Crack. Splash.

Alex ripped another hunk of metal out of the stone walls before sending it crashing into the water below. He aimed it away from the retreating soldiers. They had started a shuttle loop between the base and the small island that held Arci, and he wouldn't interfere. Destroying the base would be enough.

"You're not pushing it hard enough to burn it out," Arci said.

"Are you in a hurry to leave?" Alex smirked.

"No, but it feels like you're taking your time," Arci said. "The longer you take, the longer Milton has to notice you. I can't see around the base anymore now that I'm tethered to you."

"We'll jump that hurdle when we get to it," Alex said. "I've taken on a commander before."

Arci didn't have a response to that, and Alex continued ripping metal out from the stone walls of Tartarus and sending it all crashing down. He only needed to make sure that he concentrated on areas empty of soldiers, and his enhanced magnetic senses made that incredibly easy. He grabbed an entire section of the hall from behind the rock and pulled back with his arm to free it from the stone dome.

Crack. Rumble.

The dome shook under the effort, but the rock gave, and the metal square hall came through. Shards of debris fell onto the water below, but Alex had moved away from the docks. So long as he was careful, he could accomplish what he wanted without incurring unnecessary casualties.

"You know, this was a lot more epic before." Alex sighed as he started on the next part of the base. "But tearing down the base is more like a chore."

It was like going for a completionist run in a game. Finding every bit of the base and ripping it apart piece by piece was taking more time and effort than his anger allowed. While he had started off strong, taking the time to do each part just wasn't possible.

He needed a root—a single column that supported the base that he could wack and tear down. However, he'd also need to let the soldiers get out if he did that.

That left the slow method.

He reached out for the next section of the hallway and grunted as he pulled against it. He paused as he pulled on the metal, turning to face the docks. A figure jumped across the space between the docks and where he floated. It shot across the distance like a bullet, cutting the distance between them with a blur of movement. Alex recognized the technique. It was one he used often.

"Speak of the devil," Alex whispered, connecting himself to all the metal he had torn down so far that was nearby.

Large pieces of metal below him awaited his silent command. While he had taken on a commander, it had been an old man with a bad back, and he didn't doubt that Milton could put up a better fight. Electricity shocked his body as his heart beat a steady rhythm in his chest.

A bearded man appeared in the air before Alex, his form blurring in silence as he stepped out of his use of the Path of Step. He was an older man with wrinkles creasing his face. He wore his black uniform jacket over his shoulders with his arms out of the sleeves. Those hands were currently in his pockets as he stood in the air, no different than standing on the floor.

"You must be Ortega," he said, blowing up his mustache with one lip. "I have to say that I expected you to be taller."

He leaned forward as he faced Alex. He had at least thirty centimeters on Alex, even when he bent down. A weight behind his words pressed down on Alex. It felt like the world was coming to bear on him from just the commander's presence alone. Alex smirked. Now, this could be a challenge for the amplification device. He wasn't sure that it could handle someone like Milton anymore.

"And you're Milton," Alex said. "I heard a lot about you."

"Only good things, I hope," Milton said, stepping forward on the air like walking down a hallway.

"Be careful," Arci said. "He's going to attack."

"No," Alex said, calling the metal below him to be ready. "But then again, maybe an ass who would torture someone and keep them tied to a machine deserves to be praised. Good job with all that."

"Hah."

Milton smiled in response to Alex, and Alex raised an eyebrow as he bent forward with a deep belly laugh. He halfway had expected to see some remorse or some regret. Maybe the commander would have told him how some sacrifices were necessary for the greater good. However, the one thing he didn't expect was the laugh.

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"You've met WPN One, have you?" Milton wiped at his eyes as he finished his laugh. "She's been at this base far longer than my tenure, and she volunteered for that torture. Did you kill her? Praise the Scions if I'm finally rid of that mess. She was always a vulnerability for this base."

"Didn't expect that," Alex whispered to Arci.

Arci said nothing in response.

"Well, if you're done lecturing me, I think it's high time for your little tantrum to end," Milton said, pulling one hand out of his pocket. "I might get to keep my job if I bring you in. Step."

Milton disappeared in a blur, and Alex called up the metal shards. If he had to name the technique, he would call it 'Shrapnel Eruption,' but the current power of the orb allowed him to focus on all the metal without thinking. From below them, a torrent of metal scraps exploded into the air, filling it with shrapnel shards as Milton charged the distance between them impossibly fast.

Splash.

Alex's plan was simple. The shrapnel would catch the captain as he charged and cut at him. It came from all around him and was directed away from his own body with a repelling magnetic force. For Milton, it would be like rushing into a minefield of cuts.

