June 2nd, 2018. 9:55 AM.
In the charged silence between them, every breath seems to carry weight, echoing the unspoken tension that hangs heavy in the air. Their eyes locked in a mutual challenge, each gaze a testament to the depth of their own determination and the gravity of the circumstances. The quiet was not empty; it crackled with unspoken words, their intensity palpable as they stood, measuring each other with a blend of caution and resolve.
There was a subtle dance of body language, a minute of subtle shifts and stillness that spoke volumes. Shoulders squared, muscles tensed with readiness, yet movements restrained, betraying a careful balance between readiness to act and the awareness of consequences. The air around them seemed to vibrate with the energy of unspoken words, each word hanging unformed, waiting for the other to make the first move.
In their standoff, time seemed to stretch, seconds elongating into moments that felt like eternity. Yet, amidst the quiet intensity, there was an unspoken understanding, a mutual feeling of anxiousness and respect for each other’s strength mirrored in each other’s eyes. It was a standoff not just of physical presence, but of wills and convictions, where words could not capture the depth of what passed between them.
Elio makes the first move, powering up his heel with heat, axe-kicking the ground, sending a chunk of the sidewalk into the air, quickly pivoting on his opposite foot to spin, jumping in the air and kicking the chunk, sending it hurling towards Ray. Ray quickly reacts by using his strength to catch the chunk, converting it into a counterattack, ready to throw it at Elio, but he misses the window as Elio slides under him. Elio stands up to horse kick Ray, but his kick is caught by his hand, Ray then holds him still, getting ready to slam the chunk against Elio’s ankle. Elio counters by shooting a gust of wind from his palm, blasting Ray’s face, drying out his eye, Ray lets go as he grunts while covering his eye, leaving himself wide open. Elio rushes in, delivering a lightning-fast punch to his chest and converting into a frontflip axe-kick to the head before leaping toward him, knocking him back with an elbow strike to the face, sending Ray into the street.
Ray gets up, holding his hand on his mouth; “Dammit! Why’s he after me?! Did he decide to be a coward like other heroes and decide to work with those Emerald bastards so he could avoid punishment?!” He wonders while getting angry. Elio darts forward to continue his assault, but stops on a dime, sliding on his feet as a Bentley Mulsanne Speed drives by, being driven recklessly, it slams right into Ray, knocking him down again, Elio’s eyes widen; “Ray!” He shouts with concern. He runs over to check if he’s alright; “Spare me the bullshit, you’re just like all the rest.” Ray responds internally with anger as a liquid drips down his dagger. Catching Elio off guard, Ray gets up and slashes him across the chin, blood drips down, temporarily stunning Elio as he’s left in a state of confusion, not knowing how Ray’s perfectly fine despite getting hit with a heavy vehicle.
Elio glances over where the car stopped, its bumper severely damaged and crumpled, with deep fractures and dents visible across its surface. The once sleek design is now warped and misshapen, with shards of plastic and bits of shattered headlights scattered around the impact zone. He looks back at Ray; “What the fuck are you made of-” Elio’s shock gets interrupted as Ray uppercuts him, sending him flying high in the air, Elio begins hurling, performing several backflips while flying like a ragdoll, crashing through the second story window of a fancy restaurant, smashing through a table on collision and being covered in spilled alcohol.
Not acknowledging the frightened crowd of people, Elio gets up quickly; “Damn! It’s like I’m fighting a weapon! Though I guess I’m one to talk…” Elio walks over to the window, only to backflip away as he notices Ray’s arms stretching toward the windowsill; “How the hell?!” Elio yells as he slides back on his feet. Ray’s arms sling him toward the window, he lets go and lands inside the restaurant, without a moment of hesitation, Ray dashes towards Elio to strike him, Elio flips to the side, landing on top of a table, but the moment he tries to spot Ray, he notices his vision suddenly becoming a blur. “Wait, he didn’t hit me that hard! Why’s my vision getting all screwy?!” Elio panics. “Good, the cyanide’s kicking in! His movement’s faltering!” Ray grins as he moves in for the strike, but Elio dodges at the last second, letting himself fall over on his back, hitting the floor and temporarily jolting himself awake.
