Madu Enoch crouched behind the remains of a concrete divider.
His breathing was uneven.
Blood ran from a cut above his eyebrow, and his left shoulder throbbed with every movement.
Across the intersection, Dreadclaw stood surrounded by orange energy.
The villain's damaged forearm armor flickered intermittently.
"What did you do?" Dreadclaw demanded.
Madu glanced at the small device in his hand.
"An experimental electromagnetic pulse generator."
Dreadclaw looked down at his armor.
"You think technology can stop me?"
"No."
Madu placed the device back into his utility belt.
"I think technology can interfere with the systems that make your power easier to control."
Dreadclaw's expression twisted with rage.
He slammed both hands into the ground.
BOOM!
A wave of force raced beneath the pavement.
Madu immediately jumped sideways.
The ground erupted where he had been standing.
Dreadclaw released another burst.
Then another.
He was no longer trying to strike Madu directly.
Instead, he was destroying the surrounding environment, eliminating every possible hiding place and escape route.
Concrete barriers shattered.
Streetlights collapsed.
Abandoned vehicles were thrown into the air.
Dreadclaw laughed.
"YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER!"
Madu rolled behind a damaged car.
The car exploded from a concentrated blast.
He was thrown across the street and landed hard on his back.
For several seconds, he couldn't breathe.
His vision blurred.
Current condition: critical.
Available equipment: limited.
Opponent's output: unstable but still dangerous.
Probability of victory through direct confrontation: negligible.
Madu forced himself onto one elbow.
He needed to stop reacting to individual attacks.
Dreadclaw had recognized that Madu could identify patterns. The villain was now deliberately varying his timing and attack angles.
Trying to predict each strike had become increasingly ineffective.
Madu closed his eyes for a fraction of a second.
Change the question.
Instead of asking what Dreadclaw would do next, he examined what Dreadclaw was trying to accomplish.
The answer was obvious.
The villain wanted to eliminate all the places where Madu could avoid his attacks.
That meant the attacks would become increasingly concentrated around the areas Madu attempted to use for protection.
Dreadclaw's behavior was unpredictable at the level of individual strikes.
But his objective remained consistent.
He wants to force me into the open.
Madu opened his eyes.
Then I need to make the open space dangerous for him instead.
He studied the battlefield.
The delivery truck had been wrecked.
A construction crane stood beside the road.
Its steel lifting cable remained intact.
The ruptured water main had flooded part of the intersection.
Broken concrete exposed several lengths of reinforcing steel.
And Dreadclaw's armor was already damaged.
Madu's mind began connecting the information.
The armor distributes kinetic energy through mechanical stabilizers.
The damaged forearm joint creates an irregular load.
The electromagnetic pulse temporarily disrupted the stabilizers.
The villain's large attacks consume considerable energy.
His repeated use of maximum-output abilities increases the risk of losing control.
Madu looked at the crane.
I don't need to neutralize his power completely.
He looked at the water flowing across the street.
I need to make it difficult for him to control his power.
He looked at the exposed steel reinforcement.
And I need to position him where a loss of control becomes a disadvantage.
A plan began to take shape.
It wasn't elegant.
It wasn't guaranteed to work.
But it was possible.
Madu moved along the edge of the intersection, keeping the wrecked vehicles between himself and Dreadclaw.
He retrieved three compact magnetic anchors from his utility belt.
His first anchor attached to the crane's control platform.
The second attached to a broken steel beam lying beside the road.
The third attached to the underside of the delivery truck's damaged chassis.
He connected the anchors using reinforced cables.
Then he examined the crane's emergency control panel.
The main controls were damaged, but the emergency winch and braking system remained functional.
Madu smiled.
"Good enough."
A violent explosion interrupted his work.
Dreadclaw had spotted him.
"There you are!"
The villain fired a concentrated blast.
Madu dropped behind a concrete support.
The attack struck the support, cracking its outer surface.
Madu scrambled away.
Dreadclaw charged.
His claws slashed toward Madu's head.
Madu ducked and struck the damaged forearm joint.
The villain staggered.
Madu retreated toward the flooded section of the street.
