The Legendary Junkmaster

"Sir, they're asking when you will join the battle again." Friday sighed as he relayed the same question that had been asked earlier.

"I don't know, Friday. How many times can I say it?" Jason replied angrily as he continued tweaking the Infinity. "Ideally, I'd build a whole new frame, but we don't have time for that. But it still takes time to modify this armour!"

"Don't shoot the messenger, sir. I'll give them your answer." Friday disappeared to deliver Jason's answer.

"Jason, I don't like this." Syssie shook her head as she glanced at the Infinity. "Do you really think this can keep you alive?"

"I don't know, Syssie. But we have to join the fight, or we might end up dead anyway." Jason shook his head as he continued work on strengthening the exoskeleton within the armour. "There are people out there fighting with far less."

"Yes, but they're not you…." Syssie whispered before turning silent.

Jason continued working until he was confident that the armour would be able to take the strain of wielding the new weapon he had created. He had to make specific tweaks to allow the mechanical parts in the arms to draw extra Power from a new engine he inserted in the chest cavity.

Since he would be facing massive creatures, he knew he needed something that would allow him to injure or kill them. Jason took a few steps back from the Infinity and double-checked it. It was the best he could do with what he had and being on a time limit.

He had refilled the flamethrower, the cryospheres, shotgun ammo, darts, gases and replaced any damaged armour. Jason turned his head to look at the enormous heavy hammer with a large spike on the other side from its flat part. He double-checked that the hammer's wires were correctly connected to allow him to superheat it during battle.

'It's not much, but it could be the best way to go. I just need to swing and hope!' Jason still felt like he was underprepared, but it was better than nothing. It did not help that he felt exhausted from the training, then fleeing the owls and finally giving the Infinity a quick overhaul.

'How long has it been since the battle started?' Jason wondered as he glanced around the private hall.

"It's been fourteen hours." Syssie heaved a sigh. She could tell that Jason was in no fit state to join the battle yet. He had to rest first so that he could be at his best. 

"Hopefully, we're not too late!" Jason wore a grim expression as he entered the Infinity.

Naturally, he was not just going to focus on himself right now. After all, Dani and Adam were out there somewhere. The last piece of news he received said that the beasts had broken through the first two lines of defence that the Guardians had set up.

There was only one wall left now before they reached the city walls. On top of that, a second assault had come from the river. However, only people with suitable Powers could take part in that fight. Jason was far from suitable, so he would have to join the same fight as Adam and Dani. 

Just the thought of falling into the water while wearing the Infinity was enough to give him nightmares. The armour would just sink straight to the bottom, dragging Jason with it. Then he would be forced to go through hours of slow suffocation as the air ran out.

As the Infinity booted up, Jason tested the arms and how they handled the hammer. He noticed that each swing took up a fair amount of fuel as the engine was engaged. Jason checked the gauge he had installed inside the helmet. '8% of fuel used for four swings.'

Jason frowned heavily. He would have to be careful about using the suits full Power if he wanted to last the entire fight! The Infinity booted up properly as Jason propelled himself towards the exit while shouting.

"Friday! I'm headed out now! I need you to guide me to where I'm needed most right now!" Jason yelled with anxiety in his voice.

"I'm on it, sir!" Friday hummed as he flew through the air beside Jason, acting as a sat-nav. 

Friday filled Jason in on what was going on, whereas they rushed through the complex. Whenever any military personnel heard his heavy footsteps coming, they immediately threw themselves against a wall to stop him from running over them. 

"Michelle!" Dani roared as she thrust the tip of her Storm into the eye of the sabre-toothed squirrel she was fighting. 

Dani teleported to Michelle's side and electrocuted the beast that was trying to tear Michelle to pieces. It looked like an orangutang with eight arms and three tails. The beast was massive, standing at nearly seven-foot tall. The Guardians had dubbed this beast an Octape when it made its appearance a few hours into the fight.

These beasts had caused numerous casualties since they liked to grab anything that they could to use as a weapon. Their mighty physical strength even allowed them to swing humans around who were only slightly smaller than themselves. More than one Guardian had been turned into a long-range projectile by an Octape who took great glee in throwing them through the air.

The Octape turned to glare at Dani with a furious expression, but she was already gone. The beast then found that its hand that was gripping Michelle stung painfully. The beast roared as it dropped its prey. Its eyes looked wild as it fixed Dani with its glare again.

'I need to lure it away. Hopefully, someone can pick her up and get her treatment.' Dani ground her teeth as she kept teleporting around the beast and prodding it with the Storm's spear form.

However, no matter how many times she stabbed it, she could not land a critical blow. All of its most important areas were covered with thick muscle, and she lacked the strength to drive the Storm in deep enough. Dani gasped for breath as the Octape curled its lips into a sneer.

Four huge hairy fists came towards Dani once again. Crack! Dani was sent flying as her Power failed her. She was too exhausted for it to activate, and she was unable to realise that. Her left arm, leg and a few of her ribs were broken by the blow as she was sent spiralling through the air.

With a heavy thud, she landed face-first on the concrete a few feet from the triumphant Octape. Adam was nearby and saw the whole fight go down. Unfortunately, he could not rush to her aid. He was being pinned down by two of these creatures who were growing agitated with how difficult he was to catch.

Gerald was faring the best out of the group. His ability allowed him to target the internal organs of the beasts. The cold bodies of many Octape's were piled up all around him. However, he was in the same position as Adam and was also being targeted by a few Octapes. 

As Dani started to breathe heavily as she slowly lost consciousness, she glanced towards Harry's half-eaten head that had rolled beneath an old wrecked bench. She truly felt regretful that she had been unable to save him. 'Looks like you can chew me out for it soon.' She thought as her mind went dark.

The Octape stood over her and roared to announce its kill as it beat its chest with all eight of its fists. Adam flinched for a moment as the ape brought its fists down, as he expected to hear the sound of Dani being turned into meat paste.

Instead, he heard the Octape roar pitifully instead as its body was thrown sideways into a wall! 'Help arrived? Who? Ouroboros?' Adam quickly looked around, expecting to see the guy who had given them so much trouble. 

Instead, his eyes fell on a white-haired youthful woman who had a hand extended outwards towards the Octape. She slowly curled her fingers into a fist, and the beast responded with agonising yelps as its own bones were slowly crushed. 

The woman with white hair then opened her fist quickly to create a palm, and the Octape exploded into a gory rain that washed over everyone nearby. The remaining Octapes seemed to sense that this was an enemy that they were not equipped to handle as they bared their fangs at her. 

The youthful woman glanced at them one by one without a care in the world. The beasts could sense how calm she was and quickly turned tail to run for it. None of them wanted to find out for themselves what she had done to kill their comrade.

At that point, the sound of heavy footsteps pounding against concrete came from the direction of Bridgend. A familiar yet slightly different figure appeared amongst the various dirt clouds as Adam continued to gape at the new girl…