Timecaster

FIFTY

The Mastermind clutches his prize to his chest as he hits terminal velocity, falling at close to six hundred miles per hour. The slit in his visor is letting cold wind in, but he can still see if he squints, and the rebreather is still feeding him oxygen.

He smiles. The finger knife had been a last-minute addition to the suit-a precautionary measure in case the parachutes didn’t detach as designed. It turned out to be a very smart move. He never would have gotten the TEV from Talon otherwise.

Who could have predicted the mouse would have a Nife? Talon had played it smart, kept it hidden until the last possible moment. But in the end, even that hadn’t been enough.

Sata plummets into the Tesla field. He’s already pressed the ionizer button, shielding his suit against the incredible amount of electrical energy. The whole world turns bright blue.

Bringing the TEV close to his face, Sata squints at the clock.

1:01… 1:00… 0:59… 0:58…

This next part is going to be tricky. Sata should still be able to vanquish most of Chicago, but he’ll have to aim it manually. He won’t be able to implode as wide of an area, but Sata hears a tremendous thunderclap, louder than anything he’s ever experienced before, and at the same time sees a flash of superb right light.

Then he doesn’t see anything at all.

Sata understands what just happened. The ionizer is supposed to form a defensive antistatic barrier around his suit. But when Talon had slashed his visor, he’d also put a hole in the ion shield. Lightning, like water, takes the path of least resistance.

The Mastermind screams.

He screams at his miscalculation.

He screams at the ruination of his calculated plan.

He screams at the mouse, who somehow managed to beat him.

But most of all, he screams in pain, because both of his eyeballs have just exploded and are leaking all over his cheeks.