Not disrupted—adjusted, the density shifting at the contact point, the dark material reorganizing around the wave rather than flickering under it. The learning faster now than it had been in the early fight phases—the counter to the disrupting frequency developing through repeated exposure.
The shadow held.
Vaughn looked at his trapped hand.
At his partially trapped ankle.
At Ken five feet away.
He pressed his free left hand to Ken's chest.
Direct contact—palm flat against Ken's body, the pulse fired directly into Ken rather than through a medium, the shockwave traveling into Ken's chest from Vaughn's hand at the closest range a pulse had ever been delivered in the fight.
The impact was real—the direct contact pulse carrying more force than any floor-transmitted pulse had carried, the wave traveling through Ken's body.
Ken went to one knee.
The shadow fluctuated—the impact disrupting his operational control momentarily.
