The source text, for those just want to read:


    Justin released the trigger in his mind. Faster accelerated


    his personal clock to 625X normal, and Lord Tsukanu''s


    blade-first charge at him slowed to something. . .quicker


    than a crawl, because the lordling was accelerating too.


    But not quick enough.


    Justin increased his dodging abilities by 5 times


    with the one exponent in Better, leaving the last four


    in Harder to protect him from his own speed. He


    sprinted forward, crouching low, and Tsukanu’s eyes


    widened as he lowered his sword’s tip, trying to catch


    up. When it reached too low to rise again in time,


    Justin took one last hunching step, then straightened


    as he switched Better’s exponent into Faster, flashing


    forward while he carefully extended his left arm.


    His. . .everything. . .strained at 5 times his normal exertion,


    but he got in close, past Tsukanu''s sword. Pulling two


    exponents back out of Faster and one from Harder, he


    rebalanced them at 125X speed and toughness, put one


    into Better for a 5X improvement to his aiming, and


    the last two into Stronger for 25X his usual strength.


    His clotheslining arm touched Tsukanu''s upper chest. The boy


    threw himself backwards and to his right to avoid the impact,


    bringing his blade up and around for a draw cut. Justin


    didn''t quite panic, but he stutter-stepped through quick


    reversals to his original 4-1-4 allocation of Harder,


    Better, and Faster, then back to the previous 3-1-3-2 with


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    Stronger, unwilling to commit to either offense or defense.


    He''d kept the edge in speed over Tsukanu, though, and the


    next thing both of them knew, the swordsman was spinning and


    rotating in midair, helpless. As they''d circled each other,


    close as a tango, Justin''s force kept being applied to


    Tsukanu across two different axes of radial motion,


    until Justin finally got some good leverage, and


    automatically pushed at the outmaneuvered lordling.


    To the watchers, Justin appeared to effortlessly flicker forward


    and spin Tsukanu around his arm like an aged master playing


    with his favorite staff. . .before mercilessly slamming him


    face first into the dock so hard that after bouncing


    nine feet in the air, he left a cracked outline in the stone


    below as his limp, unconscious body rose overhead.


    An invisible coffin compressed Justin''s arms against his sides.


    He hardly needed to see or hear Taisa to know it was her work. But


    he turned his head and did see Taiko crumpled in a motionless


    heap farther up the dock and almost lost his temper completely.


    “And now, my little -” Taisa crooned -


    - as Justin threw all nine exponents into Better to -


    “- Void-boyo, you will -”


    - conceal his biting down on the toxin pellet tucked


    in his cheek between his teeth, and focused on Sol.


    “- answer to me -”


    O GREAT SOL INVICTUS! UNCONQUERABLE SUN!


    Justin shouted in his mind.


    I WISH FOR MY WEAPONS TO OVERWHELM THIS FOE!


    ΦSO MOTE IT BE!Φ Sol said.


    Justin switched Better to Get her! and vomited the


    sudden flood of black poisonous goo towards


    her voice, blasting straight through all her


    Hokyukko barriers, including the ones restraining him.


    “- becauurghhklhrrgllguh! kkh! uhghkk!” Taisa coughed and choked.


    “YOU ARE NOT!” Justin roared,


    switching two exponents each into [Harder], [Faster], and [Better] -


    “THE BOSS!”


    - and the three left into [Stronger] -


    “OF ME!”


    - before lunging forward, grabbing her by the poison-drenched


    face, and thrusting her into the Right''s no-go zone. The


    purple lightning cascaded over her body, leaking through her


    final, skin-level barrier to cover her in a web of burning,


    crippling agony, while bypassing him completely.


    She jittered and jerked in his hand like an overpowered


    wind-up toy, and Sol, that wonderful, magnificent bastard


    of a god - it had to be him - began flashing and flaring


    the Right’s super-taser bolts in synchrony with Swatkin''s


    technofunkalicious talkbox scatting, bringing the


    SHOoO/zap!/Oo/zang!/OoO/zow!/WaAh/zap!


    /OoH/zang!/OoOOH/zap! to the dance floor.


    Justin stalked down the dock towards the frozen


    observers, dragging Taisa''s blackening form


    through the electrified air beside him. Her hairs


    were coruscating like sparkling threads under the


    Right''s punishment. As Swatkin’s voxalising riffs


    rose to their crescendo, Justin roared at them:


    “DOES ANY AMONG YOU DARE TO STAND AGAINST ME!?”


    No answer came, but a few of the wiser in the


    mob''s middle and rear began backing away.


    “ANY TWO!?”


    Most flinched; none met his gaze straight-on.


    “ANY TEN!?”


    This time, none met his gaze at all.


    “ANY NUMBER AT ALL!?”


    There was no reply, but the back of the mob had thinned


    noticeably as prudence became ever more contagious.


    He yanked Taisa''s body free of the lightning and flung her


    towards them. Her smoking form ragdolled to a stop at


    the feet of the nearest ones, who stumbled backwards in


    sudden terror, as if she were about to explode.


    “THEN GO YOU NOW IN PEACE


    AND TROUBLE ME NO MORE!


    HERE! ENDETH! THE LESSON!”


    he bellowed at them.


    The remainder broke and ran.