"I would say I am pleased to meet you, but I dislike lying in general so a 'greetings' will have to do."

Lawrence's words were like piercing icicles into Blast's heart. He shuddered as the air became colder, heavier, and harder to breath. An oppressive dark aura was leaking from him, and the world suddenly felt like a dangerous place to be in. What Blast found scarier was Lawrence's eyes. They were a maddening tone of purple that shook Blast to the very core. Like they didn't belong entirely to this world.

His hand stretched out to some nonexistent safety behind him, and he took a step back, his instincts screaming him to run.

"W-Whoever might you be?"

Blast noticed his own voice was weak and trembling, and he looked down to see his legs trembling a bit. He took a deep breath, and tried to reassure himself. He was the great Blast, future world governor, ruler of evil! He couldn't allow himself to be afraid of petty foes! This man in front of him was just a rock on his path!

"If you kneel now, I might spare your life and your friends'..."

Lawrence actually found that amusing, because he wholeheartedly laughed in Blast's face. The later didn't find it all that amusing. He tried to release another shockwave, but Lawrence spoke first.

"Look around, you sad imitation of a jester. Do I, or my minions, look scared of you? You are a disgrace for the name of meta-humans in this society."

His voice was strong and full of energy. So much that not only Mika and Jean heard him, but the people gathering around Triangle Square did as well. They had been following the fighters from afar, some eager to see some good meta-humans fight while others wondered who in the world was this mysterious new person and his subordinates. They took his words as a declaration of disgust towards villainy...

And of course his words would be missunderstood.

"It's a Hero! A hero came to save us!"

"What, wait, really?! That dude's actually a hero?"

"Isn't he fighting a villain? And they all have powers! They have to be heroes!"

"They don't look familiar... A new team of heroes?!"

"Just look at the man! He has the aura of powerful people!"

"Wait, is that girl dressed as a... ninja?"

"Who cares! Look at the one in the roof! He's fighting that Blast villain all alone! He's so cool...!"

"He has to be the leader, right? Just look at the others! They're practically looking up to him!"

Of course, being high up as he was, Lawrence couldn't hear the others mistaking him for a hero.

"I would suggest you to surrender, but I have this urge to punch you in the face you see, so seriously, don't."

Blast's face reddened in anger. His teeth clacked and his fist clenched. This man... how dared he to ridicule him like that! Unforgivable! He was the destined villain king! They should kneel on his mere presence!

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"You...!!! You little... You dare disrespect me?!"

"Oh, wasn't I clear enough for you? My bad, my bad, sorry. Then, let me say it clearly: You messed with the wrong person."

Lawrence's eyes flickered with an amethyst flame.

Blast was overwhelmed by a primal fear, and then, as a simple reflex more than something else, he decided to fire back.

"DIIIEEEE!!!!"

A compressed sonic wave burst forward, taking Lawrence by surprise and ramming straight on his chest. His eyes widened in surprise, and a wave of pain washed over him. The worst part was about to come, however.

Pushed back by the tremendous force of the shockwave, Lawrence lost his balance and his feet slipped. Before he could even assimilate what was happening, he was sent flying from the building's rooftop...

And down to the ground.

"No! The hero is losing!"

"Help! Somebody help him!"

"He's gonna fall!"

Jean's eyes widened. Mika didn't wait and blinked towards the place Lawrence was falling. Even Christiane, in the other side of the intercommunication devises and who was up until now staying at bay, gasped as she caught on the shape of her boss falling from a twelve-store building.

"Ha-ha-ha! You can't defeat me! Learn from this one's example! I am the greatest villain in the world! Ha-ha-ha!"

The world seemed to turn slower for Lawrence. He could feel everything: the air crashing with his back from the fall, the surrounding buildings' walls flashing away, even the hard pavement floor closing in...

"It's about time." And he spoke as casually as if he was drinking his morning coffee.

He stretched both of his hands downward and to the ground.

"Psychoburst."

Green flames burst from within his strecthed fingertips. A second later, they burst apart. The power of the recoil stopped Lawrence's inertia, and he was left suspended in the air for a second. Then, another ten emerald sparkles appeared on his hands, and blew off, this time shooting him upwards.

He grinned. "Wow, I knew Gallutneck's power was interesting, but this is something else entirely..."

Shut up. I'm the cool one. Jean's only lucky he has me there.

"Of course living with a voice in your head can't be a pleasant experience" he commented.

Don't get cocky. Just because I used the link between you and your minions to temporarily lend you a part of my powers doesn't mean you owe me or anything like that!

"That was an overly long phrase which I didn't need, and you sound like a tsundere. Now do us both a favor and shush it."

A third Psychoburst later, Lawrence was landing on the rooftop again and in front of a shocked Blast.

"Wah...? But...? What?"

He sighed. "Not everyone is as stupid as you. Of course I wouldn't fight you in a rooftop if I had no way of landing safely. Is your brain functioning the way it should? It certainly doesn't look like it."

"You...!" Another shockwave was aimed at Lawrence. This time, he ducked... And puffed out of existence in a cloud of black mist.

"That woman's power... and the green energy blasts earlier..."Blasts' eyes widened as he realized the position he was in. "You are copying their powers!!!"

"Who knows?" Lawrence reappeared behind him and aimed a kick at Blast's face. He managed to duck and send another sonic wave, but he did it so fast he lost his own balance and had to roll on the ground, which made him lose a couple of precious seconds. In that time, Lawrence had drawn his handgun, and fired another rubber bullet at Blast's chest. He rolled away, and managed to avoid the worst of the shoot, but it still caught him in the arm.

He winced in pain.

Lawrence stretched his hands, and new mini energy balls flickered into existence. Unfortunately, hims was a degraded version of Jeans power, so he couldn't quite shoot them.

He could still burst them into shockwaves though.

Giving Blast a spoon of his own medicine, he fired off the energy blasts.

Blast shouted again, barely managing to counter with his own shockwaves and dispelling the attack. He stood up in a hurry, and checked his arm. It hurt, but it was still in perfect conditions.

It was alright. The battle wasn't lost. In fact, now that he knew all of the enemy's trick, it would be easier to win this fight!

"You showed all of your cards already! You are a troublesome foe, I will admit that. But you still can't win this battle!"

Lawrence blinked away again, and this time he appeared right in front of Blast, aiming a fist at his face.

"We'll see about that."