Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 36
Omega Ray contemplated something, tapping his chin again while keeping pressure on Boyd’s throat as if he were an elephant and Boyd an uppity infant. After a moment, he seemed to come to a decision just as the edges of Boyd’s vision began to telescope down to a point because of oxygen deprivation.
“Yeah,” Omega Ray said with a grunt, “I like smart women. She seemed a little outspoken, but I’m sure I could beat that out of her. I’ll add her to my stable of sex toys. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll get to see her again—assuming that She lets you.”
The way he said ‘she’ made it a title more than a name or a gender identifier.
Boyd noted this, but it hardly seemed important at the moment. The black edging in on his vision had fled, replaced with a crimson rage. He channeled his Black Flame into the fingers and claws of his right hand and reached up to rake his claws down the back of the bastard’s calf.
Omega Ray hissed in surprised pain as Boyd’s claws pierced his suit, piercing the skin and muscle beneath it, instinct causing the villain to pull his leg away from the source of pain. Boyd acted in the instant, reaching up with his tail and wrapping it around the thick neck of his enemy. He pulled back to throw the man off him.
Chapter 40
Sucking in a deep, desperate breath, Boyd kipped to his feet, pushing his wings against the ground to propel him up from the ground. Omega Ray floated a few feet above the ground about five yards away. He was staring down at his leg as red blood dripped to the street below with a bewildered expression. Boyd felt his fighting grin split his face. He could hurt the asshat. And if he could hurt him, then there was a chance—an absurdly low chance—but a chance he could beat him.
Boyd acted quickly while his opponent was distracted, leaping forward with all the thrust his wings and legs could provide. He went for a slash aimed at Omega Ray’s chest, drawing the Black Flame to his claws once more. At the last moment, the villain blurred backward and out of Boyd’s range. Looking surprised and pissed at the same time, Omega Ray put thirty yards between them.
Boyd gave another powerful flap to gain about twenty feet of altitude before a second flap sent him darting forward like an arrow aimed right at Omega Ray. His foe raised his arm, and Boyd predicted what was coming. He folded his wings in tight to protect them, adding a minor spin to his trajectory, hoping to become harder still to hit.
A bright red beam of energy shot towards Boyd, missing him by mere inches. It felt like the skin nearest the beam charred, but that didn’t stop him. Boyd’s arms were extended in front of him, and he pushed his Black Flame into his left fist this time, hoping to catch the villain off guard.
Once again, at the very last moment, the heroic-looking Powered Criminal blurred out of his path. This time, as he circled Boyd, he punches him in the ribs, cracking at least one of them and sending Boyd soaring into one of the already damaged buildings. This one had thick concrete walls—which was both good and bad for Boyd. It was good, because it meant he didn’t go through the building. It was bad, because he hit it with enough force to leave another crater in the building’s side as he came to an abrupt and painful stop before dropping to the sidewalk below.
Boyd shook the stars out of his eyes, a result of cracking his skull against the building, and took stock of things. His right shoulder didn’t feel great, but was still functional. If he had to guess, at least three of the ribs on his left side were cracked or broken. He could still draw a breath, so they hadn’t punctured his lungs, which always sucked.
He tried to stand and was rewarded with pain shooting up his right leg from his foot. Looking down revealed why. Boyd’s toes and about half his foot were missing, leaving a squared-off stump and a cauterized wound that he was grinding into the ground as he tried to regain his feet.
Boyd realized that Omega Ray’s beam must have seared it right off in an instant. His resilience offered almost no protection from Omega Ray’s energy beams. He looked back up to see the Powered Criminal floating a decent distance away, a smug expression on his face.
“I admit I’m impressed you managed to hurt me. You’re the first to do so,” the villain said, confidence still filling his voice. “I’ll offer you this one chance to surrender quietly—I suggest you take it. She said I had to take you alive, but she didn’t say anything about your limbs still being attached.”
Boyd pretended to think about it while he envisioned ripping the smug bastard’s head from his shoulders. If he could just get him to come a little closer, Boyd might be able to get in another surprise hit. If he did, he could make it count.
