Heymlir says in his mind that all he needs to do is get rid of this brat, all the main players are tired and are crippled from the fall after he grabbed them, and the arrows have stopped firing. Most likely because they are out he surmises. From these thoughts, Heymlir decides to take a gamble.

Heymlir leaves himself wide open, allowing Tatsuo to finally land a clean punch at Heymlir’s stomach without any protection. Heymlir’s body hunches over and his vision blurs.

Heymlir (thinking): That was close, I almost blacked out…! What ridiculous raw strength…!

Through his willpower Heymlir remains conscious. It felt like his entire insides were about to explode out of his mouth.

Heymlir winces in pain but then mustering the rest of his powers, grabs Tatsuo in a bulging cluster of black energy, lifting him up into the air. The group watches in disappointment as Heymlir snatch away their last hope left.

While clenching his stomach from Tatsuo’s attack, Heymlir gloats how he’s won and that now no one can stop him:

Heymlir: You may have a strong body…But I wonder if you can survive a crushing blow to the ground from several feets high in the air…!

Heymlir: Now with this...no one will stop me…! Not even you…!

“No. I won’t be the one to stop you.” - Tatsuo responds.

Suddenly, Victor comes rushing at Heymlir from his blindside, catching him off guard.

Heymlir (thinking): What?! There was one more…?!

Heymlir gets a clear look at who it is.

Heymlir (thinking): Wait, isn’t that the boy who got beaten up by Jayce’s posse…?

Shortly after, Sharon fires her last arrow at Heymlir and he senses it.

Heymlir (thinking): An arrow..?! So they were waiting for a moment like this…! I’m currently defenseless and it’ll be difficult to avoid both of them!

Heymlir is already using most of his black energy to suspend Tatsuo in the air. This forced Heymlir to make a split second decision to choose between getting hit by the arrow or Victor.

Heymlir (thinking): Between the arrow and that boy...The arrow could possibly cripple me! The boy can’t do much… I can easily eliminate him afterwards!

‘While I do that…!’ - Heymlir begins hurdling Tatsuo to the ground.

“GOOOOOOO, VICTOOOOOR!!!!” - Tatsuo shouts aloud as he plummets downwards and Victor charges forward, lunging forward at Heymlir.

As Victor rears a punch, something clicks. Victor’s fist implants itself into Haymlir’s head, and is revealed that he has equipped a steam gauntlet.

[https://i.imgur.com/Szgd2Gw.png]

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***

*Flashback back at the lab.

Dr. Crogsbell: W-Wait just a moment…! You want to take the steam gauntlet…?!

Dr. Crogsbell: It hasn’t been adjusted for you…! It’ll destroy your body if you use it…! Kill you even…!

Victor: Wow. It must be very powerful. So it’ll work then?

Dr. Crogsbell: Well…! I can say that whatever is on the receiving end of that thing will not end up unscathed, even if it’s the empowered exosuit…!

Victor: That’s good enough for me!

***

*Return to the present.

Bellows of steam jettisons out from the gauntlet and hisses. A final click sounds off. Sparks pop off from the gauntlet as the air around explodes in pressure. Victor’s body recoils from the powerful force and a loud cracking sound comes from Victor’s arm.

The force knocks Heymlir away several feet into the air, and lands on the ground out cold.

*A memory of an interaction with Victor and his dad plays in his head.

The restaurant has closed down, and a younger Victor is helping his dad clean up the kitchen, wiping away at the counters.

Young Victor: Hey dad, why won’t you let me work in the kitchen with you more often?

Victor’s dad: Foolish boy, we already have enough cooks in here! It’s called “having too much cooks in one kitchen…!”

Victor: But there’s only one other cook besides you at the day!

Victor’s dad: And that is already more than enough…!

Victor politely pouts: Phoo–! How am I supposed to take over this restaurant for ya if you won’t let me cook with you. We cook together whenever we’re not working, I can help cook for the customers!

Victor’s dad: *Eyy…Don’t worry about it son! There’s still time for ya’! You’re still just a kid! Cooking together is completely different from cooking for customers…It’s a lot more stressful as you’ll come to find.

Victor picks up a mop and begins to mop the floor.

Victor’s dad: Besides, there’s no use for you to be in the kitchen. You’re already plenty helpful with the customers and cleaning up with me like right now. Remember son, don’t just think about the kitchen…

Victor: But that’s where all the food comes from!

Victor’s dad: I know…But you have to think about the restaurant as a whole! There’s more to running this place than just cooking you know! It’s all about teamwork! No matter what, everyone has a part to help get this place through the day. It’s just like when cooking a dish! There isn’t such a thing as a useless ingredient. It’s just all about how we use them. Even something as simple as salting food could be the missing piece to creating a delicious meal! Sometimes, ingredients don’t have to be food at all…!

Victor: Huh?? What do you even mean by that…?!

Victor’s dad chuckles to himself: He…He…He…! Maybe you’ll find out when you’re older. And if you still haven’t figured it out yet, then I’ll tell ya. -- He says while looking over at a family portrait with an endearing smile.

***

*return to present.

Victor falls on his knees, body shaking. He huffs heavily, breaking in sweat while Tatsuo comes crashing into the ground after the black energy disperses. Tatsuo promptly gets up and dusts himself off.

Everybody huddles up to Victor to congratulate him. Darren drags Archer’s body along with him.

“Can’t you at least carry me?” - Archer asks.

“Nope.” - Darren responded.

Victor looks over at Heymlir’s body - ‘Huh…? That’s strange…’

‘I was expecting to see a giant robot…’ - Says Victor in his head, since he, Mearl and Dr. Crogsbell were stuck in the lab, they were unaware of the escalation of the situation.

Victor wearily smiles and lets out a pleasant sigh.

‘Finally…I did something…’

‘Thank you Dr. Crogsbell…Your technology helped me and my friends…’ - His whole body trembles while he clutches onto his broken arm.