“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Todd growled, eyes narrowing as red sensor lights filled the hangar.
The Omnidroids activated in waves.
Some were barely functional prototypes, missing limbs, exposed wiring, and rusted armor.
Others were far more complete, sleek black spheres with reinforced plating and multiple weapon systems deployed.
Todd didn’t wait for them to strike first.
He blasted forward, slamming his fist through the nearest weak Omnidroid.
The machine exploded into scrap and sparks.
He spun mid-air and unleashed a sweeping heat vision beam, slicing two more incomplete units in half before they could fully stand.
But the stronger models were already adapting.
One advanced Omnidroid, Version 7 or 8 by the look of its armor, extended multiple metallic tentacles tipped with claws.
It whipped them forward at blinding speed.
Todd dodged most, but one caught him across the chest, tearing through his clothes and drawing first blood.
The impact sent him crashing into a wall.
“Son of a—!”
He recovered instantly and fired concentrated heat vision at its central eye.
The beam struck true but this model had an energy shield.
The lasers scattered harmlessly across a glowing hexagonal barrier.
“Adaptive shielding? Cute.”
Todd rocketed forward and delivered a powerful Texas Smash straight into its side.
The shockwave crumpled part of its armor, but the machine retaliated by firing internal plasma cannons from its ports.
The blasts hammered into Todd’s shoulder and side, burning through his clothes and leaving angry red welts.
He grit his teeth and grabbed one of its tentacles, ripping it clean off with raw strength.
Sparks flew as he used the torn limb like a club to smash another weaker Omnidroid that tried to flank him.
More machines joined the fight.
A heavily armored unit activated its jet boosters and charged him like a bullet train.
Todd met it head-on.
Their collision created a deafening boom that shook the entire hangar.
The Omnidroid’s claws raked across his back, shredding what remained of his shirt and digging deep enough to draw blood.
Todd roared in anger. Find the original chapter at g.com.
He flew upward, dragging the machine with him, then slammed it down into the concrete floor with all his strength.
The impact cratered the ground.
He followed up by stomping through its central core, crushing it.
But the others didn’t give him breathing room.
Three Omnidroids attacked in coordination.
One fired a containment net that wrapped around his legs, another unleashed a sonic disruptor that made his ears ring, and the third extended a massive claw that clamped around his torso.
Todd struggled, veins bulging as he tore the net apart but the claw squeezed harder.
CRACK!
He felt something fracture in his ribs.
Pain flared through his side.
“Get… off… me!”
Todd’s eyes blazed.
He unleashed wide-angle heat vision in a sweeping arc, melting the arm holding him and slicing through two weaker machines behind it.
The pain only fueled his rage.
He broke free and went on a brutal offensive.
He blurred around the hangar like a vengeful comet.
Punching through armor plating.
Ripping out internal components.
Using Texas Smash repeatedly to create devastating shockwaves that crumpled multiple units at once.
He even grabbed one mid-sized Omnidroid and used it as a battering ram against its stronger siblings.
Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead and from his nose.
His clothes was in tatters, ripped and scorched.
Still, the machines kept coming.
A particularly advanced Omnidroid, one of the near-final prototypes rose above the others.
It had learned.
It deployed a powerful force field and began firing concentrated energy beams from multiple ports while its tentacles whipped around with increasing precision.
The machine countered by firing a point-blank plasma blast directly into his face.
The explosion sent Todd crashing through three walls and into the gym area.
He felt a sharp, nauseating pain in his skull.
He coughed up blood, floating unsteadily as debris fell around him.
For the first time since gaining powers, he was actually hurt.
“…Alright,” Todd spat blood, eyes burning with fury and excitement.
“Now we’re talking.”
He exploded out of the rubble with a primal shout.
Ignoring the pain, he flew straight at the strongest Omnidroid.
When it tried to shield itself again, Todd poured everything into his heat vision, sustained beams hotter and more focused than anything he’d used before.
The shield flickered, then shattered.
He slammed into the machine like a meteor, driving his fist repeatedly into its core until the entire upper half exploded in a shower of molten metal and circuitry.
The remaining Omnidroids hesitated, their central AI seemingly overwhelmed by the loss of their strongest unit.
Todd didn’t let them recover.
He unleashed a final, devastating barrage, flying at high speed while firing heat vision in all directions, combined with powerful punches and kicks that turned the machines into scrap.
The last few weak units tried to flee on emergency boosters, but Todd chased them down and tore them apart mid-air.
Silence finally returned to the hangar.
Todd hovered in the middle of the destruction, breathing heavily.
Blood dripped from multiple wounds.
His ribs ached.
His skull throbbed.
His clothes was almost completely destroyed, hanging off him in burned, bloodied shreds.
He slowly lowered himself to the ground, wiping blood from his mouth.
A wide, grin spread across his face despite the pain.
[Homelander Template: 74%]
“Not bad for a warm-up,” he rasped, looking at the mountain of destroyed Omnidroids around him.
“But I still have a long way to go.”
He floated unsteadily into the air, glanced down at his clothes, and muttered, “Good thing I didn’t wear my suit today. If that had gotten destroyed, I wouldn’t have the money to buy a new one. I don’t even have a spare.”