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Controlling more than one whiff of smoke at a time was a difficult trick, but Banda had plenty of experience doing it, thanks especially to the cloning technique. Learning how to pull that off made this feel much easier by comparison.

Darksteel was still all over him, though. No doubt, the bastard knew that he'd gained the advantage and didn't want to give it up. Banda had four separate clouds of smoke that all wanted to regather, but Darksteel wasn't making that easy. The first and second ones were being shredded and dispersed by iron bullets while the third was being chased down by Darksteel himself.

But the fourth was largely free. With it, Banda could navigate the battle and soak up stray puffs that were otherwise on the verge of vanishing.

It was mayhem. Furious and constant over multiple minutes. Darksteel was trying to box the clouds, while Banda was trying to melt or puncture his way through each interfering bit of iron.

And it quickly became clear that Darksteel himself was a much bigger problem. These clusters of iron being materialized and flung around--Banda could deal with those. But that armored body was different. It shrugged off materialized osmium spikes and acid. It resisted coatings to slow its movement down.

And worst of all, it always seemed to know where to find Banda's core. His mind. That had to be the reason Darksteel was pursuing the third whiff so persistently. The son of a bitch just knew.

Banda managed to outlast the onslaught, though. The fourth whiff finally regathered enough mass to mount a proper counterattack, something that would at least get Darksteel to stop hounding him for a moment.

A mouth formed in the fourth cloud, and from it, a heat laser surged forth. Banda made sure to shoot from Darksteel's blindside, too, aiming for center mass.

As expected, Darksteel was still able to dodge in time, though not without leaving a scorch mark across his breastplate. That was fine. It gave Banda the time he needed.

The third merged with the fourth, and now he had more than enough mass again. His gangly wings sprouted back out as the gaseous form gave way almost fully to the Chaos form again.

He immediately went for more heat lasers. Three at once, shot from three different mouths grown out of his face, shoulder, and chest.

And now, it would be Banda's turn to chase.