Fleshgrabber took a breath behind the massive machine he hid behind. This hero he was fighting had a lot of flexibility, unlike the villain. The ability to conjure an arsenal of weapons and shields made it extremely hard to get close, which Fleshgrabber needed to do to win the fight.
The villain placed his right hand over his left, changing the whip hand back to normal. He left the other as a whip since it seemed to creep the hero out. Fleshgrabber reflexively tested the arm and hand, even though he knew that nothing was wrong with it. He still couldn't get over the odd feeling losing a hand gave him.
With his free hand, Fleshgrabber pulled a grenade out of his inventory and pulled the pin with his teeth. He sat for a second, letting the explosive cook in his hand, then tossed the device over the machine to where Lill stood.Cheêck out latest novels at novel35.com
"Oh sh*t," the hero said.
Lill mimed a wall in front of him and dove behind a box to his left. The grenade bounced against the wall, exploding seconds later and drilling its shrapnel into the wall. The force of the blow bent the wall inward, and it snapped under the pressure. The conjured bricks clattered against the ground, then disappeared altogether.
Fleshgrabber leaped over his piece of cover and made a beeline for Lill'Personator once the explosion rocked his ears. He raised his whip hand in the air, ready to bring it down as soon as he saw his foe. A few steps into his dash, Fleshgrabber reached into his inventory again and pulled out another grenade, which he tossed into the air without priming. It landed behind the stack of crates Lill had jumped behind.
"F*ck!" the hero yelled.
Lill sprang over the boxes, miming a shield behind him to block the explosive he thought was coming. When nothing came, he realized his mistake. But it was too late; Fleshgrabber was already in range with his whip. Bone raked across Lill'Personators back, scraping away the hero's health and making him wince.
"Did you seriously hit me with your disgusting arm!" the hero shouted.
Fleshgrabber didn't answer, reaching out with an arm to grab Lill. The hero swung with his fist, creating a shimmering club that cracked against Fleshgrabber's shoulder. The villain winced but continued his attack, latching onto Lill'Personater's arm. His target acquired, Fleshgrabber squeezed Lill's arm once.
Suddenly, the hero's arm twisted like a pretzel, turning into a lumpy ball of flesh at the end of his shoulder.
"F*cking Christ on a cracker! What the f*ck!" Lill yelled. "What the f*ck did you do to my arm!"
Fleshgrabber only flexed his fingers and dove towards the hero again. But Lill wasn't going to let the villain perform the same trick twice. Still cursing, he jumped away from Fleshgrabber, miming throwing a javelin at the same time. The attack landed in the villain's whip of flesh, slicing through a few tendrils. Fleshgrabber winced but continued his charge.
"Would you get the f*ck away already!" Lill yelled. Desperate, the hero mimed one of his deadlier attacks. Lill mimed pulling a grenade pin out with his teeth and tossed the conjured item at Fleshgrabber.
Seeing the danger coming his way, Fleshgrabber rolled to the side and whipped bone shards at the grenade in an attempt to send it flying. A fragment struck the grenade, sending it careening off in the distance where it exploded on top of a machine extruding hard candy. Boiling sugar spilled out of the device, landing on some boxes nearby.
Lill continued cursing, thoroughly creeped out by Fleshgrabber's power. It didn't help that the player he was facing stayed silent like a monster in a horror movie. But the hero wasn't going to let this foe get the best of him, and he took deep breaths to recover from the shock. Lill'Personator exhaled and created a spear in his hands, pointing it at Fleshgrabber.
"Okay," Lill said. "Come and get me."
Fleshgrabber smirked, which turned his face upward in all the wrong ways, and pulled out another grenade. Lill immediately charged, knowing that things would get too difficult for him if he had to deal with explosions. Instead, the hero decided to trust in his conjured weapons.
Lill first checked his body. Nothing was out of place, and his twisted arm was back where it should be. Then he read the message.
"Ha! Take that!"
"Cass! Remind me to grab that villain if we ever need someone to remodel a face," Dr. Zlo said.
"You sure, boss? He seems a little creepy."
"He is a villain, Cass. He's allowed to be creepy."
"Alright, boss."
Mabel took a sip of her tea, "I hope you aren't thinking someone here needs a facelift, hon."
"Of course not, Mabel," Dr. Zlo answered. "I only say it because we might need to hide our faces one day, and a disguise that completely alters our features is better than makeup."
"Sure, hon. Don't come crying to me when your perfect face gets all bent out of shape."
"Mabel, you know I would build a face arranger if my own dastardly good looks were ever lost."
"Mmhm," Mabel answered. "I don't doubt that, hon."
"But isn't this exciting!" Dr. Zlo said. "All these people want to join us to take on the gods of the game! Just think of all the schemes and heists we can pull off! Not to mention all the heroes that will join that we can corrupt!"
"It does sound fun, boss," Cass said.
"As long as some of them are attractive, I don't mind who they are," Mabel replied.
"I'm getting all sorts of ideas," Dr. Zlo said. "We'll hold a race through the downtown area, breaking anything that gets in our way! And we'll kidnap some of the world leaders to hold a mustache contest! The sky's the limit!"
"Let's focus on finishing this scheme, hon," Mabel said. She signaled Suitor for more tea, and the man stiffly poured out another cup.
"Quite right," Dr. Zlo responded. "Let's see Riptide's bit is still going on. The call to stop the heroes from disarming the bomb collected everyone near the beach. Haven's turned into a merry chase around the city. Shizuka really knows how to get on people's nerves. And of course, Sweet Dream and Titan are about to face off mano a womano to decide the fate of Thenapolis!"
Dr. Zlo looked over at his screen again, "But first, let's see how this other hero fight plays out. I want to see which of these two villains has the right stuff."