June 7th, 2018. 8:45 PM.
Gastronaut hangs upside down on a street lamp with his arms crossed as a fire crew swiftly extinguishes the flames engulfing the intersection, hoses spray water as the firefighters move efficiently to control it, while the thick smoke billows into the air. All lanes are blocked off with barriers, and emergency lights flash as the team works to prevent further spread. “Hey, Gastronaut, come down here for a sec.” Guerilla called. Gastronaut lets go, falling down and stopping in midair as he floats, sitting cross legged; “What’s up?” He asked while looking at a holographic cube that’s presented.
“Check out these coordinates. I slipped a tracker onto Elio before the ceremony began, in case he did try anything like this. See where the blinking dot’s shown on the z-axis?” “They’re still in the sewers.” Gastronaut commented. “Exactly. Which means two things, they either stopped moving because they wanna lay low, or they possibly want to fight us there.” “Whatever the reason, we can’t just let them get away. Even if it may be a trap, we still have the advantage, not just in numbers, but there’s less space for them to avoid your bullets, Guerilla. As for you, Gastronaut, that’s an entire home field advantage, thanks to your power.” Mig joined in. “That’s our best choice of action, we can’t just sit around here. With an event as big as this in Western America, Nata would kill us if we let them get away.” He explained further. Gastronaut shudders; “Let’s just go then! I’d rather focus on this mission than think about that!” He shouted as he took off flying, his voice having genuine fear in it.
Gastronaut dives down the manhole. He blasts off, zooming through the vast, dimly lit sewer, dodging jagged pipes and pillars. His movements are swift and precise, tilting left to avoid a protruding beam and diving low to skim just above the murky water. The roar of his jetpack echoes through the cavernous tunnels, as he maneuvers around debris and hanging chains, narrowly escaping collision. The air is thick, the space claustrophobic at times, yet he accelerates forward, expertly weaving through the labyrinth of hazards. “Damn, I’m just now noticing how much better my flying is right now. That name scares me so much, it’s kicked my own reflexes into overdrive. Elio, where the hell are you?!” He panicked, continuing to search through the sewers.
Elio and Ray stand back-to-back, tense and alert. Ray grips his blade tightly, his eye scanning the shadows ahead, while Elio has his fists raised and his eyes closed, scanning for any oncoming heat signatures. Elio quickly senses Gastronaut approaching; “Shit! Ray, get down!” He commanded. Ray quickly ducks to the floor as Elio hops off the side, clinging onto the ledge with his fingers as Gastronaut speeds by, almost hitting the two of them head on. Gastronaut swiftly turns around, ready to strike again.
Elio pushes himself up quickly, moving fast to attack first by flipping through the air, delivering a dropkick to Gastronaut. Gastronaut bends his torso backwards, arms stretching to catch his legs mid-strike before whipping them forward in retaliation. Simultaneously, Ray dashes forward, throwing out a slash that carves a wild arc through the air. Gastronaut dodges by stretching his neck to avoid the lethal strike, then swings his elongated arm to disarm Ray. However, Ray spun out of the way before releasing liquid mercury from his feet, allowing him to slide back as if he were figure skating.
The fight grows chaotic as Gastronaut’s own skills evolve. Every maneuver and switch-up Elio creates, Gastronaut finds the right time to allow for his limbs to coil and stretch, deflecting his blows. Elio eventually slips through, nearly landing a blow before firing a gust of wind to propel himself back. He tumbles backwards before recovering; “I don’t understand! Was he holding back this whole time?! Where did all this experience suddenly come from?!” Elio questioned. Meanwhile, Ray attacks relentlessly, his style forcing Gastronaut to twist constantly. He wraps his limbs around the blade in an attempt to bind him, but Ray twists free, landing a slash. Gastronaut leans back, preventing the blade from creating any deep cuts, he quickly flies up before floating by the ceiling; “Damn! Even with my gravity manipulation, Ray’s not going to let go of that sword, if anything, it’s just easier for him to swing if I make it weightless!” He panicked as he held his hand over his wound, deep blue blood stains his hand.
Ray slides backwards, stopping once he’s next to Elio. He holds his sword out; “Elio, you alright?” “Yeah, I don’t know what it is, but it’s as though Gastronaut just evolved as a fighter!” Elio huffed. “I’ve noticed it too, it’s strange.” Ray commented. Elio closed his eyes; “Hold on…” He began to sense Gastronaut’s heat signature. “Wait…” Elio pondered for a moment. His eyes open; “It’s fear!” “Fear?” “Yeah! He has something to lose, just like us! But it seems like his own fear is greater than ours combined, so his cortisol and adrenaline are kicked into overdrive, making his own strength and speed much more abundant!” Elio explained.
