VILLAIN'S RISING

Dodging the pair of lasers aimed at him, Sam lowered his stance and rushed at Anthony.

Starsuper, who was in the sky, pulled back his arm and readied himself to send a shockwave at Sam and rip his body apart.

Sam, who had already sensed this, activated Godspeed. Tendrils of blue electricity erupted from his body as his whole figure was shrouded in lightning.

In a flash, Sam appeared before Anthony at a breakneck speed and thrust his palm forward at him like a sword.

Anthony squatted and dodged the thrust. From his lower stance, he shot upward and landed a straight knee at Sam’s unprotected abdomen.

“Khuu!” Air gushed out of Sam’s lungs, but he quickly recovered and coiled his arm over Anthony’s neck, locking him in a reverse headlock.

From that position, Sam landed a blow to the side of his ribcage and was about to thrust his knee forward.

But before he could, Anthony grabbed Sam’s waist and flipped him over his head, dropping him on his back.

Sam immediately sat himself up and got back to his knee but before he could stand, a round kick landed on the side of his face.

The force of the kick drove Sam back a few meters to the side. His body halted after rolling a few distance.

“Arghh,” Sam groaned, and he tried to get up using his hands.

-THAM!

But something fell down on him from the sky. The insane force that was suddenly applied to his body transferred to the ground and formed cracks on the surface.

“Arghh!” The turned into a scream as he felt his spine being crushed under pressure.

His body instantly began regenerating, and an authoritative voice fell in his ears.

“Spare this world any more troubles,” Starsuper said. He lifted his foot and stomped it hard on Sam’s back, breaking his spine again.

“Arghhhaa!” Another scream escaped Sam’s mouth before he promptly activated [Neither Manipulation] and shot a surge of invisible energy in all directions.

The eruption of the invisible force knocked Starsuper back in the air.

“It’s no use! Just die!” Starsuper yelled in annoyance before shooting down at Sam like a meteor again.

Sam used his [Neither Manipulation] again and used it to pull himself to the side, narrowly escaping Starsuper.

-THAM!

Dust flew, and cracks formed, but Starsuper merely looked at Sam. His eyes were glowing golden– ready to shoot his Heat Vision at him.

Sam got back to his knees as he noticed Starsuper staring at him with glowing eyes. He gritted his teeth and readied his [Neither Manipulation] again to form an invisible wall in front of him.

-Bam!

But before he could do that, a force akin to a moving train hit Sam out of nowhere and sent him flying a few meters back.

“Agha aha!” Coughing violently, Sam painfully got back to his feet.

However, before he could even fully stand, a pair of lasers shot at him and blasted his right leg off– knocking Sam down to his knee.

“Fuck you!” Sam cursed out loud. “Fuck you both!”

His leg instantly grew back, but a pair of lasers shot at him again and this time gaped a hole in his chest.

“Arhhaaaa!” He screamed and clutched his chest as it began to heal at breakneck speed.

“Some Heroes you are,” Sam taunted while coughing a mouthful of blood.

He looked in front of him and saw two men looking back at him with unmoving, pure, unadulterated, focused resentment.

“Ganging up on a single person,” Sam continued as he shot a mocking, bloody smile.

“Just stay down, Sam,” Anthony answered. “Make it easy.”

“This world doesn’t need your views,” said Arthur.

Sam simply stood up and clenched his fists. He bared his teeth and shot back, “You don’t know what this world needs.”

*

The space in the distance from where Sam was fighting Willburns distorted and a black-haired boy appeared out of nowhere.

He looked ahead and saw Sam taking hits from both Starsuper and Starboy.

For a second, Micheal was dumbstruck. To tank a hit from Starsuper was no small feat. And Sam was going against two Willburns at one!

‘Can I even kill him?’ Micheal looked at his trembling hands. But soon, a picture of her mother popped up in his mind, and he clenched his fists. ‘No, I have to!’

Sam, who had his arms crossed and was enduring blows from Starsuper, noticed Micheal’s arrival.

Soon his lips curled into a smirk. Everything was going according to him. Now he just needed to hold back the Willburns for a few seconds.