Elio stands up; “He must’ve been carrying some sort of poison on him!” He quickly focuses on generating heat while dodging oncoming attacks, he finds himself in a dance of evasion. With agile grace, Elio sidesteps Ray’s stab attack, narrowly dodging the attack, causing a wine glass on the table behind him to shatter. Leaping back, Elio scans the room, his mind calculating his options, the tables and chairs becoming potential allies.
As a knife is thrown towards him, Elio spins, using the back of a chair to block the strike. His movements are swift and economical, leveraging his surroundings to maintain distance and control. He slides underneath a kick aimed at his midsection, feeling the rush of air above him. Time appears to slow as he weaves from Ray’s onslaught, trying to stay one step ahead of him. A tray of food sailed past, its contents scattering across the floor as Elio vaults over a fallen chair, slightly losing balance.
Ray finally gets the upper hand and bashes Elio on the side, sending him tumbling into a wall, Elio coughs as he makes the collision. “Dammit, this poison’s not letting me heat up fast enough! Wait…” Elio rolls to the side; “this is a fancy restaurant, given the decor and food. If I’m lucky…” Elio ponders as he rushes to a table, grabbing a tray and a menu. He throws the tray on the floor and jumps on it, sliding across the floor and crashing into a table, Elio backflips, landing behind the table after turning it into a makeshift cover for him. Elio quickly flips through the menu until he finds the dessert section, his eyes race at a million miles a second, and through his blurry vision, he’s able to make out what the menu says; “Crème brûlée!” He shouts.
Elio stands up, tossing the menu away, he then kicks the table towards Ray, distracting him temporarily as he speeds down the flight of stairs, making his way into the kitchen and quickly opening up every cabinet and drawer in a scurry to find what he needs. “Butane torch, where are you?!” He continues scouring, he then finds the blowtorch and right as he grabs it, Ray’s dagger comes flying, stabbing into Elio’s forearm, he bites down on his lip to keep his concentration. He grabs the dagger and pulls it out, throwing it back at Ray, as he tries to catch it, Elio goes in for a swift punch to the gut, but as he lands the attack, he ends up punching a hole right through his torso. In complete fear of what he just did, Elio retracts his fist and looks at his arm, seeing the blood soaking his arm, his own shock takes the wind out of him; “What did I do…” Elio asks himself, hoping that what he did wasn’t true.
In the midst of his shock, confusion and regret, he’s suddenly slammed on the side of his head, being knocked into a cabinet, destroying the cabinet completely. Elio gasps from the sudden attack and immediately notices that Ray’s torso is completely fine, as though nothing happened; “WHAT IS THIS GUY MADE FROM?!” Elio shouts in his head. Ray goes for a stomp, but Elio rolls out of the way; “I’m not gonna last any longer if I don’t do it now! Here goes nothing!” Elio stands up, jumping back for space, he then quickly turns on the blowtorch, using it by aiming it at himself and letting the burning flames touch his body, his tank top is set ablaze as his body takes in the scorching temperature.
As the tank top burns to ash, Elio glares at Ray; “I'm gonna finish this right now!” He shouts as he extinguishes the flames by absorbing the heat. Elio gets in his fighting stance as his vision begins returning to him; “Perfect! My senses are coming back thanks to the heat killing the toxins.” Elio gets ready to attack, but Ray slides out of the way, booking it out of the kitchen; “I bit off more than I can chew! I don’t know how I’ll-” His thoughts get interrupted as Elio gets in front of him, he suddenly feels his kick strike him right in the side. Ray wheezes from the impact, right as he crouches ever so slightly to hold his side, Elio strikes him in the head with the same kick, knocking him down to the floor, his body rolling from the impact, crashing into the entrance of the restaurant, breaking the doors down.
