ATLAS: (Eyes still blazing blue, he gestures with one hand) "Come at me. Both of you. At the same time."
CHIEF EXECUTIVE: "You first. Warm him up."
SENIOR EXECUTIVE: "Sure thing." He blurred forward, a flurry of enhanced punches aimed to overwhelm.
Atlas's arms became a whirlwind of motion. BLOCK! DODGE! PARRY! He read every move, his defense impenetrable.
ATLAS: "Nice moves. Not enough."
He created a split-second opening and delivered a swift, piston-like kick to the gut that sent the Senior Executive stumbling back, gasping.
The Senior Executive steadied himself, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "Heh." He exhaled, not smoke, but a thick, cloying cloud of black smoke that instantly enveloped Atlas, blinding him.
In that moment of sensory deprivation, the CHIEF EXECUTIVE's strong arms wrapped around him from behind, lifting him off the ground.
But Atlas didn't need to see. With a raw display of brute strength, he flexed his entire body and shattered the hold, bursting out of the black cloud.
WHOOSH!
The jet boosters on his suit ignited, propelling him forward to create distance.
But the Chief Executive was already there, predicting the move. He came out of nowhere, his twin frost blades crossing in a scissoring slash aimed at Atlas's neck.
Atlas, still off-balance from the booster burst, could only get one arm up in time. The cold steel SCREECHED against his armored vambrace, spraying sparks into the rainy air. He was pinned.
The CHIEF EXECUTIVE went for a second slash, leaping into the air to deliver a twin frost slash.
"FROST SLASH!"
Two waves of frozen, blue energy sliced sideways through the rain, aiming to cut Atlas in half.
ATLAS, with his free arm, simply swatted the energy waves aside like they were nothing more than annoying insects. The frozen energy shattered against the alley walls.
He tapped a command on his wrist. Three combat drones detached from his back, their targeting lasers painting the Chief Executive's chest.
But the SENIOR EXECUTIVE was already moving. "Forgetting about me, old man?!" He clenched his fist, and the black smoke coalesced around his body, forming a solid, living armor. "Black Smoke First Form!" He lunged through his own smog, a phantom fist aiming for Atlas's blind spot.
(Now, when the Junior Executive rejoins the fight later, it will be with his water/ice constructs, making his role clear and distinct.)
From within the smoke, five drones deployed, their red lasers painting targets on Atlas's chest and firing.
Atlas dodged the first volley with impossible speed, then the second. A flicker of confusion crossed his mind. Wait... why am I dodging? My armor is immune to this caliber of laser. The sheer pressure and coordination of the attack was psychologically overwhelming, even for him.
Seeing the momentary hesitation, a terrifying, evil grin spread across Atlas's face. The fear was gone, replaced by the thrill of a true challenge.
ATLAS: "Now... I'm having fun."
He ignored the drones. He ignored the lasers. In a blur of motion, he unleashed a fury of blows upon the Chief Executive devastating, armor-crunching hits that drove the old fighter to the ground.
ATLAS: "Is that all, Chief?!"
The JUNIOR EXECUTIVE, stirring from his stupor, used the last of his strength to coalesce the raining water into sharp, high-pressure needles and launched them at Atlas's back.
FWOOSH!
A shimmering blue energy shield popped into existence around Atlas just in time, deflecting the watery assault. Without even turning, he focused his will.
The rain and water around him began to churn and coalesce, forming a massive, colossal sword of solidified water and energy, hovering in the air beside him. The fight had just entered a new, devastating phase.
The colossal water sword, the size of his own body, materialized in the air. With a grunt of effort, Atlas swung it. It didn't just cut through the air it sliced the adjacent building clean in half.
Atlas dodged sideways as the structure groaned, leaping over the collapsing rubble. He then pointed his palm at the Junior Executive. A blue light gathered and BOOM! A massive energy beam blasted the young fighter backward, hurling him through the raining sky as the building crashed down.