Unless, somehow, he managed to dodge them all.

Crack.

Fire erupted across Alex's face as a fist connected with his jaw. His senses went wild as he was tossed through the air and toward the water below. He had to reorient himself and throw out his arms to send a pulse of magnetism into all the walls surrounding him.

"Grah!"

Splish. Splash.

His body slowed to a halt above the water, and Alex stayed there momentarily to collect himself. The pain in his jaw was already fading as he figured out what had happened, though he didn't need much to figure it out. Milton had seen past his technique and clocked him in the jaw.

"It's a harder hit than I thought." Alex thought back to the old man on the last island. "But I can take it."

A dot within his senses fell from above, and Alex had an instant to react before it reached him. He threw himself back with a magnetic blast. He pulled simultaneously from the opposite direction and dodged just before Milton hit.

Whoosh. Splash.

The commander fell through the air like a missile, shooting into the water and sending a wave crashing over Alex in his wake. Alex pulled against the walls, putting some distance between them before Milton returned. He needed a moment to think and gathered metal from around the base closer to him. The more tools he had available, the more he could react with.

Water dripped off his pilfered uniform as Alex looked out over the dark lake waters.

Splash.

Milton stepped through the water and stopped in the air not far from Alex, his hands in his pockets again as water dripped from his uniform. A smirked expression crossed his face as he nodded at Alex. Alex held his metal ready around him, not sure what the commander would do next.

"A nice trick," Milton said. "If I couldn't see the path forward, it would have hurt a lot. You also sensed me before I came down on you, though I don't think it was the Path of Will. I don't feel that kind of aether flowing out from you."

"Part of my curse." Alex shrugged.

"Magnetism." Milton looked around them. "I can already see you gathering them up, but they won't do you any good."

Alex kept putting more metal into position. He had an idea, but he would need to be able to hold Milton still to do it. That would be a problem, considering how fast Milton was, and Alex couldn't pull off his ability to walk on air.

That left him his magnetism and maybe the Path of Might in a pinch unless he evened the playing field. Alex had two options, and his first one lay ready in the water below.

"Well, I guess you can't expect an amateur to see the flaw in his play." Milton sighed, leaning forward again. "I'll have to show you. Step."

Alex pulled up on his first plan, pulling the massive length of the hall out of the water. At the same moment, he grabbed hold of it in both arms, attached his feet to it, and let go of the metal around him.

Snap.

"Step."

He plummeted to the metal as the hall rose, and the force of the pull carried half of the hall to a vertical orientation. When his feet were on the metal, he released his connection and stepped. He disappeared in a blur of movement aimed at where he had been.

Boom.

They connected as they came out of their charge. Milton's fist caught Alex's chest, and Alex wrapped his arm around Milton to hold him still. After all, he just needed to keep Milton still long enough for his plan to work.

"Steel Cage."

Errt. Crack.

Alex couldn't resist giving the technique a name, even if he didn't need to. Metal tore off the hall, wrapping around Milton's arms and legs first. Alex threw himself away from Milton and began to pull on magnetic connections with his arms for control, including the arm that held the orb, despite the extra weight. He tore more of the hall even as he summoned more metal from the waters below. All of it, he focused on Milton, throwing the crushing weight of Tartarus on the commander.

"Grah."

Alex pulled up on the metal with his arm like he was pulling ropes into place. He didn't stop as he piled more and more metal on top of Milton. He kept going until his nerves screamed up his arm, and blood ran down his nose. When he was finished, he bent forward. His lungs burned as he gasped, and random shocks ran up his arm from the orb in his hands.

"I think I'm pushing it," Alex whispered.

"You are," Arci's voice shook with static. "It won't be able to take much more."

Alex smiled, looking at the massive tangled metal ball in front of them. That was what they wanted, wasn't it? He had done all of it to burn out the orb and give Arci some revenge. It was like going on a bender before a terminal illness could kill someone.

"Well, let's hope that got him." Alex started floating toward the ground with the orb.

Boom.

The orb shook, and Alex nearly dropped it from his magnetic hold. He raised his hand to maintain control, but it was too late. No one should have been able to move underneath the pressure of the metal. Milton was stronger than he thought.

Boom. Crack.

A crack formed across the metal, and Alex winced. It wouldn't be enough, and every moment he focused on holding the ball together was energy wasted. There was another plan he had, but he didn't like it.

Boom. Crack.

"Hey," Alex said as he released his hold on the ball. "You said that I shouldn't use my second level."

"I did," Arci's voice sounded far away.

"You didn't say why."

"I don't know what it will do, but I can't guarantee it won't hurt you."

"That's not a problem," Alex said, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. "I'm used to getting hurt."

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