“What about Silver?” Boyd called, keeping the pain, fear, and blood lust out of his voice.
Omega Ray chuckled and shook his head with a patronizing grin on his face. “The bitch really has got you pussy whipped, doesn’t she?” he replied, the laugh still in his voice. “I don’t think She will let you keep her, but if you come quietly, I’ll put in a good word. We even have a Healer who can put her back together for you. That way, you can break her over and over again. That’s always such great fun.”
Boyd growled internally at the vile words coming out of the Hero turned monster’s mouth, but was careful not to let it show on his face. Instead, he relaxed his shoulder and dropped his arms, trying to look defeated. He limped a few strides forward while gathering all his pain together to throw at his opponent using his Mental Domination.
“Giving up?” Omega Ray asked, sounding pleased. “Smart move.”
The villain drifted a little closer. Once there were only about ten yards between them, Boyd reached out with his mental Power, intent on acting in the instant it should buy him, only to have his Mental Domination slide right off his opponent.
“That was a stupid move,” Omega Ray snarled, sending another beam of red energy lancing towards Boyd.
He threw himself forward and under the beam, rolling over his shoulder and springing up at his enemy. Omega Ray’s arm blurred as he swatted Boyd away with a contemptuous backward, sending him tumbling down the street.
“I’m protected from mental Powers, you fool,” he called after the still tumbling Boyd.
Boyd came to a stop on his stomach and started to push himself to his feet, but a boot fell on the back of his neck, pushing him back down and grinding his face into the pavement. “She said you have a healing factor, so She shouldn’t be too mad if I…” his voice faded as Boyd felt powerful hands form a vice-like grip on his left wing. Then, with a jerk, the appendage was ripped painfully from his back.
Boyd roared in pain.
“There,” Omega Ray shouted with a huff, “that should take some of the fight out of you.” Then the villain kicked Boyd in the ribs, again on the left side.
The world spun as, once again, he was sent in a bouncing tumble down the street. This time, Boyd came to a stop on his side. He stopped facing away from his opponent and just lay there, unmoving for a moment, playing dead. He needed enough time to use his Mental Domination on himself to shut away the searing pain that was threatened to overwhelm him. That kick had fully shattered several of his ribs on the left side. He felt sharp bony shards pierce his internals with each ragged breath.
Fortunately, his lungs seemed to have survived, although the air had been forced out of him and they throbbed as he tried to refill them. Boyd was successful in locking away most of the pain, but not all of it. His head and chest both throbbed in complaint as he rolled to his chest and pushed himself up onto his remaining foot and a half.
He couldn’t manage a full breath, and staying upright felt insurmountable. Boyd’s vision slid in and out of focus, but he could make out Omega Ray as he slowly came towards him, floating a couple of yards off the ground.
“Could have done this smart.” The villain shook his head, speaking in a chagrined, almost embarrassed tone.
Boyd pulled his arms up as much as he could to square up. If he could get just one lucky hit in. Just one. He could die happy as long as he took this bastard with him.
“Now I’m going to have to rip your arms and legs off. Then, I’ll make you watch as I tear that slut of yours to pieces. I’ll fuck her first, though, just to make sure it… huh?” A bewildered expression came to his face.
Boyd was just as confused for a moment as three other Boyds step out of him to take up similar stances of readiness.
“She said nothing about duplication.” Omega Ray tilted his head in confusion.
It was then that it dawned on Boyd what was happening. This was Kitsune. He didn’t look for her, not wanting to give the trick away, but she must be nearby. The copies had perfectly mimicked his injuries, so she must be able to see him. The duplicates charged forward at Omega Ray and Boyd followed them.
Omega Ray raised both hands and eight beams of red energy shoot towards them. Both Boyd and the illusionary copies all juked and dodged. Boyd wasn’t sure if it was luck or skill, but he managed to avoid the angry red lines of energy—for the most part, that is. He sacrificed a bit of skin from his left arm to close the distance between them.