“What could he possibly fear so badly that it’s worse than ours?!” Ray shouted in confusion. Elio thinks; “It’s what Guerilla said last night. ‘We’d just be hunted down and end up like him.’” He recalled. “Long story short; The Emerald Faction does not tolerate failure. If they don’t succeed in this fight, they’ll die. It’s a battle of ‘kill or be killed’ for them.” “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Guerilla replies as he jumps out from the wall, drop kicking Elio in the side. He hurls; “Elio!” Ray shouts, as Elio is sent flying, Mig falls down from above on the other side of the gap, his body reflecting Elio. He flies back, crashing through the wall.
Elio rolls back, getting up quickly; “Oh shit! They’re here!” He realized. “Careful, Elio!” Ray shouted as he threw a wave of poison at Guerilla, as he dodges, Elio takes the sliver of time given to him to grab a brick from the broken wall and chucks it at Gastronaut. Gastronaut makes it weightless as he changes its direction. “Hook…” Elio swipes his arm, sending a gust of wind to travel in an arc, sending the brick off course as it knocks out a light. As the light shatters, Gastronaut whips his head in its direction; “What…?” He asked, completely dumbfounded. “Line…” Elio leaped toward him. Gastronaut turned his head to see Elio’s shin closing the distance between it and his chest; “Shit-” His words get cut off as Elio’s leg makes contact. “And sinker!” Elio finished. His kick landed directly where Ray slashed him. Gastronaut is sent hurling, he hits the floor, bouncing up at an angle, his body moving around like a pinball due to him being weightless in the moment as he continues to ricochet off the walls, his body moving away from the fight.
Right as Elio lands, Mig grapples him, trapping him in a bear hug. “I’ll crush your bones until they’re nothing, but powder.” He said coldly. Already clutching with dangerous levels of force. Elio’s eyes widened, he quickly started heating his body up; “Shit! I need those lights broken now! He’s eventually gonna crush my body, I can only increase my volume to delay it as long as possible! Come on, Ray!” Elio panicked. “Ray! Forget about me! Just do what you can against the other two!” He shouted. Ray immediately reacts, he starts sliding on his feet again, moving as quickly as possible to chase down Gastronaut. Guerilla gives chase, closing the distance between them at a rapid pace.
Ray uses the speed from his technique to hop across the gap, continuing his pursuit. Guerilla continues to tail him, breaching from the floor like a dolphin jumping in and out of the water. Ray begins jumping between both sides of the gap to keep Guerilla away. “Let’s see, if I calculate how long he’s in the air during free fall…” Guerilla observes. “His apex is around sixteen point zero eight feet, which would mean he has an air time of roughly one second. I just need to watch a few more times before I can make my strike.” Guerilla pondered. He began accelerating to get ahead of Ray.
“He’s likely going to pull that matter trick, but thankfully, Gastronaut seems to know as well. Good. I’m just about ready, hold it… hold it…” Guerilla observed critically. The moment Ray’s feet change position, Guerilla strikes. “Now!” He shouted, leaping out of the ground, aiming right in the center of Ray’s forehead, firing from his rifle. Like he predicted, Ray turned himself into a different form of matter. His head turns into gas, the bullet passes through without losing any momentum. As soon as Guerilla’s out of the way, Gastronaut stops bouncing around. He kicks off the wall and accelerates toward Ray, tackling him in the air and dragging him.
Ray lets himself get caught as he begins to grin. Unknownst to them, the bullet whizzed through the damp, stale air of the sewer, not losing any momentum due to Ray’s choice in becoming gas. The sharp crack echoed off the walls. It struck the first ceiling light, shattering the glass in an explosion of sparks. The bullet kept flying, hitting countless more lights in rapid succession, plunging the entire tunnel into total darkness as each bulb shattered. The sound of dripping water now filled the air.
In less than a second, the darkness reached Elio and Mig. Elio grins; “He did it!” Elio shouted triumphantly. With his strength increased, he breaks out of Mig’s grasp, quickly elbow striking him before making distance between them. Mig staggers, clutching his side as he feels as though the wind was knocked out of him. “It hurts… Damn it! My own line of defense is gone! My pain tolerance is almost that of a child’s because of how long it’s been since I’ve been struck!” Mig screamed internally as he breathed heavily.
