Scene 27

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Maren had to make a list. There was simply too much going on. If she focused on the wrong details, they wouldn’t leave this secret laboratory alive. 

One: the civilians were back in the cell. Those able to stand were guarding those who couldn’t, armed with nothing but a few shattered pieces of glass. 

Two: that tiny Titan. Sekko Research hadn’t only experimented on humans, they’d drained a Baby Titan of power to do it. Pain from an uncomfortable memory at this familiar scene needed to be shoved aside, just like the desire to exact retribution on the evil bastards who caused the poor thing to suffer so much for God knew how long. That was because... 

Three: the creature in the other room. It was hunched over, facing away from the hole in the wall, its gargantuan arms waving from side to side as its limbs undulated. 

That had to be their top priority. 

Mav, however, was clearly too focused on what was in front of him. Before Maren could blink, Mav had grabbed the man – a scientist helpfully displaying his profession by wearing a lab coat – by the front of his shirt and pinned him to the shelf along the far wall, a brilliant inferno in his left palm. 

“Mav!” Maren shouted, starting forward. The arms of the demon in the other room stopped gesticulating. “Mav, hold on!” 

“Give me a reason,” Mav hissed, face inches from the scientists’ ear. “One reason, why I shouldn’t make you feel the same pain you gave that little one!” 

“Mav!” Maren said, but had to stop a few feet from him. The heat was so intense! 

“Necessary evil,” the man rasped, trying to inch away from the flame. “All the lives we will save with this.” 

“Don’t bullshit me!” Mav roared. “Like you care about –” 

The room trembled again. The monster had finally noticed them. 

“Mav!” Maren yelled. “Let him go.” 

Mav noticed her, his eyes widening. “What’re you doing here so fast?” 

“We’re blocked in. Let him go. If you wanna save those people, we need to deal with that!” 

She pointed to the hole, where the largest monstrous experiment yet glared at them. It moved toward the hole. 

Mav released the true monster, dashed to the hole, and rocketed toward it in a literal flash. 

Maren whipped the scientist in the face with water. “We’ll deal with you later.” 

Now she had to help keep Mav alive, or they were all done for. 

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The twenty-foot behemoth hadn’t caused that Baby Titan so much suffering, but punching it in the face with a fist full of explosive fire felt good. 

The thing roared, stumbling back from Mav’s strike. Its face was indented and partially blown away along its right side, the slimy skin blackened by the fire. The skin undulated, repairing itself and reforming into its normal monstrous face as Mav hit the ground at a roll. 

The room was massive, at least three times the size of the room with the hospital beds. It was also at least three stories tall, with the room Mav jumped from along its second story. Various platforms had led from one floor to the next, but most were in ruins, smashed and lying on the floor. Not like it wasn’t already cluttered: shattered glass from broken pods, tipped-over vats in varying degrees of disrepair, and dozens of articles of clothing and destroyed flamethrowers all made it difficult to take a single step without stepping on debris. 

The monster couldn’t seem to care less. It stomped forward, smashing another pod and vat with a leg the width of a car. 

“Trails of Fire!” 

Mav swept his hands along the floor, toward the monster. Flames sailed beneath the monster’s leg. It groaned, stepping away as its skin sizzled. Mav repeated the action, aiming at various points in the room until paths of flame filled the area. So long as Mav concentrated to keep the fire alive, there wasn’t a spot on the floor the beast could step without getting burned. 

Then the beast struck Mav with its tail as he placed the final trail, sending him flying. 

A broken pod stopped his flight, a loud clang sounding as his body dented the device. Back aching, Mav focused on keeping the flames alive. The monster, however, didn’t seem to care much about the fire. It stepped on the trails and then removed its limbs, which completely healed by the time it touched down again. 

“Flame Stream!” 

Fire roared from his palms, searing the monster’s chest. It placed an arm before it, hiding from the flames behind its hand, and continued walking. 

“I might be in trouble,” Mav muttered.