about the true reach of my power? Sheffield and his cure are a side note of my own symphony. I’ve turned your simple device into a true catalyst, ha-ha, of change. When the city is brought to its knees, crazed with panic and fear, dragged low by sickness—”
Max wasn’t going to stand for this. “You’ve made your last mistake, Decay. If you think for one second—”
“—and uncertain future, its infrastructure tied up in its own helplessness, the people will be—”
“—the League isn’t going to stop you. You’re in for a big surprise, because the people have to choose their—”
“—desperate for leadership! A strong icon to guide them and lift them up, to pull them through these dark days. A—”
“—next tyrannical leader of their own free will, not under threat of terror and death—”
“—benevolent God, to place a balm on their tired souls.”
“—and I’ll never let you take that away!”
Something shifted behind Decay, a blurred movement in the corner of Max’s eye. He kept his gaze on Decay. Catalyst reached out and placed her hand on Max’s shoulder, squeezing his neck slightly. If they were all about to become infected with an epidemic disease, at least he’d have made his mom proud for a moment. A cold comfort, but undoubtedly better than Decay had ever managed.
Decay spread his hands in front of him with a grin. “There’s nothing you can do, Dynaman. My plan is already in motion. My minions have surrounded the station, and the device is moving into place. There’s nothing you can do to stop m—oof!”
Crush tackled Decay to the ground, tumbling them both heroically across the square. Decay stumbled to his feet, but before he could run, Crush caught him with an uppercut that knocked him backward over a railing in a really impressive arc. It would have been almost comical except for the fact that the device could blow any second and infect the entire metropolitan population with a deadly virus.
Mr. Magnificent jogged out of the station into the sunlight. He crossed the courtyard quickly and came to a stop in front of Catalyst and Max, sparing a glance at Crush, who was tying Decay’s arms behind his back with his own (synthetically reinforced, if it was up to League code) cape.
“I’ve got police on cleanup,” he announced. “The goons in and around the station are all hog-tied, and I managed to jam the device with five minutes to spare. That’s a good safety you built in there, son, pulling any lever out of order making the whole thing jam up. Ha-ha!” He punched Max on the shoulder companionably.
“Ha-ha,” Max repeated. “Thanks.” Crush’s dad was a bit too much of a true, through-and-through superhero for Max to really feel comfortable around him. Also… that other thing. Where he seduced his son to a life of villainy. Awkward .
Across the courtyard Decay shouted, “Curse you all! You’ll regret this!” He screamed furiously as the police chief shoved him into the back of a cruiser.
“That man has no style,” Catalyst sighed.
“Seriously, bring the device in and muscle it to the platform? Completely uninspired. This was the perfect opportunity for the pianist and the hot air balloon,” Max agreed. “He didn’t even bring in acrobats.”
Crush laughed. His face was streaked with dirt, and he had the beginnings of a black eye. “Lucky for us, even the least flashy villain can still be counted on to talk himself into defeat.”
Wait a minute. Max turned to Crush suspiciously. “Are you saying you set us up to monologue at each other long enough for you to quietly take down the security team and then Decay while he was still explaining his master plan to us?”
Crush spread his hands. “You’re welcome.” He winked.
Max sputtered helplessly. Unbelievable! The attitude!
Mr. Magnificent crossed his arms proudly. “Well, that’s a job well done, team,” he announced.
Catalyst leaned against the helibot as it loaded the doomsday
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