Gastronaut swoops down as he’s carrying Ray, quickly changing direction as he flies up before spinning rapidly and throwing him down. Ray’s body twists violently, his arms flail in the pitch-black void. He grunts as he hits the floor, tumbling in the darkness before coming to a stop, quickly getting back up on his feet. “Well, I’m glad that I got rid of Mig’s power source, but how long do I need to hold out until Elio can beat him?” Ray pondered. He drew his sword, twirling the blade before getting in a defensive stance. “Noises are louder in the dark, just like how food tastes stronger when you’re hungry. So, until then, I’ll have to rely on my sense of sound.” He declared.
“Wait, hold on…” Gastronaut muttered in realization. As he activates his helmet’s night vision, he gazes in Mig’s direction; “Shit! Guerilla, hold off Ray!” He shouted before flying towards Mig. Elio and Mig clash with only the sounds of heavy breathing and rapid movement breaking the silence as their feet dance on the floor. “Right, I forgot about his antennae. They’re covered with olfactory receptors, allowing him to detect my odor molecules. So, while I can detect his heat in the dark, he can detect my scent just as easily.” Elio analyzed.
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Mig performs a fast spin attack, his spiky tail traveling to Elio. Elio dodges by backflipping, as he lands, Mig attempts to rush him, but Elio keeps flipping away, the flips increasing in speed as he builds momentum. Elio then dashes forward, side stepping and running on the wall to get past him. He hops down, getting behind Mig before sliding underneath him as he turns around, Elio gets up fast and delivers a spin kick to Mig’s side. Mig screamed as he held his side, the pitch of the scream made Elio flinch as he covered them, only to be quickly kicked in the face by Mig. Elio tumbles; “How the hell is he not on the ground?! I struck him in the liver- right… insects don’t have livers, they have fat body tissue.” Elio realized as his nose began to drip blood. He gets up fast, he senses Mig rushing toward him again. As Mig is about to strike, Elio dodges, but instead of attacking, Elio plugs one of his nostrils and does a snot rocket, firing the blood from his nose directly into one of Mig’s eyes.
Mig stops moving after being stunned, he instinctively puts his hand up to his bottom right eye, allowing for Elio to land a barrage of punches, Elio turns around and lands a horse kick to end the onslaught, launching Mig back. As Mig recovers, he quickly jumps to the wall, sticking to it. From above, he pounces, his tail wrapping around Elio’s neck and squeezing. Elio retaliates by grabbing his tail to prevent further constriction, he then opens his mouth and swiftly bites down with enough force to chomp a whole chunk out of his tail. Mig freezes, his body in complete shock, unable to even scream as he feels lightheaded from the knowledge of his own body having a bite taken out from it. Subconsciously, his tail lets go. Elio grabs it and pulls him off the wall, slamming him backfirst into the floor.
Mig stands up, but Elio rushes at him with the speed of a spreading wildfire, each strike flowing seamlessly into the next. He launches a lightning-fast jab to Mig’s jaw, immediately pivoting into a spinning backfist that crashes into the side of his head. As Mig reels, Elio follows with a low kick to the knee, buckling the leg before rising into a jumping knee strike to his chest. Without pause, Elio spins, bringing his elbow crashing down on Mig’s shoulder, forcing him downward once more. The instant he lands, Elio whips his leg into a roundhouse kick to the temple, finishing with a fierce palm strike to the chest, sending him stumbling back. Right as Elio rushes forward, ready to land a finishing blow, Gastronaut comes in at the last second, jetting at high speed, and reaching his arm, grabbing Elio’s body as it wraps around him. He stops flying and slides on the floor before stepping forward and swinging his arm, sending Elio in an arc as he’s slammed into the floor.
Elio coughs up saliva upon impact as Gastronaut quickly unravels his arm, it slings back to him. “Mig, are you ok?” He asked softly. “NO!” Mig screamed in agony. “I FEEL LIKE I CAN BARELY MOVE! IT HURTS!” He continued. His thunderous roar of pain echoed through the dark, even Ray and Guerilla stopped fighting for a moment to look in his direction. “Mig…” Guerilla muttered, sounding hurt from hearing his cry. “Such a disappointment. He really is nothing without his reflection. Who knew he was such a bitch?” Ray goaded. Guerilla suddenly closes the distance as he rushes in, driving his elbow toward Ray’s face. Ray gets ready to block, but Guerilla’s arm slips through the blade and his elbow makes contact, striking him in the face. Without missing a beat, he pivots on his lead foot, unleashing a brutal knee strike into Ray’s ribs.
