“I don’t know what you’re trying to prove with that stupid thing,” Mason said, his broken wrist pressed against his chest. “You better try something else unless you want your butt kicked. Dude, don’t you have a real weapon?”
“So it’s true.” Egon tucked the Amplifier into his secret agent pocket. “The Memory Lash changed you. You’re protected by remorse. Otherwise my Psi Cat would have ripped out your soul. Back off, Mason. This is between Rinnie and me.”
“Wrong, Egon,” Mason said. “I’m between Rinnie and you.”
Mason dove at Egon with catlike speed, hitting him waist high. They both went airborne, but with a sudden twist, Egon was out of Mason’s grip, and back on his feet. He folded his arms and stood motionless. “I was really hoping for a bit more competition, Mason. I realize your wrist hurts, but maybe you want to put on your big girl panties and try again?”
Mason pulled himself up from the ground, got in Egon’s face like he was going to start yelling, then head-butted him with the force of a battering ram. “Maybe you should put your panties on.”
The head-butt drove Egon to his knees. He got to his feet, rubbing his forehead, smiling sadistically. “Want to play dirty? Let me show you what I’m really capable of.”
Egon threw a lightning-fast kick at Mason’s head, but pulled it short, stopping an inch from his face. “Oh, that would have been painful. Maybe you should try to hit me instead.”
“You got it.” Mason tucked his broken wrist against his waist. I watched in horror as he lashed out with a series of powerful punches, driving Egon backwards. Mason was fast and extremely strong, but Egon moved like a spider. Mason couldn’t touch him. Egon was playing with him, like a fly in his web.
I concentrated, ignoring the pain in my cheek caused by the punch, and focused on clearing my mind of the effects of the Mental Blast. My limbs began to feel less out of control as the connection strengthened.
Mason struck again and again, but Egon dodged with ease, taunting him with each missed blow. Suddenly, he hooked Mason’s fist and tossed him to the ground. Mason regained his feet quickly, but Egon blasted a knee into his ribs, doubling him over, then lashed out with a powerful uppercut that left Mason lying motionless on his back.
“Now,” Egon said, drawing his Amplifier, “I want to try something. This is really gonna be cool.”
A weapon slowly formed from the tip of the Amplifier, solidifying into a long-handled medieval War Hammer, the head flat on one side, spiked on the other.
Egon swung the Hammer at the wall with both hands, and chunks of brick and mortar exploded from it, landing on Mason’s face. I saw no fear in Mason’s eyes as he sat up, leaning on his elbows, glaring at Egon.
“Sorry, Bucko,” Egon said, raising the Hammer above his head. “Now that you know my secret, I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you. You’ll have to be patient with me, though. I’ve never killed anyone before, so it’ll probably be very sloppy. And extremely painful.”
“No!” I screamed, forcing myself to my feet. My Thought Saber hissed through the air, searing a vicious arc toward Egon’s arm.
Egon took the Hammer in both hands and blocked my blow with the shaft. Then he thrust the smoky weapon forward at my head. I ducked and slashed at Egon’s legs. He blocked and resumed his attack.
We battled, each parrying with skill and riposting viciously. Egon attacked nonstop, wielding his War Hammer like a baton, spinning and slamming, but I easily kept him at bay with my Thought Saber.
“You’re pretty good with that scrawny blade.” Egon pounded his Hammer at me with an overhead two-handed blow. “You’d make a great Knight.”
“Sorry, I have a job,” I said, stopping the Hammer dead with a ferocious upward block. The Hammer screamed in anger, and my Saber laughed. “Getting frustrated, are we?”
“Maybe. Sure you won’t change your mind? Think of the things we could do together. We’d be unstoppable.” Egon swung the Hammer at my leg.
“Unstoppable? Really. You need to work on your battle rhetoric. That was so movie villain cliché.” I slammed his Hammer with a fierce downward slash, nearly knocking it from his hands.
“Rinnie, no!” a muffled voice said.
I felt the color drain from my face.
“Susie? Susie! Where are you?”
Chapter Thirty-two
Susie's Fury