Max and Cat traveled down brightly lit corridors of the energy production area. This place was way different than the previous section of the bunker. Far gone were the corridors that tried to resemble a living area and offices, and the hydroponics field that gave a dash of nature. This was pure and solid metal and concrete with exposed wires on the roof to make any fix readily accessible.
The hum of the turbines turning water into steam and then energy rumbled through the walls as the duo finally found the killer robot patrolling the area.
They heard him walking slowly in a huge hangar with multiple colossal tanks, the size of small houses. Neither Cat nor Max didn't knew enough about nuclear energy to know the reason for these structures, but the lack of radiation damage that the man was detecting made them feel relatively safe, even if there were a lot of bright yellow and black symbols of danger around them. From warning others about radiation to high voltage.
The robot was a humanoid-shaped machine with sharp cubic parts and covered in infected blood. Sharp edges and pure brutalism decorated its black and gray shape as they culminated on the two buzzsaws it had as hands. Discs the size of deli slicers were built out of an intricate pattern of metal sheets, and the saws almost looked like a geometrical figure that was too hard to name for someone who only had basic math knowledge. Finally, it came with its head, a flat shape, a horizontal rectangle with one bright red killer robot eye.
A flashbang landed on the robot's legs. Max had used his earring to know exactly where it was as they hid behind one of the huge tanks of water.
The sound of the explosion didn't make a single dash of damage to the killer android, but the bright light overpowered its sensor for a moment. A second too long, and the two supers tried to attack from the back and the front.
Max rushed forward with his metal bar, trying to strike it on the head to break its laser. Cat went from the back, searching for the weak point.
With the sizzling sound of flesh getting cut by a laser, Max understood that the robot did not need 100% of its optical capacities to use its main weapon. He only dodged the attack by an inch, using his superhuman reflex to crouch at the last second, avoiding getting cut in half, but the red radiance got one of his arms, the metal bar, and the tank of water behind him.
From the metallic gash, radioactive water began to bleed more than the wound seared by the laser as the red-hot half of the pillar of steel touched the floor.
Another second passed, and Cat kept going forward and stabbing the monster on the back with her spear, sinking it deep into what looked like the ventilation holes on its back. However, in that same second, it began to spin in its place. Using the buzz saw to create a safety zone around it while the laser recharged.
The healer needed to jump back; bits and pieces of skin, muscle, and tendons became a new layer of paint on the robot as it managed to land a slash on Cat, damaging the front part of her biological armor.
From now on, it was all freeform. There was no Olivia to help them come up with a plan or any strategy previously discussed. Max needed to use his limited combat experience and trust that Cat could work with him on the minute he had before the loss of blood would become troublesome.
There was no time to attack or to swing what was left of his metal bar again; however, the laser attack had closed the door but opened a window. The warm water pouring had reached both the robot and Max, so with just a thought, an electric shock blew out of his body, impacting the construct.
Cat would not stay with her arms crossed; since melee attacks were not effective, she would have a range option that Max had given her. The girl threw one of the grenades that the man had given to her.
The black sack of biological material exploded the second it touched the robot's back, covering it in a thick layer of fresh gore, bits of bones, tendons, and flesh. Doing zero damage and not even hampering its mobility or vision. An attack that seems completely useless.
Those chunks of meat were part of Max; Cat could interact with biological structures.
The fingertips of Max and the spear of Cat touched the robot, unleashing both powers at the same time to "heal him."
Bone, skin, muscle, and blood began to explode like cancerous growth around the automation. A cancer that was trying to cut with its saw blades, but it was growing too fast on its joints, restricting its movements to a crawl as its laser and targeting system were still damaged from not only the shock but also the radiation flooding the zone, creating static.
Stunned in this network of half-regenerated meat, it was time for Max to land the final strike. Cat was too busy keeping the mesh growing and fixing it.
He sidestepped, moving into the right angle as the machine was forced to stay in its place.
The handgun bit the weak point with its lead fangs. The first bite took cover, the second bite messed with the internal cooling system, and the third destroyed the central control unit, putting an end to this monster once and for all.
With an explosion of sparks and gore, the robot crashed on the moist floor, security systems already activating and draining the water from the broken tank to other ones to avoid more leaks. However, there was no time to celebrate, as the expression on Max's face told Cat all she needed to know.
The girl quickly began to rush out of the place, as she knew well that each second that she was inside there, her life expectancy was getting cut short by ten years.
Max could feel his power triggering and fixing the constant damage to his cells, nullifying his regeneration to the point that he needed to choose between stopping the radiation poisoning or the blood oozing from his missing arm. Even if the laser had made a clean cut and cauterized the wound, the extra movement from the combat had reopened it.
In another place . . .
The petite girl with black hair styled into a bob haircut was in a small closet near the main control panel. Pale as a ghost, with deep blue eyes, a pink shirt, grey pants, and a lab coat, the thirty-year-old woman was shaking like a kid having a nightmare. Coiled into a small ball in the corner and trying to breathe.
Olivia and Ange were hunting in the control room in the reactor zone. The place, littered with disassembled electronic devices and half-baked projects, lacked the scars of laser cuts and gore that the rest of this section had.
"Helga! Come on! We just want to talk!" Ange yelled as Olivia pointed with one of her fingers to the metallic door that kept Helga from the two villains.
The second that she heard the steps of that woman coming near, she knew that her cover was blown. "Don't dare to get inside! I have a gun!" The soon-to-be victim screeched back; her gun was just a pen that she was using to make diagrams when she was ambushed.
Olivia hacked the feed of the cameras to replay the same images over and over, having the wrong impression of what was happening. When she realized it, Helga rushed to hide in the closer place without cameras.
"She doesn't have one," Olivia purred, actually having so much fun being on the hunting side during this kind of chance.
Anathema used one of her cleavers to cut a hole in the thin metal door keeping Helga from them. The metal was no match for those six armed openings that cracked it open like a soda can.
"Ah! Sorry! The door was getting in the way; maybe you didn't hear me well," the psycho killer said with a smile from ear to ear and her eyes wide open, trying to look happy and not threatening at all.
The loud screech of terror of Helga indicated that her attempt was a complete failure. She was cocky with people that could not physically reach her, and Anathema being in charge of grabbing her made the true squeals of fear erupting out of her mouth 100% justifiable.
Ange grabbed her by her hair, overpowering her not only by the size difference but also with extra muscles. "We are not going to hurt you!" She exclaimed while dragging out her hiding place, kicking, screaming, and crying.
"Yet," Olivia added with a Cheshire smile and licked her lips, looking at her new indentured servant.