Dreadclaw followed.
"STOP RUNNING!"
Madu glanced at the water.
Then at the exposed steel.
Then at the villain's damaged armor.
Everything was moving toward the position he needed.
He only had to survive long enough to complete the trap.
Dreadclaw raised both hands.
Orange energy gathered around his claws.
Madu's eyes widened.
High-output discharge imminent.
He turned and sprinted toward the delivery truck.
Dreadclaw unleashed his attack.
KINETIC DOMINION!
The shockwave tore through the intersection.
Madu fired a cable toward the truck's steel chassis and pulled himself behind the reinforced engine block.
The blast struck.
The truck slid violently across the road, dragging the connected cables behind it.
Madu held on.
His shoulder screamed in pain.
The cable tightened.
The truck crashed into the crane's reinforced support.
The connected steel beam shifted.
Exactly as Madu had calculated.
The movement changed the tension across the cables, pulling the beam into position above the flooded section of road.
Dreadclaw lowered his arms.
He was breathing heavily.
Madu emerged from behind the truck.
"You're slowing down."
Dreadclaw's eyes burned.
"I'LL SHOW YOU SLOW!"
He charged.
Madu retreated toward the crane.
Dreadclaw followed with a barrage of claw strikes.
Madu dodged the first two.
The third tore through his sleeve.
The fourth grazed his ribs.
The fifth forced him to stumble backward.
Dreadclaw grinned.
"You're running out of tricks!"
Madu glanced at the damaged forearm.
"Possibly."
He stepped onto the flooded section of pavement.
Dreadclaw followed.
The villain's right foot slipped slightly on the wet surface.
It was barely noticeable.
But Madu saw it.
Dreadclaw recovered immediately and raised his arm.
Madu pressed a button on his wrist device.
The crane's emergency winch activated.
WHIIIIIIIIIR!
The cable tightened.
The steel beam rose from the ground.
Dreadclaw turned toward the sound.
"What are you doing?"
Madu yanked the control lever.
The beam swung across the intersection.
Dreadclaw attempted to evade it.
But his damaged right arm failed to coordinate with his movement.
The beam struck his shoulder.
KRAAAAAANG!
Dreadclaw stumbled sideways.
Madu activated the emergency brake.
The cable locked.
The beam dropped across the villain's upper body, pinning him against the reinforced roadside structure.
Dreadclaw roared and struggled.
The metal groaned.
He began bending the beam with sheer strength.
Madu approached cautiously.
"You see," he said, "I don't have to be stronger than you."
Dreadclaw glared at him.
"I WILL TEAR YOU APART!"
Madu removed another device from his utility belt.
"I only have to make your strength work against you."
He attached the device to the damaged joint in Dreadclaw's forearm.
A blue light flashed.
The armor flickered.
Dreadclaw's eyes widened.
Madu retreated immediately.
The villain's right hand began glowing with unstable orange energy.
He tried to force the beam upward.
The damaged joint trembled.
His energy discharge became irregular.
Madu's mind raced.
The trap is holding.
The armor's stabilizers are failing.
However, the beam will not withstand repeated maximum-output attacks indefinitely.
He watched Dreadclaw carefully.
The villain's body tensed.
His right arm began glowing brighter.
Madu realized what was happening.
Dreadclaw was preparing one final attack.
An attack powerful enough to destroy the beam.
And potentially powerful enough to destroy everything around him.
Madu took a step backward.
"Dreadclaw, listen to me."
The villain snarled.
"YOU'VE LOST!"
Madu shook his head.
"No. You still have a choice."
Dreadclaw's eyes blazed.
"MY CHOICE IS TO DESTROY YOU!"
He released the energy.
ANNIHILATION BURST!
Orange light swallowed the intersection.
The beam shook violently.
The crane cable screamed under the strain.
Madu braced himself behind the reinforced structure.
He had anticipated the discharge.
But he had never expected the blast to be this powerful.
The crane support began to crack.
The cable stretched.
The metal beam shifted several centimeters.
Madu's eyes widened.
The structure is failing!
He had only seconds to execute his final counter.