Suddenly, ATLAS'S drones fired. Their lasers passed straight through the SENIOR EXECUTIVE's torso.
SENIOR EXECUTIVE: (His voice echoing from the smoke) "My body is made of smoke! I possess the original Smoke Cube! You can't touch me!"
But Atlas was ready. A massive, articulated jet-hand shot out from his suit's back and grabbed the swirling smoke, compressing it into a vaguely human form. A powerful EMP shockwave erupted from the hand, causing the smoky figure to solidify and convulse in agony. A second jet-hand emerged, seizing the recovering Chief Executive.
ATLAS: "Come with me. To an open area. It'll be more... fun."
He rocketed into the sky, dragging his two captives through the storm. They arrived at a deserted airfield, where he unceremoniously dropped them onto the rain-slicked tarmac. The jet-hands retracted, folding back into his suit.
He didn't give them a moment to recover. He charged, his suit's jet thrusters roaring.
"JET GUN: SUPER LASER!"
Mounted cannons on his shoulders unleashed a rapid volley of high-energy laser blasts. The two Executives scrambled, dodging and weaving across the runway as the shots cratered the ground around them.
SENIOR EXECUTIVE: "Dodge the bullets! Then!"
The JUNIOR EXECUTIVE, now enraged, pointed his watery sword. He seemed to merge with the downpour itself, becoming one with the rain as he launched a blurred, high-speed assault.
Atlas dodged the flurry with an old master's ease, his movements economical and precise. He looked around, almost bored, then pointed directly in front of him.
On cue, the Junior Executive materialized from the rain right where Atlas had pointed, merging his form to deliver a slash to his chest.
In that same split second, the CHIEF EXECUTIVE, with blinding speed, moved behind him and stabbed his blade straight through Atlas's back. The frost-covered tip erupted from his chest in a spray of blood.
The Titan was pinned.
SHNNNK!
The frost blade cut deep, a spray of crimson mixing with the rain. For the first time, the Titan was wounded.
ATLAS jumped back, clutching the gash on his chest. He coughed, a splatter of blood mixing with the rain on the tarmac.
ATLAS: "The three of you... double-teaming an old man. Nice. But not yet. I must teach you three a lesson."
A grey, overwhelming energy erupted from his body, a concussive wave of pure force that blasted all three Executives backward, forcing them to reset.
The JUNIOR EXECUTIVE roared, the rain around him churning violently. His watery sword grew to a monstrous size as he himself was encased in a towering suit of armor made of solid rain a giant samurai. With a earth-shaking cry, he brought the colossal blade down.
ATLAS barely twisted aside. The sword sheared through the air and clean through his arm.
ATLAS: (Gritting his teeth through the shock) "...Level 3. Overdrive."
The energy around him turned from grey to a violent, blazing red. With his remaining arm, he threw a punch that didn't even connect—the sheer force of the punch's shockwave slammed into the rain giant and sent it flying apart, the Junior Executive tumbling out of the form.
He turned, his single remaining hand open, and walked toward the other two.
The SENIOR EXECUTIVE had molded his black smoke into a hulking, horned demon. It lunged.
ATLAS: "SUPER KI BLAST LASER BEAM!"
The palm of his one hand split open, revealing a cannon barrel. A high-power, continuous laser beam erupted, spearing through the smoke demon and piercing the Senior Executive's shoulder, making him scream and collapse, his form dissolving.
He turned to the last man standing.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE: "Just us old guys now."
Both of his frost blades erupted, coating the airfield in a sheet of ice as he launched a final, desperate assault. Slash after slash, cut after cut. Atlas, with only one arm, blocked and parried, sparks and ice flying. They were deadlocked, equal in that final moment.
WHAM!
A fist, scaled and monstrous, connected with the Chief Executive's face from the side. A surprise punch from a new combatant.
It was TORSTEN, in his man-beast form.
