THE FINAL STRIKE
Owen looked at the out-of-control beast engulfed in flames that Alexei had become; it was running toward him at full speed, roaring like a furious animal.
Without waiting any longer, Owen released his left dagger, the one tied by the metal cord to his back; and, as if it were a heartbeat, he struck forward. The red energy flowed through his body toward the cable; every centimeter it advanced made it purer. When that energy reached the tip of the dagger, it broke the sound barrier and shot straight toward Alexei's chest.
There was a total explosion; a violent repulsion in all directions. Even though the dagger did not manage to cut him because Alexei moved just in time, the shockwave alone was enough to send him flying backward.
As he was thrown away, he was pushed even farther from the city. Their previous clashes had already caused enough damage, and now that Owen was getting serious and Alexei was completely out of control, he feared they could harm innocent civilians.
Because of that, Alexei crossed the battlefield and ended up reaching the part of the forest that was still standing. But it did not last; when he fell like a meteor engulfed in fire, everything was obliterated and began to ignite instantly.
After crashing against the ground several times, Alexei managed to stop and stood up enraged, growling loudly while his body released heat like an oven on the verge of exploding.
Then he saw a red flash from above. He lifted his head.
Owen was there, with both daggers spinning around his hands; the cables attached to his wrists were already transmitting the red energy with a threatening intensity.
Owen moved his arms over his head and hurled both daggers toward Alexei.
Alexei managed to cover himself with his arms; he knew perfectly well what was coming.
The impact was twice as strong as before. The two daggers fell like projectiles, forming a massive crater and burying Alexei in the shock. Even so, Alexei remained standing; the daggers pierced through his arms and embedded themselves into his chest, stopping him for a few seconds.
He instantly felt the pull of the cables. His enormous body was lifted into the sky, straight toward Owen, who was also descending at full speed, using the strength of the pull as additional momentum.
Owen's movements were so fast and precise that Alexei could not even react. In the blink of an eye, Owen's feet landed squarely on his stomach, sending him back to the ground like a meteor and expanding the crater even more.
"Graaa" Alexei roared, trying to stand.
But Owen moved his hands quickly. The daggers were still piercing Alexei's arms and chest, and the cables slid in a controlled manner to begin immobilizing him, wrapping around his torso and neck.
Without wasting time, Owen pulled his right arm back. The vibranium glove opened, revealing his most powerful attack.
He struck him once. Then again. The red energy increased with each impact, as did the speed.
One after another, straight into Alexei's chest; the wires cut into his skin every time he tried to heal, and Owen's force seemed ready to tear him apart.
"Bomb. Bomb. Bomb."
Each hit sounded like an explosion.
Dust flew, the ground trembled, and the crater widened in size and depth.
Alexei's skin split open, releasing his boiling, golden, blazing blood. Each strike left new cracks that closed immediately; however, a moment came when the regeneration began to slow, and golden drops fell to the ground.
Alexei's fury grew. He began twisting, trying to break free while receiving blow after blow.
Suddenly, Owen stopped. He felt the heat around them rising at an alarming rate; the ground behind Alexei was starting to turn into molten stone.
Owen's feet, pressing against it, began to burn from the contact.
Owen looked at Alexei's body and noticed it was starting to release smoke; the heat was rising, and his skin was glowing dangerously.
With his eyes wide open, he made a quick decision and jumped back.
At that exact moment, Alexei's body exploded. A gigantic, completely uncontrolled burst of fire. Owen landed not too far away, rolling as he watched the shockwave destroy what was left of the forest. The air itself ignited the fallen trees. He was truly a being of pure destruction; he could easily erase one or two cities from the map.
"He concentrated all the heat into himself and then released it in one burst; even as an out-of-control beast, it's still an interesting power," Owen said, watching the flames erupt from Alexei's body, who, after expelling them, managed to stand again.
In that instant, Owen heard a massive noise to the side. He turned for barely a second… and his expression shifted into pure surprise as he saw the city slowly rising.
"Tsk. Those guys didn't arrive in time," he muttered, knowing it was Ultron's fault.
That distraction cost him dearly.