-BOOM!

Starsuper threw a punch, breaking the sound barrier and creating a massive shockwave that sent Sam flying back.

Sam instantly performed a backflip and landed on his feet. When he lifted his head, he saw a kick nearing his head. It was Anthony.

Sam adjusted his head to the side and grabbed Anthony’s leg from his left hand.

He balled his right hand into a fist and landed a blow directly on the side of Anthony’s knee.

Anthony gritted his teeth and activated his [Flight] ability. Sam instantly let go of his leg and hopped a few feet back.

Without giving Sam any time to breathe, Starsuper rushed him and closed the distance of a few feet in an instant.

Seeing him nearing him, Sam pivoted his left foot and swirled his body. He performed a roundhouse kick enhanced from [Neither Manipulation].

Starsuper, who saw the attack coming, blocked the blow from his left hand before gripping it. Not letting go of his leg, Starsuper swung him around like a rag doll and smashed him to the ground.

-Bam!

“Argh!” Sam braced the blow before Starsuper stomped on him, crushing his ribs and pinning him down.

“Fuck you, man,” Sam cursed, laughing hysterically.

“How do we kill him?” Anthony asked, landing a few steps behind Starsuper.

“He manipulates Biology. As long as he has a body, he can keep coming back to life.” Starsuper explained.

“So to kill him-“

“We need to destroy his body.” Starsuper cut off Anthony and finished his sentence.

“So we need to burn him or something?” Anthony frowned and asked with genuine curiosity.

“No, that won’t work. He is a peak creature. A perfect specimen.” Arthur denied.

“Then what?” Anthony questioned.

“There is a way; I will take him to space and bathe him in the sun,” Arthur revealed.

“Oh, nice, a literal sun bath!” Sam spoke, faking an excited smile. “This would be fun!”

Starsuper didn’t reply with anything and just shot a pair of laser beams and cut his hand off.

“Arghhahaha!” Sam screamed in agony before teething a bloody smile.

As if waiting for that moment, an earnest voice resounded from Arthur’s back.

“If it’s destroying his body, can I do it?” Micheal suggested with a pleading tone in his voice.

Arthur turned around to see Micheal while his foot was still pinning down Sam. “You?”

“Yes, I can use Spatial Distortion and or Space Collapse to destroy his body completely,” Micheal replied honestly.

“No, I mean, can you do it? Aren’t you two brothers?” Starsuper asked.

“And that’s why it’s important for me,” Micheal conceded. “That’s why I have to be the one to kill him.”

Starsuper pondered over that suggestion for a bit before nodding. He bit his thumb, and a drop of his blood fell on the ground.

Then he yanked his hand, and his blood spilled on the ground all around them. Although Micheal was confused by his actions, he let him finish.

“Okay, go ahead, do it.” Starsuper permitted. “Cast your ability and destroy both of us while I’m pinning him down.”

“B-Both of you?” Micheal showed his hesitation at those words.

Anthony placed a palm on his shoulder and said, “It’s not that easy to kill Willburns. Go ahead and do it.”

Although still a bit hesitant, Micheal nodded.

He stretched his hand and pointed his palm at Sam, who was being pinned down by Arthur.

“Brother, any last words?”

===

Information Available On

[Spatial Manipulation/Space Manipulation]

?The power to manipulate space. Sub-power of Space-Time Manipulation.

?Users can create, distort, and manipulate space— the boundless three-dimensional extent to which objects and events have relative position and direction— within an area of one’s choosing, including an area and whatever is inside of that area.

Most commonly, users can use this ability to teleport by depleting the space from point A to point B, simply choosing to occupy a different space, or by creating portals.

?Users can utilize this ability offensively by erasing or rupturing space, obliterating anything that occupied that space as well. If the user’s control of space is precise enough, they can selectively tear off limbs or vital organs from their opponents by manipulating and separating the space they occupy.

By pulling and folding space around an object, users can also prevent it from moving or crushing.

Users can use this ability defensively by erasing space in front or around themselves to create a vacuum for which nothing can enter, effectively creating an impenetrable shield around the user.

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