FULMEN: "You two ready?" Sparks of yellow lightning crackled around his body.
Sosiego and Kiro jumped forward, both moving with incredible speed. But Fulmen was faster.
FULMEN: "Quick Bolt."
A searing lightning bolt materialized from the air itself, striking both of them mid-lunge and halting their charge. As the electricity arced around his legs, Fulmen used it to propel himself in a blinding shift. He delivered a powerful kick that sent Sosiego stumbling away, and in the same fluid motion, his fist, charged with energy, slammed down onto Kiro, driving him into the ground.
Kiro, shaking off the shock, forced himself back to his feet. "Bring it on!" he growled, shifting into a solid Mixed Martial Arts stance, ready to parry.
Fulmen lunged, throwing a lightning-fast punch. Kiro moved to deflect it, but the speed was overwhelming. The blow connected, pushing him back.
SOSIEGO: "Not so fast!"
While Fulmen was focused on Kiro, Sosiego had lashed his chain around the executive's ankle. He pulled hard, yanking Fulmen off balance. Fulmen was about to fall, but instead used the momentum to jump into a backflip to break free.
But that was the opening Kiro needed. As Fulmen was upside down in the air, Kiro was already there, unleashing a devastating uppercut fueled by a concussive shockwave.
THUMP!
The punch connected squarely, knocking Fulmen back against the wall with a heavy crash.
From the sidelines, one of the defeated trainees groaned, "Butler... where's the popcorn?"
Fulmen got to his feet, spat a glob of blood onto the floor, rubbed his lip, and licked the remainder. "Long time since I've tasted my own blood," he mused, a dangerous smile spreading across his face. "You two are good. Not strong, but good. Enough to join me. Be my left and right hand. I'll take over this clan, become the next head. I have a plan."
In perfect, defiant unison, they answered. "Nooooooo!"
KIRO: "You know you're just bad guy scum? Is this how the clans act? Just take over, no earning it?"
SOSIEGO: (Coldly) "That's how the world works, intruder."
Sparks of yellow light erupted from Fulmen, coalescing around his fist like the head of a lightning dragon. "Bring it on!"
He moved in a flash, delivering a swift punch to Sosiego and then grabbing Kiro for a brutal kick. Kiro barely dodged, jumping back into the fray, his own punches being effortlessly dodged by Fulmen.
FULMEN: "You know martial arts? Last I checked, you were from the slums. How interesting." He went for another punch, but Sosiego's chain wrapped around his arm, yanking him off balance.
SOSIEGO: "Got you!"
But Fulmen simply grabbed the chain with his other hand. "Shock." A huge voltage, 800 volts, surged down the metal links straight into Sosiego, who cried out as the electricity coursed through him.
Seizing the opening, Kiro launched himself forward. He used a jump kick off the floor, then boosted off Fulmen's gut to the wall, using the rebound to gain incredible speed. "SUPER SHOCK PUNCH!"
The blow connected square on Fulmen's chest, a shockwave erupting on impact and sending the executive flying backward. Sosiego, having regained control, spun with the momentum and threw a grenade exactly where Fulmen was about to land.
BOOM! The floor where Fulmen crashed exploded.
SOSIEGO: "Please, just stay down."
KIRO: (Breathing heavily) "How long has it been?"
SOSIEGO: "Two minutes."
KIRO: (Pointing to a digital clock on the wall, its numbers blinking) "How do you know this is hell? There's a clock."
fullmen got up his suit ruined halve of it missing and head bleeding
now its interesting thanks for shock it powered me up
SOSIEGO: (Yelling to Kiro) "Bounty hunter! Ever heard 'never use the same element on an elemental'? Rookie mistake!"
KIRO: "What happened? How did he survive?!"
FULMEN: Rising from the smoke, his body crackling with even more energy. "I absorbed that shock. Let's just say I had to use a technique you don't have."
Kiro, ignoring them, jumped to the wall to boost himself again.
FULMEN: "Not again with the same move!"
KIRO: "Buy me time, Sosiego!"
SOSIEGO: "What? Why?! And to you, it's Destripador!"
Fulmen roared, "THUNDER SLAP!" A massive, concussive hand of electricity formed and swatted through the air. But Kiro wasn't aiming for him; he used the first wall jump, then the next, repeating the maneuver to build up insane speed.