Alexei appeared right in front of him, with a fist almost as large as Owen's entire body. He was smiling with a wild joy; even out of control, he knew perfectly well that he needed a blow powerful enough to kill him. And the idea thrilled him.
But, unfortunately for him, Owen saw it coming as if everything were moving in slow motion. He positioned his body correctly; he bent his legs, tensed his muscles, and raised his left hand.
Not to block the strike.
To receive it.
His feet were in a stance similar to several martial arts that use the enemy's force against them; something Owen had trained for years, the same technique he used to redirect Superman's punch.
As soon as Alexei's fist touched Owen's left hand, the energy of the blow began to travel through every fiber of his body. His left arm recoiled from the impact, but at the same time that energy moved with surgical precision through his torso, back, and shoulders until it finally reached his right hand.
Unlike the previous time, this time Owen controlled every tiny impulse; every fragment of the power received was perfectly directed into his right glove.
The glove shone.
And, like a flash at the speed of light, it appeared in front of Alexei's chest just before he could react.
The impact not only pierced him; it disintegrated him.
Alexei exploded into microscopic particles of flesh and burning blood, instantly becoming a rain of fire that fell over the entire field around them.
Owen held only a single enormous finger of Alexei in his left hand; it was the only thing that had remained intact.
That devastating strike turned everything around into ashes. The heat and the returning energy, multiplied by Owen's absolute control, swept through such a large area that it no longer looked like a battlefield; it was a steaming desert stretching for kilometers.
If the power had been directed toward the city, it would have vanished with a single blow.
Owen dropped the finger to the ground; it began to bubble as the scattered blood in the surroundings slowly tried to gather.
But it barely managed to.
Owen watched as several fragments lost energy and turned to dust before reaching other larger remains. Even so, some succeeded in coming together; a formless pulp of red flesh and golden blood struggled to regain a shape. It failed again and again, turning into puddles, then trying to rebuild.
After several minutes, Alexei's body finally managed to stabilize. But he was no longer a beast. He was himself again, only reduced to his normal size, completely malnourished, his skin blackened by burns, trembling uncontrollably. The flames in his hair died out, leaving a charcoal-black color. His breathing was weak, but for the first time he seemed to have regained a minimum of control.
"I have to kill you," he said, barely able to remain standing. He lifted his hands into a shaking guard. "Kill you…" he repeated, just before his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
He tried to stand again by supporting himself with his hands, but failed. His face hit the dirt.
"I'm going to avenge the death…" He could barely breathe. Owen watched him in silence, with a mix of pity and bitter understanding.
"I… lose vitality… every second with this power… I have… to kill you…" murmured Alexei, now lying down without even being able to move his fingers. Only his voice trembled.
"Exactly," Owen said, realizing the obvious. There is no such thing as unlimited power, not even for himself. Owen had lost absurd amounts of energy before evolving; only now, with the red energy, could he recover some through friction and movement. But even so, his body still required an inhuman amount of energy… something Alexei could never sustain with his original biology.
"I… will ki…" Alexei never finished the phrase. His body began turning entirely black. He closed his eyes.
And then he simply fell apart, becoming a black paste on the ground.
"Did you really think you could defeat a soldier who trained his entire life…?" Owen said. His voice carried hardness, but also a shade of pain. It weighed on him to kill someone who, in another context, could have been an ally; a soldier he perhaps should have protected. But Alexei had taken a path with no return. One that put innocent civilians and the entire world at risk.
Owen bent down and collected every fragment that remained of Alexei. He would not allow anyone, or anything, to obtain that DNA. He would have to walk the entire battlefield, cleaning up every last drop before reuniting with his companions.
It was worrisome.
If he left even a single sample and someone found it, they could end up facing an army of "Alexeis."
And that would be a disaster without precedent.
Especially because there existed beings capable of completely copying the powers of others. That was why the general insisted so strongly on eliminating every trace of DNA from heroes in any battle.
And there was something more.
Owen seemed to want to keep at least one symbolic fragment to bury it next to Victor's grave. The scientist had said he could never bury his own son because his body was never found.
This time, at least, there would be something.
After a battle without precedent, with powers that defied all logic, only one person remained standing. Owen stayed in total silence while gathering the remains of his enemy beneath a sky turned into smoke.