CHAPTER 50

Travis didn't know what he'd really expected when they arrived. He hadn't even stopped to check, wanting to get the others all there as quickly as possible. He was glad to see that Gabriela was fine and was tempted to just rush her out of there but he knew that wouldn't be enough at this point. Swarm had to go down.

And if he didn't feel that way before, he definitely felt it when he saw Luke's body.

"Luke!" he screamed and was instantly by the boy's side. He gaped at the bloody mess, fear and horror overtaking him. He quickly placed his finger's against Luke's throat and listened. And he felt his own heart stop when he heard nothing. He pressed harder, praying with everything he had to anyone that was listening. Come on Luke, he thought. Don't die. Just hang on.

…bump…bump…bump…

He nearly collapsed in relief, hearing the beat. "He's got a pulse!" he cried out. But he knew that wasn't an assurance. He didn't even think, just acted. He carefully lifted Luke up and then was running. It was only when he was miles away that he realized he didn't know where the hospital was, cursing himself for forgetting something so crucial.

"Here," he said, coming to a stop but still in speed mode. He let go of Luke and was relieved to see that as soon as he left his grip, gravity slowed down for him and he started falling in slow motion. Travis then pulled out his phone but cursed again. Electronics didn't work in speed mode so he was still stuck.

"Well, at least I got it out," he muttered. Still holding onto his phone, he cradled Luke's body again, gravity instantly reasserting itself and then lifted up his phone, typing in 'hospital' on Google Maps. He was already running when the nearest one appeared.

He knew he couldn't stop. He couldn't waste seconds with a monster like Swarm on the loose. Besides, if he suddenly appeared in the middle of the emergency room, too many questions would be raised. And this whole thing would be suspicious enough as it was.

As he arrived, he saw an empty gurney in one of the ambulances and a paramedic about to walk past it. Perfect.

He ran inside, placed Luke on the gurney, and then left. He hid behind the ambulance for a second, just to make sure.

"Whoa! What the hell? Hey, I need some help! We've got an injured kid here!"

Travis smiled in relief. Hopefully that would be enough, but he wasn't sure. Luke had been in really bad shape. If he didn't make it…

Rage filled his entire being. Whenever he'd read about characters going through the same thing or had seen it on TV or in movies, he'd wondered how that would feel. To just have so much anger in you that you would be willing to hurt someone else with it.

Now he knew. He wanted to pummel Swarm into the ground for what he'd done to Luke. Travis cracked his knuckles together and took off, his sonic boom echoing like the crack of thunder. He raced through the streets, heading right back to the office building. He was honestly surprised that the police or someone hadn't heard the battle but he didn't think on it long, shooting right through the doors and to his target.

"Swarm!" he yelled at super speed, bolting fight for the man. He drew back his fist and punched just as he reached him. But right before he could hit the man, his fist was stopped. He stared in surprise as the microbots surrounding Swarm's face wrapped around his hand, trapping it.

"Nice try," the villain said before launching a microbot spear right for Travis's chest. It was only thanks to his super speed that he was able to doge it. He tried to run off but his hand was still trapped. He could feel the microbots squeezing it tighter, threatening to break his bones.

He dodged another attack and pulled on his hand but the microbots there were too strong. He cursed himself for falling to such a trap. He turned back to Swarm and threw his left fist at the man's face but again the microbots moved, protecting him before Travis's punch could reach. This time, Travis was more prepared and pulled his hand back before the microbots could surround it too. As he did, he felt a strange sparking from it but ignored it. "How'd you react so fast?" he demanded.

"Easy. I logged your speed during our last battles and updated my microbots to protect me whenever you used that speed near me. Go ahead and hit me all you want. Not one blow will land."

Damn it, Travis thought. He had to find a way out of this or else he'd just be a liability to his friends. He glanced over and saw they were busy dealing with a horde of microbot figures of different shapes and sizes. Emily was punching left right, elongated limbs sending all enemies flying. Madison was holding them with her force field while Franklin just pounded them with his fists. Gabriela stood behind them and seemed to be recovering. And Sumin…Travis didn't see Sumin anywhere.

He felt an odd tingling sensation from his trapped hand and turned, worried that that was his body's warning signal for his bones about to snap. But no, it was a familiar indigo light that seemed to be seeping between the microbots. A second later, they all flew off his hand and he took the chance to dash away from Swarm before anything else could happen.

"Thanks," he said as Sumin floated down to him.

"Just be more careful next time."

"Oh don't worry, I will be." With a thought, his costume appeared, covering him from head to toe in the strange fabric. He eyed Swarm carefully, thinking of his next move. If Swarm could have his microbots react so fast, then maybe Travis should hit him multiple times. Keep him guessing.

It was all he could up with right now so he acted, racing forward and punching the man in the face again only for it to be blocked once more. "I already told you, tha-"

Travis didn't wait for him to finish. Instead, he yanked his arm back and punched with his left arm to Swarm's gut. And again, the microbots blocked it. He moved to the side and kicked this time but it had no effect. No matter what angle he hit from, the microbots still reacted too fast. He even tried a lighting attack again but even that was blocked, his electricity fizzling out on impact.

