Showdown! The Best of the Best

Chapter Thirty-Six

Earlier...

Axelotl's attempt to throttle Ed was met head-on, as Ed's feet, clad in the stone armor of Infiltrator Mode, burrowed into the earth around him. The freakish mutant's arm elongated and sharpened into a blade that swung to take Ed's head off with a forward charge, but the spy ducked nimbly. Using Axelotl's own momentum against him, the agent threw the mutant, screaming with the effort and exertion it took to lift him. Axelotl spun end over end, tumbling as he hit the ground and rolling several dozen yards.

Before he could recover, Ed loaded the Gilded Doorknob with several Phosphorous Rounds. His speed was beyond human, outpacing even the greatest gunslingers on his planet. Even as Axelotl stood and charged like a bull once again, Ed raised the barrel of his weapon and let off three shots. This time, the powerful explosives were harder for Axelotl to deal with. The first stopped him, causing a satisfying wince of agony from the amphibian enforcer. The second shot staggered him as he let out a cry of pain. The third sent him onto his back, and Ed didn't waste the opportunity. 

Charging as Axelotl had done twice now, Ed grabbed the chassis of a discarded Kriegbot lying nearby. Pulling with all his might, he shredded off a sheet of metal mid-dash, and brought it forward as he barreled closer to Axelotl. The mutated villain tried to bring up his hand and form it into a shield, but he didn't react fast enough. The result was his face being smote to the side by the ramming of a metal plate into it. 

Axelotl rolled, and Ed lunged forward to deal another blow with the metal wedge. However, this time, his opponent was ready. Quickly morphing one of his arms into a serrated blade, Axelotl slashed outward. Ed cried out as the blade caught him in his midsection, dealing only a glancing blow, but shearing the metal shield in half.  The superspy staggered backward, which was all the opportunity Axelotl needed.

The monster thundered after Ed without missing a beat. Before Ed could do anything to avoid it, a massive, meaty fist slammed into his midsection, throwing him backward. Even as he tumbled, Ed felt his insides go cold as pieces of his gravelly exoskeleton began to chip off. That could mean only one thing, which was very bad, especially in his current situation.

He was losing Infiltrator Mode. 

Ed's eyes shot back up as the earth surrounding him trembled. Axelotl surged forward, both arms twisted into serrated blades. Bracing himself, Ed watched as his adversary got closer and closer, before executing a timed jump into the air. Axelotl's cross-slash failed to strike him, and Ed managed to somersault over his hated enemy, though only just barely. The jump would have been impossible for an ordinary human, even an Olympic gymnast would be jealous of him.

Still, however, more of his armor was cracking and crumbling off of him. Ed panted like a dog as the toll of his movement and actions up until this point began to weight on him heavily. Meanwhile, Axelotl was no less nimble as he turned about and fixed his hateful, beady eyes on his prey. As fast as he could muster, Ed loaded the Gilded Doorknob with more Phosphorous Rounds. But Axelotl was faster.

A pink blade slashed out and caught Ed's hand where he held the hand cannon. Screaming in pain, he dropped the firearm as a gout of blood erupted from the wound that Axelotl had carved in him. Snarling with glee, the mutant leaped forward, both arms now melded into killing weapons. Seconds before Axelotl lanced Ed, something odd happened. 

The grass around Axelotl blackened, turning from verdant to the color of coal in half a second. As if from a straw, the moisture from within the individual blades of grass was sucked out to form a floating palisade. A wall of water struck the massive monster, throwing him backward. Axelotl recovered quickly, lunging for Ed again. This time, however, discs of spinning water slashed through the air, cutting clean through the pink flesh as the mutant cried out.