21 Chapter 20

Kara seemed a bit on the edge as she pulled me out of the establishment.

We walked outside but I halted my steps after a bit. I could tell that something was bothering her.

Voranis: Do you mind if I ask you a question?

Kara: You...want to know why I pulled you out of there?

Voranis: That's right. You kinda panicked after you saw the others. I thought they were your friends.

She blushed red like a tomato.

Kara: No, you're right, they are my friends and I love these guys but...They are a bit quirky and the things they say might be weird even if they mean well. And in this situation they might be even worse and I won't know what to do if something happened and now I'm just babbling and-

Voranis: Hey hey hey! Relax.

I squeezed her hand and made my voice as soft as possible.

Voranis: If they're your friends, then I'm sure they're great.

She sighed.

Kara: You're right, you're right! I overreacted for no reason... So, do you want to go back and-

She abruptly stopped talking and turned to look in another direction.

Voranis: What's wrong?

Kara: I hear an alarm going off.

I tilted my head in confusion.

Voranis: I don't hear anything.

Kara: It's not surprising, I have superhearing like Superman.

After a short pause, she continued.

Kara: It's at a Lexcorp factory. I'm sorry but I have to go. I'll make it up to you.

Voranis: It's ok, I understand. But I'll hold you up on that.

I winked at her.

Kara: Thank you!

She flashed a smile and gave me a peck on the cheek.

Kara: I mean it!

She then ran to an alley while no one was looking and took off into the night sky. Obviously, I followed her shortly after.

Sadly I couldn't fly so the classic rooftop jumping will have to suffice as I went towards the direction she flew to.

With the suit enhancing my every move, it didn't take long for me to reach the Lexcorp factory while consciously suppressing any and all psionic ripples I might make.

I didn't forget the psychic sweep from earlier so I left nothing to chance.

The factory was pretty much isolated at the edge of the city. Nothing looked out of place except the alarm.

As I was surveying the surroundings, something struck me as odd.

"Where are the guards? And where's Kara?"

BOOM!!!

I got my answer in the form of an explosion. Kara was shot away from the factory opposite of my position..

Voranis: Ka- Supergirl!

I began running towards the location Kara was launched to until the half waypoint where I found something in my way.

?: Hey there little bug, are you lost?

Blocking my way, was some kind of robot. Its whole body was metallic grey and had a humanoid shape. It spoke with a gruff male voice.

Voranis: Identify yourself!

?: What the heck? From what kind of backwater countryside boonies are you even from to not know me? It doesn't even matter anyway, since you're gonna be very dead and I'm gonna be very rich. Moreover, since you save me the time and effort to find you, I may kill you painlessly.

"Why would someone be looking for me? I'm not even that well known."

I shifted my weight and readied my stance.

Voranis: You seem pretty confident. Since I'm going to die anyway, care to tell me why were you looking for me?

?: Maybe I'll tell you...

He suddenly lunged at me.

?: After you're dead!

Deftly dodging his punch with a sidestep, I swept his legs but failed to knock him down.

"That didn't go as planned."

He looked at me and laughed

?: I can go toe to toe with the likes of Superman, do you think a newbie like you can stand against me?

He tried to stomp on me but I jumped out of the way.

"At least he's not very fast."

Voranis: Are you sure you don't want to surrender?

He laughed again but didn't answer me.

Voranis: Fine! Don't say I didn't warn you.

I lit my blades and readied my stance.

Voranis: Let's begin the training exercise.

I stabbed at his shoulder with my right blade and parried his strike with my left. The attack connected but my stab didn't do as much damage as I hoped.

"He's nothing if not durable"

?: DAMN! You damaged my armor!

I tilted my head slightly.

Voranis: Isn't that the whole point of a fight?

He ignored me and raised both of his arms at me. Small hatches opened up all along the surface of his arms and shoulders. From these openings, all kinds of weapons were visible and all of them targeted me.

The robot fired everything with me as its target. I ran trying to dodge the green laser and plasma fire. Rolling left and right, jumping, kicking the factory walls to change directions midair.

At some point he even began to fly, making my blades be close to useless.

"Now I know how Zealots feel."

I took cover behind a corner wall to catch my breath.

" Currently I can either blast him with a psystorm but risk becoming exposed to the entity that was looking for me, or keep stalling until I find a way to reach him and bring him down"

The wall covering me got destroyed, forcing me to run once again.

Voranis: That's just cheating!

"I could most likely trust Kara for help even if I wasn't sure about the other heroes. That makes choosing much easier."

Making up my mind about how to proceed, lightning bolts began arcing around me but he didn't show signs of caring about it as he kept blasting.

Reaching a certain point, my psionic force was unleashed and the whole area around the robot was ravaged by lightning.