Fighting Shortcut Titan

I narrowed my eyes and aimed, firing at the Titan that was still emerging and rising to its full height. It was more fragile as it emerged, but I was put in the situation of having to figure out how he grew and anticipate it, or else I was distributing my damage across multiple points. Slowly, he came together, sleek, long-limbed and tall, but incapable of standing straight, as his back arched in an 's' shape.

*****

My focus was on the new guy. Five minutes after the praying mantis woman, he'd cracked. Now I unloaded into him, fully aware that I was running out of battery.

But it stunted his growth, slowed him down, and served as the equivalent of postponing one impending threat so we could focus on the other four. Others, Aunt Sarah included, were helping.

*****

While holding the gun and paying close attention to where the blasts went, I reached into the pocket of my top between the breastplate and my stomach, and I pulled out my phone.

It felt very strange to be scrolling through my contact list at the same time I was firing a death laser.

I heard the phone ring. It was distorted, and the distortions matched up with the thrums I felt coming through my death laser gun.

*****

I kept firing. Each Titan we'd seen so far had something about it that changed the entire dynamic of a fight. The longer I could keep him down, targeting one limb, then another, then a part along his back that seemed intent on growing, the longer it was until we had to deal with whatever he brought to the table.

*****

"What does it mean?" I asked. My gun beeped. Battery low.

*****

"What's that beeping?"

"My gun. I'm running out, the extra batteries are out in the middle of nowhere."

"I'll talk to people," Kenzie said. "See about getting you a portal. We can have a team swap out the battery."

"And fix the gun?" I asked. "It's falling to pieces on me. If there are any tinkers on standby."

The housing was torn and tearing even as I fired.

"That'll take a bit, but there's lots of tinkers standing around and wishing they could help."

"Great," I said, injecting false positivity into my tone.

*****

Someone hit the Impaler Titan with something, producing an explosion as big as the Titan's head. She moved to retaliate, and I started firing again, targeting the Titan we were suppressing. He'd grown in just the time I'd stopped.

I focused on the most damaged areas, flying closer. The gun was beeping incessantly now.

The laser sputtered out.

Second of the new Titans is joining the fight.

Sleek, long-limbed, and uniform in color and shade, it stretched skyward, growing despite the continued assault against it from other blasters. Without the gun in the mix, we weren't breaking even.

He dropped into the ground like it was water, producing a liquid ripple that shook buildings, street, and cracks in reality.

- Infrared 19.4