The second my attention was pulled from Egon, his Hammer’s flat head crashed through my shoulder. Sharp coldness like slivers of frozen glass shot down to my fingertips. My sword arm went numb, my Thought Saber fizzled out. The Amplifier fell from my hand and bounced in the street.
“Easily distracted, I see,” Egon said, extinguishing the Hammer. “I thought Psi Fighters were challenging. Guess not. Now, let me tell you my plan. The War Hammer is such a cool weapon. It can crush brick, smash steel, bust up just about anything I like. But, as you know, Psi Weapons don’t have the same effect on flesh. I would have crushed Mason’s mind if you hadn’t interrupted. I’m pretty sure his heart or lungs or something important would have stopped once I destroyed his mental connections. But I have a better plan for you. Okay, I realize you’re slowly becoming paralyzed, and to tell you the truth, I could have a lot of fun with that. But what I’d really like is for you to bleed. And for that, I need a good, old-fashioned hunk of iron.”
Egon motioned toward Mason’s crowbar lying against the brick wall. It jumped through the air and into his hand like he was holding a giant magnet.
“What are you, a Jedi now?” I said.
“Surely, those useless Psi Fighters taught you telekinesis.”
“I’m in the slow group.”
“Well, enough babbling.” Egon stared admiringly at the crowbar in his hand. “Do you know how many nerve endings you have in your toes?”
My legs gave out and I fell. “Enough to feel it when I kick ’em up your butt.” The numbing effects of the Hammer were spreading, and soon, I wouldn’t be able to move at all. I had only seconds to do something. I just wasn’t sure what.
“Leave her alone, coward,” Mason hissed weakly. “Come fight me. Let’s finish what we started.”
“Mason, buddy, you’re no challenge. I’ll get to you in a minute.”
Mason’s eye was rapidly swelling shut, his head bleeding badly. He struggled to pull himself to his feet, but collapsed. I was on my own.
My Amplifier lay just out of reach. I tried to crawl, but my paralyzed body parts wouldn’t cooperate. My sword arm flopped like a gummy worm, my legs were like anchors. This was so much worse than the Mental Blast. I still had some feeling in my left hand, so I stretched it toward my Amplifier. I concentrated, imagining the Amplifier flying into my hand like Luke Skywalker’s light saber. I pulled hard with my mind, reaching out with everything I had.
The stupid Amplifier refused to move. It had apparently never seen the movie.
I looked up helplessly.
Egon’s face had become a canvas of insanity. Grinning like his skull mask, he held the crowbar in both hands and spread his feet. “Interlocking grip, nice wide stance. Head down, eye on the ball, and fore!”
Egon whipped the crowbar back above his head, then sliced it down toward my shoe. I closed my eyes. Suddenly, a high-pitched scream reverberated through the alley. Egon stopped in mid-stroke.
I felt a maelstrom of mental force gushing from the garbage pile. Tattered paper and plastic bags swirled as though they were in a cyclone. Garbage hurtled through the air and splattered against the bricks. Suddenly, a crate exploded with an ear-shattering crack, scattering wooden fragments and filling the alley with dust.
When the dust cleared, a tiny figure levitated a foot off the ground, centered in a ten foot circle emptied of all debris, her hair suspended as though she were floating underwater.
“Susie,” I whispered.
“You didn’t tell me your sister is a Psi Fighter, too.” Egon twirled the crowbar. “Bonus!”
Susie sat in midair, cross-legged, hands dangling at her sides, appearing perfectly relaxed—except for her face. Her eyes burned with a terrible hatred that frightened me, and her mouth was twisted with rage. Susie was silent, but her mental attack screamed like a small child in agony. It struck Egon and shattered his crowbar like cheap glass. Steel shards embedded themselves in the brick walls of Dead End Alley.
Egon’s scream was real. He covered his ears and sank to his knees. His whole body shook as Susie’s attack strengthened.
Susie stepped out of midair and stomped toward Egon, her fists clenched, her hair floating on a mental tsunami.
“Don’t you ever hurt my sister!” she screeched. Her eyes became narrow slits as her anger took physical form. Her shoulders twitched. Her fists jerked and lurched forward like twin cannons. Egon wailed again, grabbing his leg.
“Ever!” Susie thrust both palms into the air and a loud crack like a lightning strike echoed down the alley. Egon was thrown backward as though he had been struck by a battering ram. He slammed off the brick wall and landed facedown on the pavement, unconscious…or worse. I had never felt such power from a Mental Blast.
Dead End Alley became silent.
I sat up and shook the numbness from my aching limbs. “Hi, Susie. I found you.”
Susie ran toward me and flung her arms around my neck, sobbing.
“I knew you’d come. Did he hurt you?”