Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 19.7: Fun

The Ergosphere did not like swimming. Swimming in his black suit and sunglasses was even more uncomfortable. On this day, though, swimming was much easier, thanks to the people of his village. It felt less like him swimming, and more like the water itself propelling him forward. All he had to do was think of where he wanted to go, and that's where he went.

He swam in the direction of the submarine, eventually seeing it – more like sensing it – slowly sinking into the depths just below and to the side of him. He swam toward the sub, guided by his mind.

The submarine only gleamed gold near the surface, where the sun hit it. Underneath, it was merely a black silhouette against the dark blue sea.

There were two popping sounds, and this time the Ergosphere saw streams of bubbles flowing from the sub. He focused on the source of these, which he assumed were the missile bays, and swam toward them. He rushed into the missile tube seconds before it closed. Before the water drained from the tube, the Ergosphere mentally pressed it forward, against the interior of the tube. The raw force of the water pressing against the end of the tube forced it open, giving the Ergosphere access to the inside of the sub.

No longer surrounded by water, the Ergosphere dropped to the floor of the tube, feeling the pain as his body slammed against the cold metal.

Just before it slammed shut, the Ergosphere threw himself at the tube's opening. He squeezed through it just before it slammed shut, leaving a hissing sound behind it, preserving the submarine's circulated-air interior.

Never one to remain on all fours for long, the Ergosphere hopped up to his feet. He saw two men, dressed in red robes with red hoods, in the torpedo bay, surrounded by deadly missiles. They stepped back with surprise upon seeing him.

"Interesting," the Ergosphere said. "Ritualistic garb in a military setting. You rarely see that."

"Kill him!" one of the men said.

That was all the Ergosphere needed to hear. Even without his village's assistance, he was still faster and stronger than most humans. In the few seconds it took for the two red-robed men to draw forth handguns, the Villager jumped forward, disarmed them, and broke their wrists.

As the two men huddled in pain on the floor, the Ergosphere took in the room. He stood in the bay surrounded with various missiles and projectiles lining the walls all around him.

"Nice firepower," he said.

Then, a rock-hard hand grabbed him from behind. The Ergosphere saw a black, human-shaped figure had crept up behind him. Parts of the thing's rock-like hide pulsed with a blue light. Moving faster than the Ergosphere could react, the creature swung up and grabbed his neck. With its other hand, it grasped the top of the Ergosphere's head and pulled him forward.

The Ergosphere felt himself passing out, due to pressure against his brain. He tried struggling, but the creature was practically immobile.

This isn't fun, he thought, just before passing out.

* * * *

This is fun, Dreamsmith thought, soaring through the air over the air as a missile chased him.

He has worked out a system. Every time one of the missiles started chasing him, all he had to do was fly in a wide arc and then make a sharp turn. The missiles, he discovered, were not very good at making 90-degree turns. After they lost him, they shot straight up into the air or splashed down into the water.

Dreamsmith figured out that if he flew at just the right speed, the missile would follow him closely but still not catch up to him. Then, as he approached the golden shape of the sub, he made a sharp turn. The missile raced past him, and exploded against the sub's surface in a chaotic mess of heat, flame, sound, and black smoke.

The rest of the missiles burst as they struck the Accretion, which didn't seem damaged.

Moving at these high speeds through the air meant Dreamsmith had to hold his hat – because, no matter how tight of a fit it was, it would have flown off in a second. He worried that he might also lose his cape and scarf, but they did not fall off. Aerodynamics, he figured.

He had this game down to a science, and had turned five missiles against the source, detonating them against the sub's gleaming surface.

There was a long pause between attacks, during which Dreamsmith hovered over the ocean, taking in the view, the sights of the remaining black smoke in the air, with the Accretion also hovering off to one side.

Dreamsmith heard another pop, simultaneously seeing the water around the side of the sub burst apart. This was the most difficult part, when the missiles were already aimed at him. He took off flying, away from the sub. He heard a number of blasts which meant the rest of the missiles were detonating against the Accretion.

He allowed himself a quick glimpse behind him, only to see two of the missiles following him. He smiled, wondering how two at once would damage the sub. Just as he had done before, Dreamsmith flew in a wide arc again, keeping the missiles at a wide enough space behind him that they still followed but did not detonate.

Dreamsmith saw the bright gold sub in front of him and sped toward it. Just as he had done before, he turned to the side at the last moment. He felt the uncomfortable heat come from behind him as both missiles exploded against the craft that fired them.

Dreamsmith came to a stop in midair, smiling at how easy this was.

He saw black smoke trailing from the gold sub, but no discernible damage to the sub itself. He checked the Accretion, and still saw no damage to it, either.

At this point, Dreamsmith readied himself for another attack, but instead, he saw some commotion on the submarine's tower, the only part of it still poking up through the water's surface.

A couple of black shapes had appeared, climbing around the sub's tower. Curious, Dreamsmith flew toward them, only to see what looked like men dressed in skintight black suits with some sort of electric blue lights on them.

Just as Dreamsmith contemplated whether to approach these figures, one of them jumped into the air, and, impossibly, reached Dreamsmith within a second.

Dreamsmith held up his fists in defense, but it did no good. This creature, whatever it was, grabbed a hold of Dreamsmith's head, pressing against it. Dreamsmith felt himself going dizzy. He tried swatting at it with his fists, but only his ordinary strength, it did no good, and was like hitting a metal wall. He tried flying away as fast as he could, but the figure kept him held in place, there in midair.

As the creature pressed against his skull, Dreamsmith blacked out.

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Next: Whirlwind of destruction.