Rio dropped to the floor in a light crouch, rising with measured calm. "Well, I'm here now. You should take them in. Lead the way."
But the robots didn't move toward the robbers. Instead, they ushered Rio forward, placing him in front of them.
His eyes narrowed.
INT. RIO'S MIND: FLASHBACK
Earlier that morning, several blocks away, I had been perched on a rooftop, seemingly lounging, yet my senses were wired. One of his threads, a near invisible filament of spiderweb thin energy, was anchored inside the bank, acting as an ear.
Through that string, he had listened.
He had heard the robbers' plan: Greg's angry commands, Rex's hesitant replies, Marty's anxiety.
But then... Greg had shouted it:
"Move on to Phase 2 .... Plan 1 failed!"
Phase 2? What plan?
Rio's gut twisted. It hadn't just been about stealing money. There was something darker.
BACK TO PRESENT
Now, in the vault, the realization hit.
The robots.
Why had they taken so long to respond? Normally, the bank's defense system would activate immediately upon unauthorized presence, especially this early.
"They've been compromised…!"
Rio's eyes widened. "I sneaked in to trap them… but they outsmarted me."
From across the vault, Greg chuckled. A cold, sinister sound.
"Did you really think we came here for money, kid?" he sneered.
He raised his sleeve. A hidden button glowed red. His thumb pressed a flashing button.
"We came to set this city free"
Behind him, Rex's eyes lit up with unnatural energy. His palms glowed as he raised them.
Without hesitation, the robots turned on Rio.
A dozen red laser sights locked on.
Blam!
Energy beams surged from their weapons.
Rio's eyes sharpened as he watched them, amusement in his voice: "Energy Weaving…"
He backflipped high into the air, a blur of motion as beams scorched the ground beneath him. Mid air, he snapped his fingers. Threads of energy shot from his hands, connecting to the vault's laser grid. With a flick of his wrists, he channeled the laser energy, weaving it around him in a spiral.
Light bent. Energy pulsed.
In a flash, he redirected the beams, now dancing like living threads, straight into the robots.
Zap zap zap!
They exploded in bursts of white blue light, limbs flying, circuits frying, sparks raining down like fireworks.
Rio landed on the ground, having destroyed over a dozen robots. "Remember when I said that I was tired and wanted to rest?" Rio said as he swung on the wall going to punch Greg in full force. "I lied!" he said as he punched but was immediately caught by a larger hand which flung him upwards. Rio crashed into the ceiling and fell downwards as Rex moved to him and punched him in the chest with great force, shattering his rib cage. Rio coughed out blood as Rex tried to walk away.
"Ahh... what the hell is that all you got?" Rio asked, standing up as he wiped blood from his lips.
"You desire more beatings?" Rex now faced him, annoyed. "Master!" he called out to Greg as he, the robots, and Marty were busy stacking the money into a bag.
"What do u want?" Greg asked.
"Shall I silence this lousy human kid who plays hero?" Rex asked.
"You don't need to ask. I'm coming to fight u son of bitch!" Rio said, swinging a nearby block at Rex with his webs angrily as the block shattered on Rex's head like sand.
Rex became annoyed as he removed his cloak, revealing his scaly thick skin, a muscular structure, and long ears. Rex's eyes glowed as he faced him, his claws popping out on his four fingers and his eyes turning blue.
"I'm sorry...." Before Rex could finish his sentence he was immediately given an upper cut by Rio which threw him upwards as he crashed again into the ceiling and the ceiling began to fall down.
Rio coughed out dust and blood, struggling to stand, still recovering from the shatter on his ribs as he tried to move. "Time ... out...." he tried to run, but Rex grabbed his legs in a string of electrical energy and hurled him across the halls, crashing into a pillar as Rex was smashed against the wall.
"Boss we need to get out of here, the building is gonna collapse anytime soon," Marty said to Greg.
