Chapter 157 Ficus.

Chapter 157: 157 Ficus.

To hell with that. I gripped the handle of my sledgehammer tighter. I was going to turn him into mulch.

I sent a concentrated blast of magnetic force toward the rear doors, ripping them completely off their hinges as I flew into the next chamber.

It was a massive, overgrown arboretum. Skeletal iron framing arched overhead, choked with thick, writhing ivy, and scanty moonlight bled through the shattered glass domes.

I sent my powers radiating outward, trying to feel the layout of the room, but the metal here was old and severely degraded.

The feel of it grated on my magnetic sense like I was rubbing sandpaper directly against my brain.

And somewhere in that dense, humid foliage was Doctor Green.

"Come on out, Green!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the rusted canopy. "I know you’re in here."

"Fat lot of good it’ll do you!" he retorted. Damn, the acoustics in this jungle made it almost impossible to pinpoint his voice.

"Just give up! I promise we won’t scramble your brain more than absolutely necessary," I called out, advancing slowly into the room, keeping my sledgehammer raised. I just needed to keep him talking...

"Ha! You think you’ll use mind control on me? You’re a monster!"

"Your master plan does the exact same thing! Only yours ends in compost!" I yelled back.

Suddenly, I felt a massive shift in the rusted iron above me. And it was—

"True!"

I whirled around, bringing my hammer up just in time. Green leaped from his hiding spot in the canopy of a massive, overgrown fern, bearing down on me like a falling boulder.

He slammed into my guard, driving me into the dirt. In his hands, he held a massive, rusted industrial brush-cutter—the kind used for clearing heavy highway brush, modified with jagged, weaponized iron teeth.

He revved the gas motor, the deafening, guttural roar of the engine echoing as he drove the spinning blades straight down at my face.

I pushed back hard, catching the heavy iron blade in the steel head of my sledgehammer while using my magnetic powers to try and seize the motor.

Green’s mossy face contorted in absolute rage, the thick, pulsing vines under his skin bulging as he put his entire weight behind his arms, steadily gaining ground.

"Nature... reclaims... everything!" Green grunted, forcing the heavy blades closer. Closer.

Damn, but this bastard was strong! If he’d decided to just smash my head in with his fists, there probably wouldn’t have been much I could do about it, even with the armor plates. Thank fuck for thematic villain stupidity. But even so, it was only a matter of time before those spinning teeth chewed through my visor. I had to do something fast.

I split my attention, casting my powers blindly outward until I grabbed a massive, rusted fertilizer tank bolted to the far wall.

The brush-cutter jerked downward as my magnetic hold on the motor loosened. The whirring teeth bit into the reinforced metal of my mask. Sparks hissed and spat directly into my eyes.

I swept my free hand to the side. With a deafening, rending groan, the entire steel tank was magnetically ripped from its moorings and flew across the room.

Green never saw it coming, too maniacally focused on trying to saw my head in half. The mass of steel hit him like a runaway freight train, ripping him off me and flinging him across the arboretum. I jerked upright, gasping, touching the deeply gouged metal of my visor.

But there was no time to think about the near miss. I was already back on my feet, gripping my princess tight, just as Green heaved the crushed tank off his chest and rose to his feet with a feral snarl.

"Fool! You’ll pay for that!" he roared.

"Shut up," I growled, raising my empty hand.

All around me, chunks of the rusted catwalks, wrought-iron framing, and heavy irrigation pipes vibrated violently. They hummed as they were magnetically ripped out of the dirt and walls.

For the first time, Green looked genuinely uncertain, eyeing the sky as half the greenhouse coalesced into a colossal, jagged fist of iron hovering directly behind me.

"Uh..." he said.

"I am so fucking done with you," I said, and dropped my arm.

Green saw the mountain of metal rush at him and turned, sprinting toward the far exit. But I had far better control of my powers than that.

He barely made it halfway before the rusted hand grabbed him, slamming him brutally into the dirt.

I tightened the fist, grinding the old metal together, squeezing his vine-enhanced body in a crushing, inescapable embrace.

"Grnnn!" he groaned, only his mossy head emerging from the fingers of steel and rusted iron, the roots in his neck and forehead bulging dangerously. "You’ll... not... hold... me...!"

"Let’s see about that," I said, turning as the heavy doors slammed open behind me. I looked back to see Psyren and Glacia rush in on a rolling wave of freezing air.

"Sir! We are here! What... oh," Glacia said, pausing as she surveyed the massive iron fist holding the struggling botanist.

"Take care of the weeds?" I asked them.

"Yes, sir," Glacia said smoothly, depositing Psyren onto the dirt. "The flora will not bother us now."

"I’ll say! Those things probably won’t thaw out until the next ice age!" Psyren laughed.

"Good work, Glacia," I said. I knew she was highly capable, but seeing her single-handedly suppress a dozen heavy-hitter biological weapons in a matter of minutes was incredibly impressive. I looked back to Psyren. "Now, if you would?" I asked, nodding at Green.

Psyren’s eyes flashed with vibrant pink hearts, her grin growing instantly vicious. "Oh, fuck yeah!" she cheered, rubbing her hands together with glee as she skipped nearer. "Time for a lobotomy, bitches!"

"Nothing too severe," I reminded her firmly. "Just make him forget us, his operation here, and the entire ’Override Array’ scheme."

"Aww. Can’t I dig around in his brain a little more, boss?" Psyren whined plaintively. "I could make him think he was a ficus!"

"We’re villains, Psyren. Not assholes," I reminded her.

She sighed dramatically. "Fine!" she said, flexing her fingers and leering down at Green. "Now," she purred, sliding her headphones off and grabbing the sides of his mossy head. "Let’s get this party started!"

The humid air around Psyren began to hum, glowing with an electric pink aura. I winced as I felt that familiar, twinging throb in my temples that always accompanied her heavy output.

Though her psychic abilities couldn’t directly affect me due to my own powers passively disrupting the waves, they still gave me the mother of all fucking migraines. But I’d gladly take some pain in the membrane any day if it meant keeping her safe.

And Psyren was plainly having the time of her life. She didn’t often get clearance to just cut loose like this, and she was clearly going to savor every single minute of it.

Green’s face twitched and shuddered violently. His body instinctively tried to force its way out of its metal prison, the vines under his skin bulging to snap the iron, but I’d learned my lesson from the catwalk. I clamped the metal fist down even tighter, locking him completely in place.

"Hey there, big guy," Psyren said, her voice faintly vibrating with her psychic power, heavy with teasing compulsion. "I’ve got a reeeeal big ask for you. And I know it’s gonna be suuuuper hard, but I think you can do it."