As Ian and Butcher approached, Translucent moved.
He struggled violently, scrambling up from the ground, then frantically shook his body, slapping his hands rapidly over his skin to fling off all the remaining water droplets.
His carbon skin turned invisible again in the air.
Ian stopped in his tracks.
He stood two meters away from where Translucent had been moments before, his eyes scanning quickly.
Super Senses LV1 spread out like a net, capturing vibrations, temperature, and scents in the air.
But all he caught was an extremely faint rustling sound from the air displaced by Translucent’s movement—completely unable to pinpoint the exact location.
“Fuck!
Looks like he’s learned.
As long as he keeps his movements small, I can’t detect him,” Ian muttered under his breath.
He tilted his head, turning his ear toward the left.
The sound came from the left, but the next second it appeared on the right.
Translucent was moving, and irregularly at that.
Without water droplets as markers, LV1 Super Senses simply couldn’t lock onto his position.
Butcher gripped the crowbar, striding confidently toward Ian’s location as if he were strolling through a supermarket.
“Move aside, kid,” Butcher said.
“Let me smash this glass man.”
Ian took half a step back.
Butcher raised the crowbar and swung it hard toward the empty air Ian had been facing moments before.
The crowbar sliced through the air with a whoosh.
It missed.
Butcher paused, stunned.
He pulled the crowbar back and swung it sideways to the left.
The bar passed through empty air, hitting nothing.
Translucent was no longer there.
“Damn it,” Butcher grumbled.
Thud.
A fist struck Butcher’s cheekbone from the right.
Butcher staggered two steps to the left, nearly dropping the crowbar.
He steadied himself, raised a hand to touch his face, and found blood on his fingertips.
“You’re swinging at air, you idiot,” Translucent’s voice regained its Supe arrogance now that he’d confirmed the two couldn’t see him.
“I’m invincible.
You two trash combined couldn’t lay a finger on me.”
Butcher spat, the saliva tinged with blood.
He tightened his grip on the crowbar, his eyes darting rapidly around the shop, but everywhere was empty.
Ian stood still, taking a deep breath.
He glanced at Butcher, then at Hughie, who was still lying on the ground.
“Time for Plan B,” he said.
Then he pulled Hughie up, speaking quietly: “Translucent’s afraid of electricity.
Go pull a wire out of the electrical box!”
Hughie was struggling to get up from the ground.
Hearing Ian’s words, he froze for half a second, then nodded as if remembering something.
“Okay!
Okay!”
Meanwhile, Translucent knew fighting the Supe who was built like an ox wouldn’t get him anywhere. The source of this chapter is g.com.
He wanted to take out the one who seemed like a helper first, vent some frustration, then slip away to report to his boss.
Butcher took another punch from Translucent.
This one landed in his stomach, and Butcher let out a muffled groan.
He tried to block with the crowbar, but it only swung through empty air.
Translucent’s laughter echoed through the shop, shifting from left to right.
“That hit you gave me earlier was pretty solid,” Translucent said.
“But now?
You don’t even know where I am.”
Butcher straightened up, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
He didn’t wipe it away.
Instead, he grinned—a fierce, menacing smile, like an old bulldog provoked.
“Yeah, I don’t know where you are,” Butcher said.
Suddenly, he opened his mouth and spat a mouthful of blood into the air in front of him.
The blood sprayed out like mist, splattering across Translucent’s chest and face.
The droplets clung to his Carbon Skin, forming a vivid red human outline.
“But now I do,” Butcher said.
Translucent looked down at the bloody outline on his body and cursed, “Fuck!
Not this shit again!”
Without his invisibility, Translucent’s hand-to-hand combat skills were only on par with Butcher’s.
Butcher rushed forward in three quick strides.
He threw a punch toward the abdomen of the bloody outline, sending Translucent stumbling backward.
The outline wavered.
Just as Translucent tried to counterattack, Ian, who had caught up, landed a hook punch squarely on the chin of the bloody outline.