The punch landed with the sound of a cracking glacier. The Chief Executive was lifted off his feet and sent flying out of the fight like a discarded light.
Atlas stared, his overdrive flickering from the shock. "WHY are you here, kid?! I told you to GO! Get out of here! They're not alone!"
A new figure descended, his long coat flapping in the storm, a blue dragon symbol emblazoned on it.
THE CEO: "The living legend. Titan. The smartest man of his time... and a battle genius." He landed softly, his voice cold and familiar. "Oh, me? Who might I be? I am the CEO of the Blue Dragons. There's a bounty. Double, now. One for the government, and one from Midas."
He paused, letting the revelation sink in.
THE CEO: "And I don't know if you recall... I am the same teen you saved from the Blue Clan. The one you trained."
ATLAS: (A sad, weary recognition in his eyes) "I remember. My old student. I thought I left you because you weren't ready. I was right."
CEO: "Wrong, Master. I was ready. You just didn't want to give me the Titan Suit." He drew a massive sword, blue light glowing from its core. "But now... you must die."
ATLAS: (He looks past the CEO, towards where Torsten is hidden, his voice a final, soft whisper) "Take care of my daughter, Lara. I'm sorry for this."
In a burst of his last strength, he kicked Torsten's hiding spot, sending the young man flying back across the airfield. Torsten landed too far away to intervene, forced to watch the horror unfold.
Then, the two titans clashed. To Torsten, it was only a blur of shadows and light. When it cleared, Atlas had lost his second arm. He stood, armless, his suit sparking.
The CEO raised his sword for the final blow.
ATLAS: "Overload. Omega Beam."
The core of the Titan Suit on his chest glowed with the intensity of a dying star. At light speed, a beam of pure, self-destructive energy shot forward, engulfing both of them.
When the light faded, Atlas's body was no more. Vaporized.
The CEO had managed to dodge at the last microsecond, but not completely. He screamed in agony, his own left arm vaporized up to the shoulder.
In the silent moment that followed, a small, discreet device launched by Atlas in his final kick landed on Torsten and activated, cloaking him from sight and sensors. He was safe, and invincible to detection, but utterly broken.
BACK TO PRESENT
TORSTEN: (His voice a hollow echo, the memory a fresh wound) "...That's how I lost my master. My father figure."
In the arena, Kiro unleashed punch after furious punch against Torsten's body. THUD. THUD. THUD. They had no effect.
KIRO: (Gasping, his knuckles bruised) "Your skin... it's too strong!"
KIRO: (Eyes blazing with focus) "Then let's get these shock gloves ready!"
He began to move, not in a straight line, but in a frantic, unpredictable dance. He kicked off one wall, then the other, using them as springboards. Each rebound increased his velocity, a blue-and-red blur building up kinetic energy in the enclosed space.
He became a living pinball of pure force, and then he struck.
SUPER SONIC PUNCH!
He didn't just run at Torsten; he vanished from one position and reappeared in front of him, the air cracking with a sonic boom. The shock-glove-enhanced fist connected with a BOOM that sent Torsten crashing through the arena wall in an explosion of shattered concrete and dust.
The crowd fell silent.
From the wreckage, Torsten slowly pushed himself up. He coughed, spitting a glob of crimson blood onto the canvas. A grim smile of respect touched his lips.
TORSTEN: "Nice... You can still damage me."
But Kiro wasn't done. He kept up the speed, a zig-zagging phantom on the ground, his feet barely touching as he closed the distance again. He feinted low, then launched an UPPERCUT that crackled with electricity, snapping Torsten's head back.
In the same fluid motion, Kiro jumped into the air, twisted his body, and brought his foot down in a devastating AERIAL STOMP.
Torsten barely got his arms up in time to block. The impact didn't just sound it FELT like a thunderclap. The force radiated outwards, and the very walls of the arena cracked under the strain, fissures snaking up towards the ceiling.