Omega Ray seemed too stubborn to retreat this time, and Boyd lands a solid slash of his Black Flame-infused claws across his adversary’s chest. His claws dug deep enough to gouge the bone under the thick muscle of the bastard’s flesh and Boyd had a moment of satisfaction before Omega Ray grabbed his right arm.
Boyd watched in horror as the once-world hero raised his other hand and clamps down on his shoulder before casually ripping Boyd’s arm off. Boyd blinked in stupefied shock before the villain wound up and slammed Boyd’s own arm into his right side. He arched through the air to slam into another building, this time going through the wall and tumbling through cubical dividers, desks, displays, and other office equipment found in any second or third-floor workplace. He came to a stop thirty or forty feet in amongst a pile of debris. Thankfully, he hadn’t crashed into or through any luckless office workers; the building appeared to be empty.
Boyd groaned in pain and despair. Kitsune hadn’t run. He wasn’t strong enough to save her or Silvie. Both of his lovers were going to die today and then Boyd would be taken.
Vowing not to let that happen, he summoned whatever remained of his Mental Domination to shut away what pain he could. His head spun, likely from blood loss as much as the pain. Looking to where his right arm had once been, he found torn flesh and ligaments dangling from his shoulder, blood flowing freely from the crippling wound.
His left side was visibly deformed, caved in by the blows it had received. Adding that to the broken nose, missing foot, and missing wing and no one would blame him for not getting up and just calling it a day. No one except Boyd, that is.
He rolled and pulled himself to his feet, using the debris to support some of his weight. Looking down, he saw that his shorts had been torn in the tumble, his pocket getting caught on something or another. The handle of Tinker’s dagger stuck out from the ripped material.
Boyd had forgotten all about it in his rush to get to Silvie and the panic that set in once the fight had started. Boyd pulled it out with his remaining hand and clasped the sheath in his teeth to pull the blade free. Spitting the hard plastic to the side, he stumbled down the path his tumbling body made as it flew through the space and the hole his entry had left in the building.
Reaching the Boyd-sized hole in the wall, he scanned the street and the sky. Fortunately, his healing factor was strong enough to have stopped the bleeding in his arm in the forty or so seconds it took to get back down to the street, but it couldn’t replace the blood he’d lost. Boyd was still lightheaded, and his extremities filled with the cold brought on by shock.
He gritted his teeth as he forced his eyes to focus enough to search for his enemy. He would either kill his foe or force the Powered Criminal to end his life. Boyd would not give the man the satisfaction of taking him alive.
Boyd’s stomach dropped and his heart almost stopped when he spotted Omega Ray standing in the street with one arm held up and out. In his grasp, held by the throat, was Kitsune. Her three tails thrashed back and forth as she struggled, punching and kicking Omega Ray ineffectually.
Boyd stood in terrified shock for just a moment, convinced he was about to watch his new lover be brutally murdered. Then rage filled Boyd, and he roared it for the entire world to hear. Leaning forward, he planted his foot and its corresponding stump on the edge of the wall before throwing himself with as much force as he could at the dead man. Dying at this man’s hands was no longer enough.
Boyd would take the motherfucker with him, even if it took his final breath. Boyd’s focus narrowed down to the smug expression on Omega Ray’s face, and he savored the thought of wiping it away. The Powered Criminal casually tossed Kitsune to the side.
Boyd drove as much Black Flame into the blade as he could, thrusting it out ahead of him. It was an arrowhead, with Boyd being the shaft as his remaining wing acted as the fletching to control his trajectory.
Omega Ray casually caught Boyd by the wrist. As his body swung forward, Omega Ray punched a fist into his gut, driving the air out of him once more and arresting his momentum. The punch finally pushed a shard or two of his broken ribs into his left lung, which promptly collapsed. Boyd gasped wetly as blood rushes up his throat into his mouth, which he promptly spat into the face of his enemy.