"But we need more money. Stack the cash now!!!" Greg ordered as the robots stopped working. "Why isn't the robots stacking the cash for me?" Greg asked, annoyed and agitated, shouting at Marty.
"I'm sorry sir!!" Marty said in fear as he turned to Rex. "Rex, the robots are not working!"
"Damn it!" Rex sighed as he dropped the beaten up Rio and faced the robots, stretching his arms toward them, releasing an electronic wave which immediately awakened the robots. They began to work on gathering the money. "I can't keep them up for long," Rex said as he turned to leave Rio.
Above the rubble, Rio rose but he was no longer the boy Rex had beaten moments ago.
He floated mid air, standing on a crackling mass of suspended electricity woven like a web of energy threads. His body was shrouded in a sleek black suit, patterns on it glowing faintly like veins of power. A dark hood covered his head, shadows masking his eyes, but his gaze burned through cold, focused, and unflinching.
Rex froze.
"You again?" he hissed. "Weren't you the kid I just...."
Rio stepped forward, slow and deliberate, each move radiating quiet power. His voice cut through the tension like a whisper of death:
"My name is Weaver. I hunt the darkness from the shadows. I punish evil in the silence of night. I am vengeance."
The room went still.
Electric threads lashed out behind him like wings of lightning, framing him in electrical fury.
Rex clenched his fists, eyes wide, not in rage this time but in fear. And Weaver simply stared.
"I think we're getting the wrong idea here," Rex said as he cracked his knuckles, his fingers shaking as his body glowed in energy and his collar overloaded with energy, restraining him as he fell back on the ground.
"Stand up oh Djinn. I shall set thee free," Rio said as he used strands of electricity to break the power dampening neck cuff on Rex. It cracked.
"Um boss, I think Rex collar is coming off," Marty said as he signaled to Greg urgently.
"Oh shit..." Greg said as he and Marty now stood up and packed as much as they could and tried to run but the doors were locked.
Rex was seen overflowing with energy as he broke loose of his control, his body glowing in translucent white light of electric power from head to toe as he laughed.
"You fool!" Greg said to Rio, who watched the development in utter confusion.
"Hmmm, by my calculations, the enslaved should have been freed and now will turn on his former master and thus serve me," Rio said, crossing his legs in deep thought in the air.
Rex floated on air as he faced Greg and Marty, who cowered in fear. "Remember what you did to me, the time you forced me to serve you robbing bank to bank and killing many of my kind."
"I'm sorry I... I... shouldn't have treated u like that. I'm sorry come on we're still buddies right?" Greg begged his former comrade.
"You threatened my sister. How unforgivable," Rex continued. "I'll kill u."
"Um sir, let's not get ahead of ourselves okay. Instead let me take u into jail myself."
"Quiet boy!" Rex said as he turned to Rio angrily.
Rio immediately dodged the attack as the current bored a hole through the wall. Rio cracked his knuckles angrily.
"But u are not supposed to kill your owners. Don't u think that's a bit too extreme?" Rio then asked as he looked outside. "Damn it it's almost six a.m. gotta wrap this up."
"You fool!" Greg said to Rio, who was watching the development in utter confusion.
"Huh what did I do?" Rio asked.
"Our main objective was to rob this bank but his objective..." Greg's words were cut off as he was struck by an electric current and Rio immediately redirected the attack back at Rex, kicking him so he crashed into a wall.
"You guys should stay put..." Rex said as he tied them up completely, placing them outside the building after removing all their clothes and weapons. He then swung on the walls of the building toward Rex.
"You should have left while you had the chance. Now I'll destroy this city and all who inhabit it!" Rex said as he glowed in energy.
"Not a chance!" Rio said as he kicked Rex and both were thrown outside the building and crashed on the ground.
Rex uprooted a street pole and swung it at Rio with full force.
Rio jumped over the pole and punched him, throwing him over many cars. Rex crashed back to the bank as he teleported behind Rio at hyper speed, punched his back, grabbed his hair, and smashed him on the ground as the building crashed with Rio in it and it exploded.