SOSIEGO: (Finally catching on) He threw an ice grenade to disrupt Fulmen's focus.
Fulmen blocked it, but his arms were instantly frozen solid. With a grunt, he unleashed a burst of electricity around his body, shattering the ice and pushing Sosiego back with the force, making him cough blood.
KIRO: "Hey, what's up, Full Man?!" He became a blur, delivering another Super Shock Punch to Fulmen's back, then instantly appearing in front for another to his chest. Fulmen was put on the defensive, getting punched like a ragdoll. Blood sprayed from his mouth with the first impact, his body wrenching sideways. A cough was cut short by a punch to the face, then another to the back. The attacks were too fast.
FULMEN: "ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES! THUNDER SHOUT!" A wave of pure sound and lightning erupted from him.
In that moment, Destripador saw an opening. A swift, powerful karate kick landed, sending Fulmen flying. But Fulmen stopped himself mid-air with a lightning anchor, caught up to Kiro with ease, matched his speed, grabbed his head, and pounded it into the ground before throwing his limp body directly at Sosiego.
And as Kiro flew through the air, Fulmen finished with a final, point-blank "THUNDER BALL!"
BANG!
The explosion lit up the room. When the light faded, both Kiro and Sosiego were down, defeated.
Fulmen stood over their defeated forms, his expensive suit in tatters, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead. "And that ends that." He gestured to his butler. "Liam."
The butler, Liam a man in his 70s with a neat white goatee and a composed demeanor nodded. "Yes, sir."
Just then, Sosiego pushed himself up, swaying but standing, falling into a karate stance.
Fulmen's fist erupted with lightning, shaping it into the form of a dragon's maw once more. "Bring it on."
Sosiego launched a desperate kick. Fulmen dodged effortlessly and delivered two quick jabs that Sosiego barely avoided. "You're fast," Fulmen conceded, before landing a single, devastating punch that sent Sosiego crashing back to the floor.
Kiro was the next to stand, his body trembling with exhaustion.
KIRO: "So... what's in it for us if we join?"
FULMEN: (A predatory smile spreading) "Interested? 50,000 credits per month. And I'll train you. Provide you with top-tier gear."
KIRO: "Make it 150,000."
FULMEN: "You drive a hard bargain. Make it 120,000. But you have to bring me ten elves. I need them."
KIRO: "For what?" (His eyes darted to the clock. 3 minutes, 20 seconds.)
FULMEN: "No questions. Let's just say they are... useful. Their magic, among other things. Bring me five females, and there will be a bonus."
(Kiro's eyes flicked back. Only 6 seconds had passed.)
KIRO: "Well, Fulmen... that's a good deal." He stepped forward and extended his hand for a shake.
SOSIEGO: (From the ground) "Bounty hunter! What are you doing?!"
Kiro shook Fulmen's hand.
FULMEN: (Smiling widely) "Good to have you"
WHAM!
In a flash, Kiro unleashed a full-force punch directly into Fulmen's smiling face, sending the executive stumbling backward.
FULMEN: (Clutching his jaw) "What was that?!"
KIRO: "Bought me a bit of time. two minutes left."
FULMEN: "So... you tricked me." His body began to crackle with uncontrollable energy, his rage making the very air hum. "HOW DARE YOU! WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?! Now I will kill you with my ultimate move! THUNDER LIGHTNING DRAGON CRUSH!"
A massive dragon, woven entirely from storm clouds and crackling yellow lightning, materialized in the air above them. It was a thick, powerful, wingless serpent of pure destruction. It descended, its maw open to erase Kiro from existence.
Kiro's eyes widened, the reflection of the dragon growing larger. (I am dead.)
Acting on pure, desperate instinct, he threw a punch upward to meet it.
And as his fist moved, a violent, crimson aura erupted around him, blazing upward in a concentrated pillar of red energy that met the dragon head-on. For a moment, the two colossal powers clashed and then both the red aura and the lightning dragon vanished in a blinding flash.
FULMEN: (Eyes wide with disbelief) "That... that can't be! Only they can use that power! Nevermind! I'll take you down anyway! Liam! My blade!"
The butler, with practiced grace, opened a long case, revealing a magnificent sword. The hilt was sculpted like a coiled dragon that wrapped around the wielder's hand, and the blade itself was thick, brutal, and 30 centimeters long.