Thick dark blood splattered all over the smug Powered Criminal’s face. Omega Ray swore and reached up to wipe it from his eyes. While the monster was distracted doing that, Boyd dropped the dagger clutched in his hand, catching it with his tail and driving it into the bastard’s gut. Once. Twice. On the third time, he dragged it from one side to the other, splitting the villain open and causing his intestines to spill out onto the ground.
Omega Ray’s face contorted in pain and shock, the smug expression finally wiped clean away. He dropped Boyd and stumbled back, hands trying to push his innards back where they belonged.
Boyd landed on his feet and flicked the knife back up to his left hand, desperately channeling what little Black Flame he could sense still within him into the blade. He stepped forward and swung, slamming the blade into the side of the monster’s head and into his brain, ending Omega Ray’s life before he could strike back in his last moments.
With a grunt of satisfaction, Boyd watched the light wink out of Omega Ray’s eyes. Just to be sure, he thrust the knife with all he could muster through the villain’s eye socket. The traitor’s last expression was one of pain and terror—bringing Boyd a savage sense of satisfaction. Letting go of the knife’s handle, he let the man’s corpse crumple to the ground.
After staring for a long moment to make sure his enemy was truly dead, Boyd roared at the sky, his time in triumph. He may have been down to one lung, but that one lung happily complied.
Chapter 41
Boyd had done it. He had won. He had saved Glorith city and killed a monster who had once terrorized the entire world.
He fell to his knees, exhausted, as blackness crept in on his vision. He banishes it for now, releasing some of the pain held at bay by his Mental Domination to keep him conscious. Boyd’s mind wasn’t clear enough to sense his Bond with either of his lovers. They could be dead for all he knew, and he had to know.
This may not have been a victory at all. If either of the girls were dead, killing Omega Ray would not have been worth the cost.
Boyd pushed himself back to his… well, back to his one good foot and hopped over to where Kitsune lay, praying to whatever higher power might listen that she was just unconscious. Reaching her, he carefully rolled her onto her back and checked her pulse. Boyd released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding when he found a pulse, steady and strong. Next, he put his ear to her mouth and watched her chest. He could both hear her breath and see her chest rising and falling. She would be okay.
Not willing to leave her lying in the street, he scooped her up with his remaining arm as carefully as he could. Straightening, he ignored the pain holding his love against his broken left side caused. He’d gotten turned around during the last stage of the fight and had to look up and down the street to find the crater where Silvie was. He spotted it a hundred yards away. He began hopping in that direction, disregarding the pain each jumped caused his everything.
Boyd wasn’t sure how long it took, focused as he was on his goal of making sure Silvie yet lived. Each hop felt like it took minutes, but that couldn’t be accurate. It was just his agony-addled mind, punishing him for pushing through the pain. Eventually, he reached the edge of the crater and saw Silvie lying in a broken pile at its center.
He was grateful to see that her skull appeared to be intact; he hadn’t seen the result of that last stomping strike. Sitting on the edge of the crater, he pulled Kitsune close, protecting her with his remaining wing as best he could. Then, he slid down the slope, careful not to ram into his wounded love.
Boyd gently laid Kitsune to one side, gently setting her down beside his other lover. He didn’t feel strong enough to stand again, so he crawled around Kitsune over to Silvie’s other side. Checking her pulse and breathing, Boyd was again flooded with relief.
Silvie’s pulse wasn’t as steady as Kitsune’s, but it was. She was also breathing under her own power, if shallowly. The Authority’s medical personnel could fix just about everything but death. Silvie and Kitsune were both alive, and that’s all that mattered. Now he just needed to get her that medical attention.
Boyd almost regretted discarding his comms, but knew it had been the right thing to do. The Director would just have badgered and distracted him during the fight. It had been such a close thing that might have been enough to change the outcome.
He checked Silvie’s ear and found her communicator was intact, so he gingerly pulled it out with the claws of his thumb and forefinger. Pushing it into his own ear, he activated it, and grumbled through the exhaustion and pain, “This thing working? Anyone on Comms?”
“Boyd?” Director Davis’s voice responded immediately, surprise filling the single word. “What are you doing on Silver’s comms?”
