VS. Cradle's Mech 2

I wrestled with a hand that was the size of a car, that had more leverage than I did. It had a partner hand, planted on the ground to my left, and two smaller 'back' hands, like a dog had back legs, one gripping the side of a building, the other digging fingers into dirt. Any number of fingers had invisible cables attached- I'd seen two before they stopped moving. Cables that could slice right through me, given a chance or a reckless movement on my part. I knew exactly where the Wretch was, where each hand and foot was placed, at one giant fingertip, at the 'webbing' of cables that stretched in a bow between two fingers, at a finger to my side, and in the ground.


But a hand was a series of moving parts, and I had to account for all of them. With the way the machine was positioned, three hands planted on the ground and one for me to deal with, it was trying to lift me up and push me back at the same time, or to get in position where it could squish me beneath, given a chance. I could deal with three fingers, but as the pinky finger came at me from the side, I didn't have the bracing ready to catch it or stop it from punching through the Wretch.


I cast away the Wretch, twisted in the air to avoid the fingers that came down, and let the hand move around me before bringing the Wretch out again. The action took a second, I ran on instinct for the entirety of it, and the entire dynamic with my 'opponent' changed. I was between middle and ring fingers, close to the webbing, the Wretch gripping the two fingers in multiple places, clawing at the cabling between fingers now.


Less leverage, less room and time to maneuver next time, but less worry about invisible cables or fingers coming at me from the side. So long as I kept my eye on the thumb. It didn't have a good angle to get at me, but a bad angle wasn't no angle, and robot hands could bend in ways regular hands couldn't.

***

Where I moved, the Wretch floated around me, equidistant. But it wouldn't block me. There was a point I could reach out and feel it, with a sense that wasn't my awareness of my powers, but it wasn't a barrier. More like a handle.


When I moved it, the Wretch moved around me. The hand tilted a fraction. Away from the body. Closer to the passage.


But with all of its leverage, it was stronger. It fought back, inch by inch. With every inch and every second, I had to be aware that a stray bullet or sudden shock could knock out my forcefield, and I'd need to move to avoid having my head crushed or struck from my shoulders.


Around me, more of the glowing lines began to appear. I turned in place, one hand on the crevice-handle in the forcefield, surveying my immediate situation. Four lines, arranged in a horizontal square, parallel to the ground. They were spaced a good distance apart- I could move a good foot or two before the Wretch made contact with them. A few more feet and it would be me, not my forcefield, that made the contact. But they were what they were.

- Heavens 12.8