DOOM DAYS ✓

Chapter 27: Power Asborption

Power Absorption: the ability to steal powers from others.

Josh teleports back to VESSEL, but he overestimates the toll it takes on him. He loses his balance falls face flat. His vision tilts for a moment, but he shakes his head back to full clarity.

That's what he sees a pair of bloody dress shoes at eye level. Josh slowly looks up, realizing he'd teleported himself right at the feet of a very pissed off Alley Cat.

"Looks like the prodigal son has returned," Alley Cat sneers, picking up Josh by the hood of his suit.

"Let me go, you psycho furry!" Josh swings at the man's stomach. "I know what you did to her, and you're going to fucking pay."

He yelps when Alley Cat suddenly drops him, bolting to his feet. Hayley grabs the man and flings him across the room, a thunk indicating that he landed on one of the many desks in the room. Josh doesn't remember her being that strong.

Tyler appears beside him, white hot flames flickering over his fingers. "Is Tiana okay?" He asks.

Josh clenches his fists, looking for an object to fuck with. "Yeah, her dad's taking care of her. What do we need to do?"

"You distract Alley Cat, Hayley and I will destroy the machine."

"Why can't I help destroy it?" Josh pouts.

"She's afraid if you get too close you might activate it," Tyler says. "It's coded to your and Tiana's powers."

"What'll happen if I get too close?"

Tyler shoots him a look. "Let's not find out."

"Good idea."

The flames go out in one of Tyler's hands and he shoves Josh forward, pulling up a force field between the two. Josh's skin prickles and he turns just in time to block a metal pipe heading for the back of his head.

He jumps back and swings his arms to the side, sending a rusty cabinet at Alley Cat. It folds itself around the man's legs, holding him in place.

"You think you can trap me that easily?" He cackles, tearing the cabinet to metal ribbons with a flick of his wrist.

Josh drops to the ground as Alley Cats sends the ribbons at him like darts, one cutting the tip of his ear. He frantically picks up small chunks of concrete, holding them in his arms. If there's one thing he is, it's smart and a quick thinker under intense pressure. Thank god for AP classes.

"That machine, it's supposed to take our powers, right?" He rambles, continuing his collecting. "I'm guessing that's why Ti- my friend lost her wing. She tried to destroy it and got too close."

"Kitty Hawk is an arrogant little girl. She was too prideful."

Once Alley Cat runs out of metal to fling at him, Josh stands, cradling at least two pounds of rocks to his chest. He picks out a small one and holds it like he's getting ready to throw it.

"She was my friend. You're going down."

Josh hurls the rock, and Alley Cat dodges is with ease. The man laughs, grinning psychotically. "A rock? Really? Who do you think you're fighting?"

"A furry." He throws another one, and again to misses. "A broken man." The third one lands right between his legs. "A freaking super villain." Josh repeats this until his arms are empty and Alley Cat has at least fifteen rocks aiding him.

"And I'm fighting a child and a thief. You possess an incredible power that belongs to me. Me!"

"You don't even know how they work," he says.

Alley Cat scoffs. "And you do?"

"Let's find out."

Josh spreads his arms out, and one by one the rocks explode to the size of boulder, popping up like popcorn. The one rock between Alley Cat's shoots him into the ceiling.

"Angel, we need to go!" Tyler shouts.

The machine is split in two with melted metal where he had burned through it. Tyler drops the force field and grabs Josh's hand, taking off towards the catwalk with him in tow.

Exhaustion decides at that moment to slap Josh in the face. His head spinning even before Alley Cat slams it into the ground, the gritty taste of blood flooding his mouth. He's flipped onto his back, one hand crushing his jaw.

The other is digging clawed fingers into the soft skin just below Josh's ribs. Once the stabbing pain cuts through his foggy mind, Josh flails a bit, trying to escape, but every bone in his body feels like they were replaced with cooked noodles.

He blindly swings an arm forward his fist connecting to something soft. Josh hopes it was Alley Cat and not Tyler, who drags the man off of him and blasts him right in the face with a column of white, rage filled fire.

His vision gets so blurry to the point that he can barely make out Hayley's face right in front of his, asking him if he's okay. Josh feels hands wraps under his armpits and start to pull him. He wants to throw up, but settles for spitting out a glob of blood from his mouth.

A glimmer of light appears from the blob that he thinks is the machine. Josh opens his mouth, trying to point but he can't seem to lift his arms up.

"It- it's glowing," he manages, seeing Hayley turn her face away. "The blood- he's using our blood."

Josh tries to say something else too, but he forgets what it is as his eyes roll back into his head.