"By all means, keep it up. It won't accomplish anything," Swarm said, amused. Travis seethed but retreated, knowing he was just wasting energy now, something he didn't have much of to begin with. He needed a way to break through those barriers.

The others kept trying to come to him but the waves of microbots being thrown at them kept them at bay. The only thing keeping them from being overwhelmed was Sumin's own waves of light. Which meant it was all up to Travis for now to take Swarm down.

He just needed to think of something. So many of his idols were able to come up with solutions on the fly. Even One Piece's Luffy, and he was an idiot. So he should be able to do the same. He just needed a way to be faster than…

He almost slapped himself in the head for being an idiot. He'd completely forgotten. He knelt down and lifted up his pants, revealing the ankle weights he'd attached weeks back for training. He unclasped them with a snap and sighed in relief as the strain he hadn't even realized he'd had vanished. Now, he was ready. "Right, let's try this again."

"Do you really thi-"

Travis didn't let Swarm finish, already moving. His speed was like another level now and he couldn't help bun grin fiercely as his fist struck Swarm right across the face, sending him stumbling and almost falling back.

"What? Ho-"

Travis moved again, feeling so much lighter and oh so much faster without the weights. This time, he struck Swarm in the chest before moving behind him and kicking him in the butt. Then he punched him in the hip. Then a kick to the leg. A punch to the gut. Another strike to the face. And each time, the microbots were too slow to keep up with him.

"Well, I think that did something," Travis said smugly as Swarm tried to recover. "Now, tell me again how you're going to win this."

"Well," the man said, eyeing Travis carefully. "I was saving this for Kane, but it seems I underestimated your power. No matter."

The microbots began to surround him, swirling around him and lifting him up on a platform of themselves. Travis cursed as he realized it was now impossible to get to him. He had missed his shot. He could only glare as Swarm continued to ascend until he reached the center of the room. Then, he just stopped but the microbots continued upward, flowing over him until he had vanished from sight. They built off each other, growing and growing. And as they did, Travis noticed that the bottom part had begun to split in two, as if it was forming…legs.

"Uh oh," he breathed, looking up in horror as two arms began to appear as well. The top bit remained flat though as it seemed Swarm didn't need a head so it just looked like a super battle droid from Star Wars. Travis wasn't even sure how Swarm could see through all that but he had bigger problems as the right arm kept moving, the microbots forming what looked like small points all over the limb. Then it suddenly began rotating and Travis realized what it was.

"A chainsaw arm? Seriously?"

The left arm wasn't any better as its center hollowed out into a long barrel that looked suspiciously like a cannon.

"Now do you realize how hopeless it is?" Swarm's voice echoed around the room. "But please, do give me a good fight before the end?"

Sumin hadn't thought much about what might await them when they had flown here. They knew if they did, they might turn back. And what scared them most was the idea that they would see someone lying there, broken, like Althea.

That nightmare came true.

When they had seen Luke's prone body on the ground, they felt something inside them crack. Something they had tried to bottle up for so long. All their pain and anger over Althea's condition came roaring out like a bonfire, burning through them.

With Althea, it had been an accident. They'd had no target. Now, they did.

Travis had managed to get Luke out of there, presumably to the hospital, and the others had gone on the attack but had been waylaid by Swarm's endless amount of microbots. It was only when Travis returned that the battle against him truly began.

Still, in the end his attacks had accomplished nothing except to goad Swarm into bringing out his big guns, literally.

But Sumin found themself not caring. They didn't want to see any more of their comrades lying in such fetal positions. So they would just have to respond in kind.

They had been practicing these last few weeks, focusing their power even more. It was about focus and control, but not the maintenance of control. They learned their power was like a lake inside of them but not one that they would drown in. No, as long as they allowed themselves to sink into it and surrender to it, they could harness it. And they needed to now more than ever.

Swarm still had plenty of microbot formations of humanoids and other creatures attacking their friends so Sumin crafted several of their own to join the battle. But when the giant microbot formation walked toward them, they slammed their fist into their open palm and concentrated. Indigo light bloomed out of them and expanded to form a giant humanoid the same height as the microbot one with Sumin at the center, battle ready.

"Damn Sumin!" they heard someone call, presumably Travis.

"My, my, young Jang. You certainly are full of-"

Sumin struck fast, the giant glowing fist following their own hand movements to punch Swarm directly in their massive chest, knocking them back. The formation seemed like it would fall for a second but the microbots below instantly shot up in several spires, pushing it back up. But Sumin didn't stop there, holding their arms up in karate chops and bringing them down on either side. As they did, they concentrated, transforming their giant's arms into sharp blades that cut into the robot's arms, slicing them clean off.

