Adam directed every last erg of energy he had into his fists and hammered Tindriss. ​He smacked her face so many times his knuckles ached. Eventually they bled, and still he hammered away at her. He was so filled with fury, fury over losing his home and Claudia and maybe even his life and the lives of everyone in Infini, fury over the notion that The Fours might emerge victorious, might devour everything that was, is, or ever would be in all of its trillions upon trillions of permutations, might eat away at Infini until only nothingness remained, and...

     "Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!"

​     His attack became a flurry of Adam Forwarder-level punches. Tindriss didn't fight back, her arms hung loose at her sides, but she wouldn't go down, either. So Adam continued to smack on her, and, as he did, he said, "So, you refuse to die, huh? You can't be taken out? Well, you know what, bitch? I'm pretty fucking invincible myself. I was born at the moment of the Big Bang, and I've lived all that time, from that moment to this. I existed for billions of years as life energy only, the Azure's hidden ace against the omnipotent threat that was and is The Fours. I became simple life, then more complex life, then intelligent life. As life evolved in this universe, so did I. When life evolved to the point where intelligent life travelled to the stars, I travelled with them, and I continued to travel with them as they spread life throughout the galaxies. I can adapt to any species I encounter. I become that species, and I can never die. At worst, I convert to my original form that will then, eventually, find a way to once again become intelligent life. So you think you can ever truly declare victory over me? Knowing that, even if it takes a billion years, I will always return? Can you say the same, Tindriss? Can you? So, get a good look at this face. It is the face of your enemy. It is the face of an entity that will one day kill you because I will never stop until I do. I've been alive for fifteen billion years. I will devote my existence to destroying yours for what you did to me today. Do you understand that?" Smack! A fist to the face. "Do you?" Smack! "Do you?" Smack! Smack! Smack!

​     It was like she wasn't even there, really. It was like she was just barely hanging on, just barely staying on her feet.

     Fuck it, Adam thought. I'm weary. Let's finish this now. 

     He used his massive arms and bloody fists to piledrive Tindriss to her knees. Adam saw shards of twisted metal amongst the debris that hadn't turned to glassy, stony soup. He grabbed a chunk of that twisted metal to beat on the Coal Maiden's skull like a hammer driving a nail. He intended to beat her right into the broken earth. But he couldn't do it. She wouldn't quite go.  

     Adam weakened. It grew harder and harder to swing that chunk of twisted metal. Finally, it shattered in his hand, he'd smacked it against the Coal Maiden's skull so many times, and finding another chunk of metal suddenly seemed like too much work. His arms fell to his sides. He gasped for breath. He had, quite literally, given everything he had. 

     And it turned out to be not quite enough.

     Tindriss rose. Slowly, yet, still, she rose. 

     She rose back to her feet. 

     Once again, they stood nose to nose, eye to eye.

     Only, this time, Adam saw something in the Coal Maiden's eyes that he couldn't believe. 

     He saw a red flicker in the hollow depths of her eye sockets, and then he watched that flicker grow. 

     She was regaining strength. 

     Adam's heart sank in despair. He'd failed. He couldn't beat her. He'd hit her with everything he could think of, and he couldn't do it.

     Now what in the hell was he going to do?

CONTINUE