With a fluid spin, Guerilla lands a strong kick to Ray’s side to disorient him. Ray staggers slightly, Guerilla sweeps low, dropping Ray to the floor. In a blur of motion, Guerilla phases through the floor and dives out, stomping Ray in the stomach before kicking him to the wall. Ray grunts as he makes contact, he stands up to try and guard himself, but Guerilla strikes him with a one-two before slipping through the floor again, he reappears from the wall, coming in with both fists in a hammer blow directly to the base of the neck, forcing Ray to fall forwards.
As Ray’s about to plummet to the sewage, Guerilla appears out of the wall below and catches him. Using all of his strength, he pushes Ray, sending him back to the wall. He quickly takes out his rifle and strikes him in the forehead with the back of it before kicking him in the gut. “You’ve no idea what he’s been through! I don’t wanna hear you saying anything about him!” Guerilla yelled angrily. He then aimed quickly, firing a bullet at Ray’s shoulder. Ray’s eye widened as he couldn’t react in time. “Goddammit! I’m slipping! It was such an obvious attempt to wind me, and yet it worked because of my stress for Mig! I couldn’t even aim properly at his shoulder, with where I shot him, he should heal in just a few weeks without a hospital!” He screamed internally. His hand trembles as he clenches the rifle and throws it to the side.
The gun echoes as it crashes into the wall before hitting the water; “What?! Did he… ditch his rifle?! Does he intend on fighting me with just his fists?!” Ray pondered in confusion. Guerilla lunged forward, his fist dashing through the dark. His breath was heavy, eyes locked onto Ray, who began holding his blade defensively while backing away slowly. The clash of his knuckles against the steel blade echoed as Ray parried a blow aimed at his chest. Guerilla side stepped away from Ray’s riposte and closed the gap, attempting to drive an elbow into Ray’s face. As Guerilla’s about to land the strike, he slips, falling straight to the floor. “This is… mercury! He took advantage of my frustration and secreted it from his feet, and when he backed away, I ended up stepping on it, and it was only a matter of time before I fell!” He analyzed. In that moment, Ray kicked Guerilla before he could look up, creating distance between the two. Ray began making his way back toward the others.
Elio and Gastronaut standoff, breathing heavily, waiting for each to make a move for them to counter. “Elio… just for a moment, could I just ask something?” Gastronaut uttered. Elio raises an eyebrow while getting in a more defensive stance. “His heat signature tells me that he’s not bluffing, he’s being genuine. I’ll keep my guard up just in case.” He pondered. “Go ahead.” Elio answered. Gastronaut’s stand relaxes; “I tried asking Guerilla why you were even here in Violet Paradise. He never answered me. Tell me, why did you come here? I know you didn’t come here to stop Ray, nor did you come here to save him. Until recently, him still being alive was just an urban legend, so what’s the deal?” He asked in a softer manner.
Elio matches his relaxed stance; “That’s all you want to know?” He asked. “Yes.” Gastronaut answered. Elio takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. He opened his eyes; “I’m here because my cat got injured. He’s the one who was with me when I fought Gendross, but he got hurt really badly. His name is Reggie, his spine got snapped. I worked with Ray because I wanted to make quick money to get Reggie back as soon as possible after his surgery. And I’m sure that you’d sympathize with all of this for one small reason.” “And what is that ‘small reason?’” Gastronat asked while leaning forward. “Reggie’s a Martian Tabby.” Elio answered.
Gastronaut stands rigid, his eyes wide and unblinking, pupils dilated as if trying to process the impossible. Underneath his helmet, his radula is wide open, no words coming. His hands tremble at his sides. It’s as if time has stopped around him, every muscle locked in place, unable to move or react. Elio keeps his guard up as he senses that Mig is getting back up, he looks behind him as speaks; “Surely, you understand where I’m coming from-” He gets interrupted as he turns back, being slammed in the face with Gastronaut’s fist. Mig catches Elio, putting him in a chokehold. Gastronaut turns around; “Mig, hold off Elio. I have a new target.” He said coldly.
“What?!” Elio yelled in confusion. Gastronaut’s jetpack hums softly, glowing faintly as it charges. Sparks flicker, and a blue pulse of light spreads across the sewer floors. Suddenly, with a high-pitched whine, the charge builds to a bright flash. The shadows retreat as the thrusters roar to life, releasing a burst of energy. He steps forward, then with a powerful blast, he shoots horizontally, leaving a trail of fiery light that cuts through the dark. “Dammit! Get back here-” “You’re not getting away!” Mig interrupts as he grabs Elio’s torso and slams him into the wall. He opens his mouth and starts gurgling. Elio’s eyes widen as he quickly brings his hand up to grab his shades and move them out of the way. Mig spits at him, he closes his eyes before contact and immediately feels his skin getting irritated, as well as burning.