Translucent’s head snapped back, crashing into the shelves behind him.
Ian didn’t stop.
He closed in, grabbing Translucent’s shoulder with his left hand while delivering two quick jabs to the ribs with his right.
Translucent struggled, but Ian was stronger.
Ian followed up with a sweeping kick, hooking Translucent’s ankle and sending him crashing to the ground.
“Whoa,” Butcher said, watching Hughie emerge from the electrical box with half a wire in hand.
He gestured toward Ian with the crowbar.
“Hughie, where’d you find this superhuman bodyguard?
Walmart clearance aisle?”
Ian ignored him.
He looked down at Translucent beneath him.
The bloody outline was already fading, the droplets slowly sliding down the Carbon Skin.
Ian grabbed Translucent by the shoulders and lifted him off the ground.
With a powerful swing, he hurled Translucent toward Hughie.
Translucent staggered and lunged at Hughie, who stumbled back in fright.
But Ian was right behind him, delivering a flying kick to Translucent’s lower back.
Translucent flew like a kicked soccer ball, crashing straight into the wire in Hughie’s hands.
The moment the exposed copper wire touched the Carbon Skin—
Zzzap!!
Sparks exploded from the point of contact, electricity coursing wildly across Translucent’s skin.
The high conductivity of the Carbon Skin turned his entire body into a human-shaped conductor.
Translucent’s body convulsed violently, his limbs tensing and relaxing at unnatural angles.
The store fell silent.
Only the residual hum of electricity and the occasional spark from the wire on the floor remained.
Ian stood still, catching his breath.
He looked down at the motionless Translucent.
Butcher straightened up from the car hood and walked over, poking Translucent’s leg with the crowbar.
No response.
“Dead?” Butcher asked.
“No,” Ian replied.
“The Carbon Skin’s conductivity is too strong—the current was dispersed.
But he’ll be out for at least an hour.”
Hughie slumped to the ground, still clutching the half-length wire.
He stared at Translucent on the floor, then at Ian, then at Butcher.
His lips trembled, but no words came out.
Butcher slung the crowbar over his shoulder, looking down at Translucent before raising his gaze to Ian.
Blood still stained the corner of his mouth.
“So,” Butcher said, “you still haven’t told me who you are.”
Ian walked over, took the wire from Hughie’s hand, and rubbed the exposed copper end against the wall to extinguish the remaining sparks.
Then he turned and looked at Butcher.
“Ian.
Seems like I’m the same as you—wanting to take down Vought.”
Butcher stared at him for five seconds.
Then he smiled—a smile that carried the reluctant approval of someone appraising merchandise.
Butcher nodded, using the crowbar to point at Translucent on the ground.
“What about this thing?
Carry it out?”
Ian looked down at Translucent.
The Carbon Skin remained impenetrable even while unconscious.
He bent down, grabbed Translucent by the ankle, and dragged him toward the car.
Butcher raised an eyebrow again.
He glanced at Hughie, who was still sitting on the floor, his expression frozen in terror.
“Hughie,” Butcher said, “can you still move?”
Hughie looked up and nodded blankly.
“Then go lift the shutter.
We’re loading this glass man into the car.” Butcher walked toward the vehicle.
“As for you, Ian, looks like we’re in the same boat now.
Come with me first.”
The three of them stood in the shop, staring at the motionless, translucent outline on the floor.
Outside, the night in Queens was thick, and distant police sirens echoed, still a few blocks away.
Ian sat in the back seat, his hand pressed against Translucent’s shoulder.
He looked at this once-arrogant member of The Seven, now lying at his feet like a dead fish.
[Duplication Progress 2%]
Butcher started the engine, and the motor roared heavily.
Hughie pulled open the passenger door, stumbling into the seat.
Blood was still trickling down his forehead, but he didn’t bother wiping it away.
The car rolled over shattered glass and the mangled shutter, drove out of the shop, and disappeared into the night of Queens.