Fulmen took the sword. A hurricane of wind erupted around him, howling as it formed into the shape of a colossal, roaring wind dragon.
FULMEN: "You're both done! On this swing, the dragon follows! DRAGON'S FANG SLASH!"
As the blade descended, the wind dragon surged forward with it. Time seemed to slow. Their lives flashed before their eyes.
KIRO'S THOUGHTS: I lived a good life. Good fights. Met a good friend... and a friend that's a girl. A new rival. Life was awesome at the end, when I wasn't broke. Wait... what? I never kissed a girl yet! Aromatic? Damn, I'm thinking of Veyra... why am I thinking of that witch now?!
SOSIEGO'S THOUGHTS: Well, come on. At least I made two friends. Yep, two friends. One's a wannabe rival I just met. Got a doctorate degree. Played hero for a time... Wait, I never really met a girl and talked to her. I was a shut-in... come on!
Just then, a man in a sharp green suit appeared out of nowhere. He stopped the dragon-slash with one outstretched arm, the wind dissipating harmlessly against his palm.
MYSTERIOUS MAN: "That is enough."
FULMEN: "What?!"
MYSTERIOUS MAN: "By the direct orders of Duchess Vesper Drake, these two are her guests. Stand down."
Vesper herself sauntered in through the door, standing next to the man and waving a fan casually in front of her face. "Yes, Fulmen. Where is your proof that I didn't invite them?"
FULMEN: "The cameras will show!"
VESPER: "Oh, you mean the same cameras you destroyed during your little tantrum?" she interrupted, her voice sweet as poison.
Fulmen stared at her, his face a mask of pure, impotent rage. He finally let out a furious snarl. "Ahhh! Fine! Let's go, Liam!"
Defeated not by strength, but by politics and a superior plot, Fulmen and his butler stormed out, leaving the two battered fighters alone with their saviors.
kiro you a minute early
VESPER oh am i then you in luck and you do know yur run here counts for 5 minutes
WITH VESPER - PRESENT
SOSIEGO: (Coughing, spitting blood onto the floor) "Did you... get it?"
VESPER: "My end of the deal is complete. And this," she gestured to the powerful man in the green suit, "is my bodyguard. He will be taking you away now."
KIRO: "Wait, what? 'Taking us away'? We had a deal! We need to stop the enslavement! And I NEED to help my friends!"
VESPER: (Her voice calm but firm) "Calm down. First, your name. I'll explain everything later."
The bodyguard gently but firmly picked up both wounded fighters.
VESPER: "He will take you for healing. It will take 30 minutes. You won't be fully healed, but you'll be stable."
KIRO: (Resigned, in pain) "My name is Kiro."
SOSIEGO: (Losing consciousness) "Call me... Destripador..." He passed out.
MEANWHILE - THE ABANDONED PARK - 35 MINUTES EARLIER
Raiji and Veyra were both out cold, laid flat on the ground opposite each other. Nearby, Neo was badly damaged, having lost a lot of blood.
The imposter "Silas" stood over them, no longer pretending to be weak.
"SILAS": "Weaklings. I am so far out of your league... and you three still had the gall to try."
FLASHBACK - 35 MINUTES AGO, RIGHT AFTER THE STAB
RAIJI: (Helping Veyra up) "You okay? Veyra, are you hurt?"
VEYRA: (Wincing, clutching her side) "I'll be fine. Just bag up Neo. Don't worry about me."
RAIJI: "It's just a scratch. And if you're mad, I bet that rocks-for-brains Kiro is gonna be furious"
Just then, a dark, suffocating aura erupted, enveloping the entire area. "Silas" got to his feet, the knife wound in his back seeming irrelevant.
"SILAS": "Ouch. Was I that obvious? What a shame. Time for me to go."
RAIJI: (Instantly shoving Veyra behind him, sword drawn) "Stay back, Veyra! He's on another level... I don't know why, but I can feel it in my bones."
"SILAS": "Stop. I did not give you permission to leave."
A terrifying, evil grin spread across his face as an immense amount of darkness coalesced around him, so thick it obscured his features like a demonic shroud. "Wrong move, young one."
He moved too fast to see. He took his scythe and lunged, the force of his attack pushing Raiji back. Raiji barely managed to block it, but the impact sent violent tremors through his arms.
(He's faster than me!) Raiji realized with dread.
Where the scythe had passed, a huge, smoking gash was torn into the ground.