Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain-Chapter 47: Maximilian VS. Photon Fury - 01

"You’re bluffing. I’ve never heard of such a device before," Mauler said with a frown.

Maximilian crouched down, tilting the device to show the inside where numerous jagged spikes were ready to pierce into a skull.

"Okay... let’s assume I’m bluffing. I just got this thing today, don’t know how to use it yet. And you’ll be the first one I try it on, congratulations," Maximilian said, his voice made even more terrifying by the helmet’s voice modulator.

This Neuron Scrambler was something he had found in the house, sitting among the old equipment left in the basement before Ricardo’s group cleaned it out. After reading the manual, he decided to store it in his system storage just in case.

Maximilian placed the device near Mauler’s head, then pulled out the manual from behind him, though in truth, he retrieved it from his system storage. He did this to deceive Mauler since he didn’t want anyone to know about his system storage; it was one of his hidden trump cards.

Maximilian opened the manual and read for a few minutes before he started to move his hands.

"I must say, this thing is very nasty. I need to put it on your head first and let the jagged spikes pierce into your skull. Oh, and don’t worry... the spikes won’t kill you. They have nanites that heal you while scrambling your brain for useful information.

Even though you won’t die, your brain will feel like it’s getting tens of heated iron rods inserted and stirred around. Since this thing is still an experimental model, the process isn’t exactly gentle, so... good luck," Maximilian explained casually, setting up the device.

Seeing the many jagged hooks inside the helmet shattered Mauler’s will. He wasn’t afraid of dying, but having his brain scrambled and his mind read was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

"We don’t know where Rebecca Lane is! We only know that she escaped from the laboratory a long time ago, but that’s about it! We don’t know her current location!" Mauler immediately confessed.

Maximilian’s hands didn’t stop. He picked up the helmet and was about to place it on Mauler’s head.

"Trust me! This is all we know!" Mauler shouted in panic, trying desperately to use his muscles to move away but unable to.

"No! You psycho! Get back! Help! Somebody help!" Mauler screamed desperately.

[Now, Max, say the classic phrase: ’Hohoho, even if you scream until your throat is hoarse, no one’s going to come!’ (｀∀´)Ψ ] Aetherna whispered like a little demon into Maximilian’s ear.

{I refuse,} Maximilian flatly replied.

[Tch! Spoilsport! (≖︿≖)]

{Keep that in mind then. When you materialize your body, I’ll roleplay this kind of scenario with you,} Maximilian said.

[(〃ω〃)]

"Arrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh! Nooooooo! You pervert! Don’t come any closer!" Mauler screamed even louder.

Now Maximilian started to hesitate. Is this dude even right in the head? He wasn’t going to do that kind of stuff with him! God, even thinking about this crap made his skin crawl.

But before he could do anything, Maximilian felt a threat from his left side. He quickly tossed the helmet away and raised his guard!

Bang!!

Something hit him! The force behind the impact sent him flying along with the object that struck him. He felt his bones and muscles ache, even though his armor provided some protection. In front of him was Photon Fury, who had tackled him and was now dragging him through the air, trying to crush Maximilian’s arm.

"You! The villain from last night!" Photon Fury shouted, a grudge and bloodthirsty smile on her face.

Maximilian didn’t answer; he was too focused on defending himself against the immense power radiating from Photon Fury as she dragged him through the air at supersonic speed.

He quickly realized that his armored glove wouldn’t last much longer if it kept taking the full brunt of her photon energy.

Maximilian checked the map in his system and quickly devised a plan.

His left hand reached toward his back while his right hand continued to absorb the relentless beating from Photon Fury’s energy. The heat was now intense enough that he could feel it seeping through the armor into his hand.

Bang!... Bang! Bang! Bang!

The moment Maximilian pulled out his handgun, he immediately fired forcefield-negation bullets at Photon Fury.

The first shot landed, forcing her to retreat, but the follow-up shots chased her down, quickly negating all of her photon energy.

Maximilian was released from her grip. His body dropped toward the ground, and he used the opportunity to retreat.

He immediately activated his armor’s jetpack, causing his cape to transform into glider wings as he flew toward the city’s outskirts below.