The second they were separated, the chainsaw and cannon dissolved into their many microbot components, raining on the ground below. However, once they landed, they rejoined the main body and the arms began to regrow until they were as good as new. Sumin grimaced, though they had expected as much. This would not be easy.

"Well you certainly have-"

Again, Sumin didn't let them finish, instead launching their hand at the robot's chest again. Except this time, they didn't use a fist but just their fingers. As they expected, once the indigo hand made contact, the fingers dug right into the microbots. Sumin pressed harder until their hand was halfway submerged.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Sumin ignored them, instead yanking downwards with their arm, their giant hand responding and pulling out almost all the microbots in the robot as it descended, sending them flying back to the ground. And in their wake was a large cavity and what Sumin most wanted.

Swarm, standing right in the middle.

Got you, they thought and used their other arm to reach inside.

A flash of movement to the side warned them and they turned but were a fraction too late as the robot's chainsaw arm struck them in their giant side, cutting into the formation. Sumin grunted, not expecting this sensation. It was like having a toy screwdriver consistently rotated at high speed against their skin. Unpainful, but extremely uncomfortable.

And slightly exhausting as their hold on the giant began to fade. They struggled to maintain it, again imagining themselves in that indigo lake with the power that it contained washing around them. They used their free hand to swat the chainsaw aside but to their disappointment saw the hole in the robot's chest fill up again, Swam disappearing from sight.

"You are smarter tha-"

Sumin grabbed hold of the chainsaw arm before it could strike. They attempted to rip it off but the microbots seemed to have tightened their grip on one another so instead, Sumin simply pushed the arm against the main body and held it there.

"Why do you keep interrupting me?" Swarm complained.

"As a wise man once said, if you are going to fight, fight, don't talk," they replied, refraining from adding that the wise man had been Eli Wallach from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, their mother's favorite film.

"I see. Well then…"

Sumin turned at those words only to have the cannon arm shoved in their giant's head. Sumin found themself stumbling back, like someone had shoved a pole into their face except without the pain. They flailed for a second, trying to regain their balance, when they noticed an ominous glow, looking up to see it coming from the inside of the cannon.

"Thanks for letting me power up," Swarm told them right before the cannon went off.

Sumin didn't have time or room to dodge it so took the blow head on, using their giant's arms as a shield. They cried out, feeling like their own arms were being hit by a hairdryer channeling the heat of an oven set on ultra-hot. They could feel their grip on the giant waning, the light around them flickering and fading. They tried to imagine themselves in the lake again, but it was getting harder to focus on it.

And then, the blast stopped and they saw the cannon's glow do dim.

"Well, you're still standing. Your creation is impressive, I'll give you that."

Sumin wanted to launch an attack at that moment but couldn't muster the energy. They were depleted and needed time to refocus. They could only just maintain their hold over the giant's formation.

But…should they?

Sumin tilted their head as they thought that. While a giant v giant fight had seemed like a good idea at the time, allowing them to make the fight more even, they needed something to help them overcome Swarm's defenses. And now they didn't think a giant was it. They couldn't keep it going forever. In fact, they'd be lucky to make it last another minute or two. But they had an infinite number of creations and formations at their disposal. All they needed was imagination.

Sadly, that had never been their strong suit, but they would make do.

"Let's see you dodge this!" Swarm yelled, thrusting the chainsaw arm forward right at Sumin's giant's chest.

They didn't dodge it. They just opened a hole in the giant, allowing the chainsaw to pass right through without touching them.

"What?"

Sumin didn't give them time to react, pressing their advantage. They summoned more of their power, forming giant ropes from the ceiling that wrapped tightly around the robot, holding it firm. Then they turned their right arm into a sword blade, using it to slice through the robot's middle. With a thought, the ropes retracted, separating the two microbot sections, and with another thought, two of those ropes became blades themselves, slicing through the arms and letting them drop.

Now, only the middle section remained. The one with Swarm in it.

Sumin took a breath and dropped their hold on the giant, letting it fade away. The only thing left now was a platform for them to stand on.

"Ha! What will you do now without your biggest weapon?"

"Your arrogance is extraordinarily aggravating," Sumin said. They raised their hand and a dozen hands formed, each about half the size of Sumin. They moved right for the microbot body and dug in, shifting the microbots around, looking for Swarm inside.

In the background, Sumin could hear the sounds of battle continue but they couldn't dwell on that, only hope their comrades were alright. Perhaps they could capture Swarm and end this now.

That hope swiftly turned to ash.

They felt a heat behind them and turned, gasping at the large microbot cannon pointed right at them, glowing with power. They could only leap out of the way as it blasted right at them. They fell to the ground and swiftly began to form a new platform but before they could, the microbots below swirled and leapt up, a pair of jaws forming to bite at them. The only thing they could think of was a shield which instantly formed between them and the jaws. But a second later, it vanished as Sumin shuddered in pain, their mouth open in a silent scream.

They couldn't see but they could feel the six spikes embedded in their back.