Mig drops him. Elio begins to roll around on the floor holding his face; “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” He screamed helplessly, his eyes began to water. “That’s for spitting in my eye!” Mig shouted angrily as he kicked Elio while he’s down. Elio coughs as he’s repeatedly struck. “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Mig screamed suddenly, stopping his attack. “W-what…?” Elio muttered, confused. Ray scowls after having landed a clean slash on Mig’s back. He twirls the blade and sheaths it before grabbing Mig by the tail. With his strength, he swings Mig up, slamming him on his back before lifting him up again to slam him on his stomach. He then picks him up one last time and spins him around, letting him go and sending him flying through the wall on the other side of the gap.
“Elio!” He shouted. “Ray…” “What happened?!” “He spit in my face!” Elio yelled in pain. “Shit! Elio, remember, it’s formic acid! Clean yourself off in the sewage before it spreads! I know it’s gross, but water can dissolve it!” He explained as he nudged Elio over the ledge with his foot. Elio plummets, plunging into the sewage below. Ray listens to the sound of the splash, he then quickly gets into a defensive stance, drawing his sword once more. Guerilla dives down from the ceiling with a stomp, Ray blocks the attack with his sword.
Elio, with his eyes and mouth closed, remains in the sewage. “This is so gross! I can’t stand this! Thankfully, I can tell my face is getting better. But, Gastronaut… he said he has a new target. He’s planning to kill Reggie! There’s so many vets in this city, I wouldn’t be too worried, but he’s smarter than he makes himself out to be. He likely knows that it might be a Plutonian vet since he never knew about Reggie until now. No matter what, I have to ensure Ray can deal with Guerilla by taking down Mig as fast as possible! Then I just have to reach Culat’s Pet General before him!” He told himself. Determined, he swims up to the surface, gasping for air as his head sticks out. Elio submerges himself once more, propelling himself by releasing a gust of wind, performing a dolphin kick and jumping out of the sewage and making it back to the floor. He presses his fists together upon landing and releases wind from his entire body, forcing the sewage to fly off of him. He puts his shades back on and tracks Mig’s heat signature, glaring at him through the dark. Elio’s blood begins to boil with rage.
“Ray. I’m gonna stop Mig right now. Stay close to him when I’m done, you’ll understand why.” He explained. Ray glanced in his direction, surprised by his tone. “That anger, his attitude. I know I fought him last week, but I could never imagine this coming from him. He’s not just angry, he’s bloodthirsty.” Ray breathed heavily, feeling slight intimidation. “Right.” He replied. “Good.” Elio answered back quickly.
As Elio’s eyes lock onto Mig, he charges over the gap with savage intensity, his arms outstretched like an animal. He slams both hands into Mig’s chest in a wild shove, sending him stumbling backward. Before Mig can regain his balance, Elio lunges forward, swinging a heavy, club-like fist directly into the side of his jaw, the impact sounding like stone cracking against bone.
With zero finesse, Elio leaps up, grabbing Mig’s throat in a crushing grip, dragging him up slightly off the ground. With an angry scream, he drives his knee repeatedly into his abdomen, each blow forcing out a guttural roar of pain from Mig. Elio releases the grip. Elio slides under Mig and stomps on his tail before he hammers both fists together and brings them down with primal fury onto his back, forcing him face-first into the floor. He stomps down brutally on his spine, the primitive motion of the strike meant not for precision, but destruction.
As Mig writhes, Elio leaps in front of him, crouching down and grabbing both sides of Mig’s head with each hand and savagely pulls it upward. The final blow comes as Elio, eyes burning with rage, smashes his head directly into Mig’s face, driving into it with devastating force. Guerilla and Ray stop fighting temporarily as Guerilla had been watching in horror what was done to Mig, Ray simply looked in their direction, frozen as he himself tried to imagine what to make from the sounds; “Elio…” He muttered. Elio takes the power nullifier and straps it around Mig’s neck, successfully nullifying him. He leaps back, performing a backflip and staring down at Mig like a beast glaring at its prey.
“You know, Mig, when you strike a match, a fire will happen, but the line between the smoke and the flames gets burned.” Elio said quietly. Quickly, he brings his hand close to his face, his fingers poised close to his mouth. “Beso de muerte!” He shouted. He snaps his fingers with a sharp crack, the friction between them so intense that a tiny flame sparks into existence at his fingertips. With a quick breath, he blows into the flickering ember. Instantly, the flame flares up, transforming into a raging fire that surges forward like a tidal wave, rushing through the air like a flamethrower, leaving a trail of heat and light in its wake as it engulfs Mig in flames.