309 - DC: The Infinite Villain (Patreon)

309 - Three Furies Fall, Orange Constructs Rise

"Impossible..." Gilotina stared at the powder that had once been her weapons, then at Damon's unmarked arm. She had fought countless battles and seen powers from across the universe. How could an ordinary human from Earth be this strong?

The answer left her close to despair.

"Feel that?" Damon narrowed his eyes. He lifted her until their faces were level. "That's fear."

Gilotina shuddered despite herself.

"There it is again." His smile widened. "So the Female Furies can be afraid. I thought you'd forgotten how. You can stop worrying, though. It won't change anything."

The moment he finished speaking, Gilotina's fear sharpened.

He wasn't trying to reassure her. He intended to kill her.

She fought his grip. "Help me! He's going to kill me! Someone--"

A warm finger came to rest against her forehead. Her voice stopped.

"Bang."

Damon mimicked a gunshot. Orange light burst from his fingertip and pierced her skull. He released her, and she fell to the ground. After a few spasms, she lay still.

Gilotina was dead.

The other Furies looked shocked and angry, but hardly grief-stricken. None of them had rushed to help when she called.

Sisterhood?

Not here.

They had grown up competing against one another in Granny Goodness's brutal training. Joining the Female Furies had ended that competition, but it had not made them close. They knew death too well to mourn Gilotina. What they felt was anger.

Stompa broke off from the Flash, and Mad Harriet abandoned her fight with Green Lantern. Both charged Damon. The two heroes moved to intercept them, but Wonder Woman called out, "Leave them! Help Batman!"

After a moment's hesitation, they obeyed.

Stompa stamped her heavy boot. The ground cracked and split toward Damon. He rose into the air. Mad Harriet sprang at him from the front, her blades sweeping in.

Clang!

Her strike met an unexpected defender. Harriet stared.

Gilotina?

Her body was still on the ground. This version glowed orange, at once solid and translucent.

"Of course. The orange ring," Harriet muttered.

The Orange Lantern Corps normally had one living member. Those its bearer killed could return as orange-light constructs bound to his will. Damon had deliberately used orange energy to kill Gilotina. Now her construct stood in Harriet's way.

The orange construct held Mad Harriet back while Damon faced Stompa.

Thud!

Stompa drove one of her metal boots into his chest. The impact rang out.

Damon did not budge. She flipped away, landed, and charged him again with a punch.

Fast. Precise. Relentless.

Stompa's kicks were even more dangerous than her fists. Six strikes in ten came from her legs. Against most opponents, that would have been decisive. Damon had multiplied the durability of his Man of Steel body several times over. Her crushing boots could not hurt him; every blow punished her instead.

Stompa kept fighting through the pain.

Mad Harriet and Gilotina's construct traded strikes without gaining ground. Stompa seemed to be pressing Damon, but she was the one running out of options.

Thud!

She kicked again and stumbled back, trying to keep her weight off the foot she had used. She barely caught her balance.

"My turn?" Damon asked.

He gave her a small smile.

Stompa fixed her eyes on his shoulders, ready to read his next attack.

There.

One shoulder shifted.

She sprang backward. Damon hadn't moved toward her. He had only raised a hand.

Snap. He clicked his fingers.

His infinite stacking multiplied the effect a hundredfold.

Stompa's metal boot exploded. The blast hurled her across the broken ground before she could react.

She struck hard. The foot inside the boot was gone, and blood spread through the smoke. Damon appeared beside her as orange light gathered in his hand.

The beam struck through her head. Stompa went still.

He had used Bombshell Betty's power to turn a touched object into an explosive. Ordinarily, the blast would not have killed a New God like Stompa. Multiplied a hundredfold, it had torn through her defenses.

A second Fury was dead. Her orange construct appeared beside Gilotina's and joined the attack on Mad Harriet. One on one, Harriet might have held either of them off. Against both, she could barely defend herself.

Whoosh.

Damon appeared behind her in a curl of smoke and fired orange light.

The beam struck.

A third Fury fell.

Before Damon arrived, five Female Furies had fought the Justice League to a standstill. In minutes, he had killed three of them.

The difference in power was plain.