I… hate…

  He wasn’t sure exactly what he hated right now, but Greg was pretty sure pretty high at the top of the list was the constant pings and dings and pop-ups that were his power, trying it’s very best to get his attention. Hate…

  While he still had a mouth, Greg was doing his very best to keep from screaming as he floated inside his mecha in a sphere of boiling mana. His body pulled on as much energy as he could manage without immediately turning into human soup, which honestly was looking like a distinct possibility at this point.

  God, I wish that stupid Megas song was longer… Skin nearly seared off at this point, he was just sinew and muscle and pure golden willpower holding him together.

  Limitless mana doesn't mean free. And the price was pain. Willpower kept him from shattering completely, but his body was still breaking down, all the mana burning through him doing its very best to make him pay for every bit of juice he made use of. “...That's fine. This is fine." Greg tried to roar through gritted teeth as he intensified the mana. Eyes went wide an instant later, more blood filling his mouth as his jaw- Oh.

  He felt his teeth shatter, enamel giving way like his fingernails and hair already had. ...yeah, that's not good.

  Greg pushed everything else aside and focused his attention, eyes still tracking the enemy, watching how Leviathan was still tumbling through the air from the hammer throw, water trailing behind the Endbringer like a comet tail. Let's finish this.

  Other capes were watching in stunned silence as the massive figure arced over the bay, probably trying to figure out if what they'd just witnessed was tactically brilliant or completely insane. Greg was pretty sure it was both.

  "All right, Ms. Game... Time to spend everything in the bank account." Greg wished he had more teeth to grit, at least teeth that wouldn't shatter if he tried to use them. "Let’s give ‘em the Death Star."

  More energy began to surge through what was left of his nervous system, mana building to levels that made his vision blur into pure light as Greg hovered there, floating in the center of the still-open chest cavity.

  "White Knight, what are you doing?" Legend. Legend spoke loud and clear, the superhero outright screaming over all the chaos.

  "Something really stupid!" Greg boomed back, his voice amplified as loud as it could go. The mech’s chestplate opened up even wider, exposing his entire body and showing everyone in range the full extent of what was left of him, limbless and almost skinless, as he floated in a sphere of roiling, bubbling bright blue energy.

  His helmet, mask, and most of his costume had been wrecked to shit a long time ago, but Greg doubted anyone could actually see his face with how bright the energy surrounding him was, let alone make out his identity. Yeah, we’re looking for the one bald, half-toothless kid with almost no skin and just muscles showing. Easy job.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Legend's eyes widened at the sight, the man very visibly processing that Greg was less "piloting a robot" and more “becoming one with the machine”.

  The beam began forming in front of the mana sphere, energy spiraling inward like a miniature galaxy; twisting, spinning and whirling around faster and faster as all that roiling began to focus itself for a purpose. Before he could say anything else, before his brain could catch up with what his body was doing, Greg grit the rest of his teeth. Eat shit and die.

  And with that, he let it go.

  A blinding pillar of blue light launched out at the still-airborne Leviathan, cutting through storm clouds like they were tissue paper, as the beam stretched across miles of sky, searing and raw and so fast it was effectively instant.

  TH-KOOOOM!

  When the blast hit, it did so with a sound like the world shattering.

  Leviathan was struck dead-on, the roiling sea below splitting open even from so high up, directly below the point of contact. A second sun in the sky formed for a second or two on impact, a massive smoke cloud obscuring it almost immediately after as the light began to dim.

  I just nuked an Endbringer. Greg allowed what was left of his face to form something that might've been a smile. I hope Uber & L33t got that on camera.

  Leviathan flew further from the blast, exploding out of the smoke in a burning streak against the sky, body scorched and torn open with not even a trace of water surrounding it. Its face was barely there anymore, parts of its hide still steaming with visible damage even from even this far away.

  The Endbringer hit the sea with a massive splash, impact creating concentric rings of displaced water, waves heading toward the city but getting mitigated by barriers that were somehow still standing despite everything.

  Capes started cheering.

  Greg, inside the sphere, collapsed inward, consciousness beginning its final countdown as the power burned out of his system like someone had just pulled the plug on his life support. The mana sphere started flickering, losing cohesion as his body remembered it was supposed to be dead.

  "Ohhh... This is gonna suck."

  His awareness began fragmenting as the timer in his head counted down. 60, 59, 58... Each number felt like another piece of himself breaking away, dissolving into the energy that had been keeping him functional.

  But before anyone could catch their breath, before the cheering could really get going, before Greg could properly appreciate the fact that all of this might finally be over...

  Leviathan surged from the bay one last time.

  Water displacement suggested something massive moving beneath the surface, something that was very much not dead and apparently had opinions about being nuked by a sixteen-year-old kid in a mechsuit

  "Oh, come ON!" Greg groaned through failing vocal cords. "Can't a guy have five seconds to die in peace?"

  Its body was in ruin, more so than before. Its face was mangled more than just the deep scars and missing eye; three remaining limbs and tail missing entire chunks and a ton of flesh just scraped clean. The sword-scars the Endbinger had taken had gone from a patchwork of slashes to outright canyons that boiled and steamed in the rain.

  Leviathan raised its one remaining hand, the gesture somehow carrying more menace than anything thirty feet of death machine should be able to manage. And to the shock of everyone, including Greg who was pretty sure his day couldn't get any worse, a mega-tsunami rose from the bay.

  Walls of water nearly the height of skyscrapers, heading straight for Brockton Bay like the ocean had decided the city needed to be deleted from existence.

  Well. Shit.