Ray tries getting up, but as he stands, he sees a barstool flying towards him, nailing him in the face, Elio rushes in right as the impact is made, slamming his fist in Ray’s gut. Ray coughs from the strike, but even that gets interrupted, as Elio grabs Ray’s face, bashing his forehead against Ray’s, he lets go and decks him straight in the cheek, making him stagger. Elio takes notice of him staggering, he charges towards him and puts his hands on his shoulders; “Heat Stroke!” Elio shouts as he transfers some of the heat he absorbed, forcing Ray’s body temperature to rise. Ray begins to sweat from the increase in heat, his breathing gets heavy; “Elio’s using…” His thoughts and breath are interrupted once more as Elio begins to violently pummel him.
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Elio backhands Ray in the diaphragm before converting into a spin kick toward the shoulder, Elio then karate chops him in the throat, then grabbing him and kneeing him in the gut, he strikes him with another headbutt before letting go, uppercutting him and jumping up, landing a devastating dropkick to the face, knocking him down. Elio goes in for the finishing attack by lifting his head up by the face and slamming his head back down onto the concrete and delivering the final punch to his head; “He… used my own strategy… against me…” Ray thinks before passing out due to heat exhaustion and a lack of breathing. Elio puts his hand on Ray’s forehead and transfers the excess heat out of his body and absorbs it, letting his temperature go back down to normal.
“I’m sorry, Ray…” Elio looks down, feeling a heavy weight in his chest, a mix of guilt and sorrow. The thought of Ray being excited at a chance to start fresh through this and having to betray his trust echoes through Elio’s mind, hurting him on the inside from each blow he dealt through the betrayal. As the Violet Paradise police arrive on the scene minutes after the scuffle, Guerilla, supporting Gastronaut on his shoulder, walks over to Elio; “I’m impressed, Elio. I know you brought down Gendross, but it’s a sight for us that you took down Ray all by yourself.” Guerilla gives his praise. “Yeah…” Elio softly responds, still feeling guilt. Guerilla picks up the tone in his voice, he puts his hand on his shoulder; “Hey, anything is necessary to complete the mission. Remember that.” Guerilla tries to reassure him; “Right.” Elio nods slightly. “So where’s Mig?” “Oh, Mig went home, he didn’t want his breakfast to go bad.” “I see…” Elio responds. “Hey, you just take it easy. We’ll let the police know what went down. All you have to do is just relax, you finished your mission.” “Thanks…” Elio nods, walking away. “Fuck… this hurt worse than I could even imagine…” Elio puts his hand up to his heart, feeling sick about what he just did.
June 2nd, 2018. 3:50 PM.
In the attic of Cocina del Rey, shadows dance across the contours of Elio laying sprawled on a worn leather couch. His brow furrowed, eyes fixed on a distant point in the ceiling, betraying a mind lost in a labyrinth of introspection. The flickering light from a lone candle casts fleeting glimpses of uncertainty on his face, accentuating the lines etched by contemplation. A faint sigh escapes his lips, punctuating the silence as he wrestles with the weight of his decisions; “First I betray Gendross’ trust, I mean, don’t get me wrong, we made up, but that’s entirely cause of Reggie taking one for the team. What the hell do I do here? I just betrayed another person’s trust, and this one was infinitely worse. Damn… what do I do? I know I did that so I could save my own life, but I have no idea where Ray is now. Fuck! If I wasn’t careless, I wouldn’t have had that gun pointed at me and I could’ve helped him out, but then again, even if it was three versus two, those guys are relentless and- Goddammit, I’m making excuses!” Elio scowls as he ponders.
