. It was demanding, unyielding and absolutely stunning.

However, revelling in its beauty won't do me any good if I'm dead. I reached out with my mind, searching for a way to direct the energy. My current skill would not allow me to do anything substantial with the power inside me. However, if I could just channel a section of the stream for only a second, I could fight this bitch.

In what seemed like a miracle, I latched onto a slither of energy. Whilst struggling to hold it tightly in my mind, I diverted it towards the psychopath in front of me.

Opening my eyes, I saw my chest begin to glow, and an overpowering light escape, hurling towards its intended target. For a moment, I was transfixed by the sight of it, in awe of the sheer power I had just unleashed.

'Imagine what I can accomplish with complete control.'

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Authors note

Hi all. This is the second of the four chapters I will release today. I have tried to go into more depth regarding Soldier Boy's Nuclear Power. My knowledge of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion is rudimentary at best. Therefore if anything is inaccurate, let me know, and I shall implement the required changes. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and once again, I appreciate any criticism.

I want also to thank the reader Lethal_Drinker. His constructive comments made me realise that I can't have Soldier Boy stomp through everyone.

He may win *Cough* Plot Armour *Cough*. However, I still want him to grow stronger and smarter through struggles.