His hand shooting out in front of him, the black blade shimmied through the air, missing its target altogether. The curious phenomenon puzzled him initially, but with his close proximity to the situation, Cosmo could more adequately diagnose the situation. He could sense the quantum mechanical space-time grid distort as his target dropped to the ground quickly—too quickly to be natural. His weapon slipped clear over his head, slicing nothing but air.
Cosmo was fighting a gravity manipulator. As his hand whipped past his opponent’s head, he pulled it back towards his body, as a smirk seemed to spread across his lips. He had faced gravity manipulators before, and he knew what to do with them. For the most part, they were very fun adversaries, especially once they realized that their power to tweak the interactions between gravitons was not exclusively theirs. It was always more fun for Cosmo to beat others at their own game.
But this one was good… very good. Just as Cosmo had retracted his arm towards his body, he felt the blade abnormally heavy, drawn by some unseen force. He realized that his foe had strengthened gravity’s hold on his body, and he felt the downward pull on his body weighing him down. He cast a quick glance downward towards the crouched figure, trying to predict his next movements. He wondered what his adversary could have possibly been planning by trying to keep Cosmo glued to the ground, but he figured that—whatever it was—Cosmo was willing to find out.
He did not have to find out long. His opponent lunged for his knees. His movements were quick, catlike even, but did not seem to be superhuman. Instead of trying to dodge, Cosmo stood his ground, concentrating especially at the probable point of impact. He felt his body lighten, as if the increased gravity no longer applied to him. The tactic worked well enough; just as his adversary was supposed to slam into his knees, he didn’t…
The figure passed straight through him.
Letting his opponent pass straight through his legs was hardly a conventional tactic, but Cosmo figured that he would let him do that instead of trying some other evasive maneuver. It was also a cunning psychological ploy. If Cosmo let him pass straight through him, he knew that he would be engaging in a mind game, daring him to try a different tactic. Cosmo wanted to see what else this intruder was capable of, and he knew that he could never do that unless he pushed him to show all of his cards.
As the figure slipped through his body, Cosmo quickly turned around. The liquid black composition of his hand changed again, as the bladed weapon elongated, thinning out into a flexible whip. With a fluid motion of his right arm, he cracked the weapon towards his opponent. The extra reach of his newest weapon worked wonders—it was long enough to reach him even though the other’s momentum had carried him away from Cosmo. |