Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Soldier Boy (2)
"My head!" Homelander shrieked.
Homelander erupted from the rubble of the guard tower. Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away, staring at the crimson smear on his white glove with absolute horror.
"You made me bleed," Homelander whispered. His eyes flared into an inferno. "I AM THE ONLY GOD!"
Homelander unleashed a continuous torrent of heat vision. He unleashed maximum output, a sustained beam of nuclear heat aimed directly at Soldier Boy’s chest.
Soldier Boy braced his legs, digging his boots into the asphalt and raised the shield.
The red beams struck the brass. The metal began to glow cherry red, then white hot. The heat radiating from the clash was so intense it ignited the fuel leaking from the destroyed vehicles fifty yards away.
"Come on, you whining little bitch!" Soldier Boy roared over the deafening hiss of the lasers. "Push!"
Homelander screamed, pushing harder, flying forward to close the distance, pouring every ounce of his power into the beams.
Soldier Boy held his ground. He gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging under the tactical suit.
The shield was absorbing the heat, but the kinetic force of the beams was pushing him backward. His boots carved twin trenches into the asphalt as he was slowly forced to slide back.
"He’s too strong," Maeve gasped, limping out of the rubble, clutching her ribs. She looked at Starlight, who was staggering to her feet. "Annie! We have to help John!"
"Help him?" Starlight coughed, looking at the two battling titans. "They’re trying to kill each other!"
"If Soldier Boy wins, he kills us next!" Maeve yelled. "Move!"
"Red Unit," Red One commanded, getting back to his feet, his helmet dented from the shield strike. "Coordinated strike."
Suddenly, the battlefield shifted.
The Seven and the Red Unit, mortal enemies just minutes ago, turned their collective attention to the man standing behind the glowing brass shield.
"Kill him!" Homelander shrieked, his eyes still locked in the laser clash. "ALL OF YOU! KILL HIM!"
Maeve vaulted over a burning Humvee, launching herself through the air. She brought both fists down in a double hammer strike aimed at the back of Soldier Boy’s neck.
Soldier Boy sensed her coming. He shifted his weight, angling the shield to deflect Homelander’s lasers upward into the sky and spun around.
He caught Maeve’s double hammer strike with his bare right forearm. The impact sent a shockwave through the air, but his arm didn’t buckle.
He grabbed Maeve by the breastplate of her armor and hurled her directly into the path of Red One, who was charging from the flank.
The two armored figures collided in a tangle of limbs, crashing to the ground.
"Sleep!" Red Four commanded, stepping out of the shadows, focusing the entirety of his Tier 3 Telepathy into a psychic spike aimed at Soldier Boy’s brain.
Soldier Boy paused for a fraction of a second, his eyes narrowing as he felt the pressure against his consciousness.
His Tier 1 Super Defense wasn’t just physical, it extended to his neurological structure. The psychic command hit his mind like a pebble hitting a bank vault.
"Get out of my head, freak," Soldier Boy growled. He picked up a chunk of concrete debris the size of a microwave and hurled it like a baseball.
It struck Red Four squarely in the chest, the kinetic force lifting the armored operative off his feet and throwing him backward into the darkness.
Starlight, her hands glowing with blinding light, stepped into his line of sight. She unleashed a massive concussive blast, a wall of pure photon energy.
Soldier Boy raised the shield, leaning into the blast. The light washed over him, blinding the entire courtyard, but the kinetic force merely pushed him back half a step.
Pop.
Red Two appeared directly behind him, wrapping his armored arms around Soldier Boy’s waist in a bear hug, attempting to teleport them both into the earth.
"Get off me!" Soldier Boy roared.
He threw his head backward, delivering a devastating headbutt to the faceplate of Red Two’s helmet. The reinforced visor cracked under the impact. Red Two’s grip loosened.
Soldier Boy grabbed the armored arms, twisted his hips and suplexed the six hundred pound operative over his shoulder, slamming him into the asphalt with a crater forming impact.
"DIE!" Homelander screamed, diving from the sky, leading with a flying knee aimed at Soldier Boy’s face.
Soldier Boy brought the shield up in a desperate block. Homelander’s knee crashed into the brass. The force of the blow drove Soldier Boy to one knee, the asphalt cracking beneath him.
Immediately, Red Three unleashed another torrent of absolute zero ice, freezing Soldier Boy’s legs to the ground, rooting him in place.
Maeve, recovering from the collision, sprinted forward and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to Soldier Boy’s exposed ribs.
Homelander landed, grabbing the edge of the brass shield with both hands, trying to rip it away. "Give me that!"
Soldier Boy looked surrounded. He was on one knee, his legs encased in solid ice, a super powered woman kicking his ribs and a flying god trying to disarm him, while a team of armored soldiers recovered to strike again.
Soldier Boy laughed.
It was a rumbling sound that vibrated with pure joy. He was in his element. He was in the shit.
He focused his Tier 1 Strength.
With a roar that shook the very air, he yanked the shield backward, pulling Homelander off balance. In the same fluid motion, he drove his forehead directly into Homelander’s nose.
CRUNCH.
Homelander staggered backward, clutching his face, blood pouring freely over his lips.
Soldier Boy flexed his legs. The ice encasing them exploded into a thousand glittering shards, unable to hold the raw physical power of his muscles.
He stood up, towering over the battlefield. He backhanded Maeve with the flat of his shield, sending her spinning away.
He looked around at the bleeding and terrified faces of The Seven and the dented forms of the Red Unit.