Light enters the attic as the entrance is opened; “Julia!” Elio snaps out of his thoughts, sitting up straight, but Julia just glares at him, her brows knit together tightly, forming a slight furrow above piercing eyes that glint with simmering frustration. Lips, usually gentle, now pressed into a thin line, revealing the tension within. Her cheeks, normally flushed with warmth, now pale, betraying the hurt and disappointment she tries to contain. “Julia, I’m-” “Sorry? Fuck you! I saw the news report, sorry’s not gonna cut it!” Julia shuts him down angrily; “You betrayed Ray after promising to help get his life back on track, and you also betrayed my trust! But I guess it should be alright because I won’t have to sacrifice time to make sure Ray’s alright, right? News flash, asshole, all this did was hurt Ray and everyone dear to him, me included!” Julia continues to yell at him.
“Julia…” Elio’s voice cracks as he says softly; “No! I don’t care-” “Please, give me a chance to explain!” Elio begs as he holds his head down and his arms up with his hands clasped, letting himself be vulnerable, he lets out a sniffle. Julia’s anger falters when hearing Elio’s voice, being caught in slight surprise by his tone; “I don’t know any words to show just how sorry I am… it’s my fault that Ray was caught. I was weak, I thought what I was doing was the right thing, but all I did was hurt everyone, even myself when going through with it. As much as I don’t want to admit it… it was to save my own ass. I was making excuses in my mind to justify what I did, but there’s nothing to justify, I acted like a coward…” Elio tries his best to explain. Tears begin to fall from his eyes, the lines becoming visible from his shades; “Dammit, I hate feeling like this…” His voice cracks again.
“Elio…” Julia mutters in shock, not knowing how to react, her frustration comes back, she tries to hide her empathy; “And you think I’ll just forgive you because you admitted to doing something wrong?” She scoffs. “No… it’s not enough to just admit, nor are consequences enough, they don’t change the fact that what I did was wrong. I don’t wanna just walk away after dealing with consequences, I want to make things right and save Ray. I’ll never be able to face Reggie again, nor will I ever be able to forgive myself if I just let Ray go. Please…” Elio’s tears start falling more as his hands clasp tighter; “...give me one last chance to help him. I don’t even care if you won’t forgive me, as long as I can just help him in any way, that’s enough for me!” He pleas.
Julia tries to think of a way to respond, but she feels a lump in her throat, unable to get her words out, she gazes at Elio’s body language, seeing how truly sorry he is. After what feels like an eternity for both, she finally speaks; “Alright, I’ll give you another chance.” Julia answers softly, Elio looks up; “Thank you…” He responds. Elio pushes his shades up to wipe his eyes with his arm; “I’ll meet you back up here after my shift ends. This is the best place to discuss plans, given Ray’s Plutonian chip.” “Right.” Elio nods, his tone becoming firm again; “I’ll see you then.” He adds. Julia leaves the attic without saying a word. Elio lays back down on the couch, gazing at the ceiling once more; “I got one more chance, Ray. I’ll make damn sure that this time, I won’t back down like a coward! I’ll be ready to save you, and if anything goes awry, I’ll just fight through it!” Elio tells himself, etching a face of determination.
June 2nd, 2018. 9:00 PM.
Julia climbs into the attic; “Alright, I’m here.” “Huh?” Elio asks groggily as he looks over his shoulder, still laying down; “Oh, right!” Elio wakes up fully, sitting up. Julia sits down on Ray’s computer chair; “Let’s get down to business. First thing we should do is review what was said in that announcement the VP News station announced earlier.” She suggests as Elio puts his hand on his chin while remembering what was said.
June 2nd, 2018. 1:30 PM.
Television screens across Violet Paradise begin to broadcast a breaking news report; “Good afternoon, I’m Alec Devoid, here to report breaking news. Just in, the notorious criminal, Ray Steel, presumed to be dead for three years had not just returned, but had been captured.” “That’s right, Alec. The elusive fugitive, known to have caused a string of high-profile robberies, destruction of private property, and several murders, was apprehended earlier today by a new hero, known as Elio King, and our mayor, Nasuka Khatri, has decided to hold a ceremony in which Elio will be given a peace prize for his community service.” “Incredible turn of events. Authorities have declared the suspect deceased after a lethal injection in 2015. And we’ve recently received word that Ray Steel will be publicly executed sometime next week. Stay tuned as we bring you more updates on this developing story.” The broadcast closes.