Photon Fury gritted her teeth in frustration and tried to channel her power again.

But because she hadn’t fully trained her abilities yet, and because the interruption from the negation rounds disrupted her flow, she couldn’t rechannel her energy as easily as she normally could.

After a few seconds, Photon Fury’s power returned, and she quickly resumed chasing after Maximilian, who was flying away at high speed.

Seeing that Photon Fury continued to chase him, Maximilian threw several grenades over his shoulder.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The grenades exploded midair, forcing Photon Fury to slow down, giving Maximilian a significant lead.

"Youuuu!" Photon Fury roared in anger before accelerating again, not far behind.

At this time, Maximilian finally arrived at his destination; an old, seemingly abandoned building.

Photon Fury quickly closed the distance and followed him.

Maximilian ran into the building, with Photon Fury hot on his heels.

Inside, the building was pitch dark. Other than the light coming through the doorway, the rest of the windows were sealed shut, letting in no light.

Photon Fury cautiously walked into the building, trying to find Maximilian as quickly as possible. She activated her bioelectric vision to search.

But... what she saw stunned her. Hundreds of light nodes shone brightly in her vision. As she scanned the area using her bioelectric detection, she was greeted by the sight of hundreds of light signatures, each representing a child inside the building.

Each node stayed mostly in place, though a few moved slightly, as if the children were trying to get away.

"Welcome! Photon Fury..." a terrifying voice distorted by the voice modulator spoke.

Photon Fury quickly searched for the source of the sound, but it came from speakers mounted on the wall.

"This is the place I’ve prepared for you... I must warn you, if you try to use your powers to shoot me, be aware that you’ll hit those poor children on the second and third floors. If that happens, Ms. Photon Fury, you can kiss your hero license goodbye," Maximilian’s voice echoed through the speakers.

"What do you want, villain!?" Photon Fury shouted through gritted teeth.

"What do I want!? No, no, no, that’s not the question. The real question is, what do you want, huh? Ms. Pamela Diamond," Maximilian said, revealing Photon Fury’s real name, instantly causing her anger to boil over!

Photon Fury’s energy immediately flared, her photon powers rising in intensity.

"Ah ah ah! Are you confident you won’t hurt those innocent children? Of course, if you think there’s no one keeping an eye on you, that’s good too... I’d love to see how heroic you really are," Maximilian said, provoking her.

"You!" Photon Fury growled, gritting her teeth harder.

On Maximilian’s side, he was now happily watching his Villain Score on the system screen—it kept rising steadily the more he played the villain in front of Photon Fury.

"Let’s get to the point, shall we? You want my head, you want to beat me up and arrest me without hurting these children, right? That’s easy!"

Maximilian’s voice cut off, then, a black silhouette stepped out of the darkness.

"Use your skill," he said through the voice modulator, pointing down at the ground they stood on.

"Use your pure skill in close combat ’Here’, without using your fancy photon flares to subdue me."

"What!?" Photon Fury was taken aback. A one-on-one fight? Was this guy stupid? Even without her photon powers, she still had enhanced strength and could easily overpower most criminals!

"Heh! Fighting me one-on-one in close combat!? What—you think just because I’m a woman, I’ll be weaker than you? You’re overestimating yourself, villain!" Photon Fury said confidently as she clenched her fists.

"I’ll say this: Women can do anything a man can do—and better! Don’t go crying and calling for—"

"So... you’re that type, huh? The extremist, feminist girl-boss type who hates men," Maximilian interrupted, his voice suddenly devoid of any warmth.

At first, he had only wanted to gather Villain Score...

But now... now it was starting to feel personal.

He still remembered the day he died in his previous life... left alone in a dark alley by the same kind of woman.

[Max... are you alright?] Aetherna’s concerned voice whispered in his mind as she detected the sudden dark turn in Maximilian’s emotions.

{I’m alright... Athel... Thanks for calling me out... I just... feel a little bit angry at her,} Maximilian said.

[Max... If you ever want to talk... I’m always here,] Aetherna said gently.

{Thanks, Athel... I’m alright now.}