Under his helmet, Oliver smiled as Minus attempted to drain his suit's energy. As he made contact with it, a massive electrical pulse coursed through Minus, throwing him away from the suit. But even after a moment, the suit did not move.
"Flit, what's happening?" Oliver demanded.
"We appear to be out of power. The suit's charge drains it of its power; it was intended to be recharged with Oliver's--sorry sir, I meant your-- energy after each attempt. But vital scans indicate you do not have enough charge to return the suit to full power and continue the fight. If you give me half power, I should be able to get us away so that you can recover and--"
"No."
Flit, startled, asked if he heard his master right.
"You did, Flit. Even if I escape I won't be any good in the fight. I'd be useless now. I'm going to recharge the suit. To full. And then we're going to beat Minus into the ground so badly he won't even be awake until the others are out of his grasp."
"But, sir, you're not strong enough! How can you possibly charge the suit back up if you're--oh..." said the AI, with a stunned realization. Oliver closed his eyes and concentrated, pouring his energy back into the suit. A golden glow emanated from the costume's interior as it was restored its ability to move.
[hr]
Aboard his chopper, Hellion was waiting impatiently as they made their way toward the battle. But suddenly, his wrist began to beep and a tiny light blinked red. He cursed and slammed his fist against the wall of the chopper, tilting it for a brief moment and nearly giving the pilot a heart attack. They were too late.
"Pilot! Change course, we're going after a new target!"
"Wait master," one of his young assistants pleaded. "if you stay on course you can still kill Minus while he's weakened!"
"Oh don't worry your pretty little head Lana, I'll kill him when it's time. But not a moment sooner. You see, Minus interfered in my little game, and I'm going to make him pay. And the best way to do that is to rub it in his face how powerless he is when he tries to play in the big leagues. If you'll allow me to make an analogy, it's a bit like a game of chess. He's sacrificed so much to take my Queen, there's nothing in the way of putting him into checkmate. Understand now?"
The young woman nodded and smiled. Hellion smiled back. He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. Underneath his hood, those with him could have sworn they saw something like a tear welling up.
[hr]
After a brief moment of powering up, the suit entered a battle stance, its energy arm crackling with energy as it shrunk into the form of a whip. It uncoiled at lightning speed, and cracked at Minus' face.