June 2nd, 2018. 9:05 PM.
Elio ponders while his chin rests on his hand; “Given what they said on the news, they plan on executing Ray next week, and today’s Sunday, so…” “Given that Alec said ‘sometime next week,’ we can assume that we’ll have a few days to prepare before a date is even given.” “That’s a good point, and if they’re to give me a peace prize, they’ll do that on the same day.” Elio adds on. “I’m guessing you’re gonna train for those few days, right?” “Yeah.” “I see. You know, that’s been on my mind. If you took down Gendross, why do you need to train to fight off Mig, Guerilla, and Gastronaut?” Julia asks while leaning forward. “I don’t wanna waste time explaining everything, so I’ll make it quick. Gendross let Reggie and I bring him in. We didn’t actually beat him, we were given the chance to be heroes by him. If I’d actually beaten Gendross, Ray wouldn’t be on death row right now.” Elio explains himself.
“I understand now. Hold on, lemme check something real quick.” Julia stands up and begins rummaging around Ray’s drawers; “Where did he put it…?” She mumbles. Eventually, she takes out a notebook; “Found it!” “What’s in that book?” Elio asks, Julia tosses the notebook to him, Elio catches it; “Ray has strategies when it comes to fighting those three, depending on whether it’s a one-on-one, two versus one, or all three of them. He’s written down each combination and understands their abilities.” Elio opens the book and starts flipping through; “Damn! I’m impressed! It’s all so eloquently worded! Thanks Julia, this should help me out a ton!” “You’re welcome. Just make sure to read everything thoroughly.” She instructs.
Elio flips to a page titled ‘Power Breakdowns,’ and begins reading; “Mig Acrid. Power: Reflection. Due to taking the Light Serum, his body had developed an illustrious glow that protects him from any and all attacks thanks to the light reflecting off of his body also reflecting any physical objects, as well as people, animals, or plants off of his body. Though it appears that electricity can pass through his reflective barrier, this is only a speculation as further risks in fighting must be taken before confirmation. Guerilla. Power: Permeation. The power itself is self-explanatory; by taking the Permeation Serum, he’s become capable of letting his body, as well as other objects of his choosing, phase through solid matter. No known weaknesses, the most optimal way to survive from him is through outsmarting him, which wouldn’t be a problem if he wasn’t the brains of the group. Gastronaut. Power: Gravity Manipulation. Gastronaut became Newton’s worst nightmare after taking the G Serum, which has given him the power to modify the gravitational pull of himself, others, and inanimate objects. To make others weightless or weigh more, he must make contact with said person, but all objects appear to be affected whether he makes contact or not. A good method of protecting yourself from him is to have either a sharp object or sodium chloride in order to puncture his skin easily or corrode it.”
June 2nd, 2018. 9:25 PM.
“Alright, I finished reading it.” Elio calls out to Julia as he closes the notebook. “That’s great to hear. Get some rest, Elio, you’ve gotta get in as much training to prepare for his rescue.” “Right…” Elio nods, he then looks up; “By the way, I need to ask something important.” “Shoot.” She responds, crossing her arms. “It’s about Ray… when I fought him earlier, his powers left me so confused. His arms stretching, his durability, physical strength, it all just left me so lost on what his power is, I punched a hole through his stomach somehow, and then it was all patched up when I looked away for just a second! But, that’s not all I wanna know. You mentioned yesterday that he’s depressed, what happened in his life that led to this? And what was said about him having been thought dead, I don’t get that either. I guess what I’m trying to ask is if you could tell me everything that I should know. Please?” Elio asks. Julia looks away for a few seconds before staring back at him; “Alright, if you feel as though it’s necessary, I’ll tell you.” Julia sits down next to him on the couch.