A full month had passed since Meditat reinforced his heroic commitment to protecting the city, and during that first month, he learned of the various and diverse ways in which one could experience pain.
He had at some point or another had a bruise on every part of his body, he had been burned, frozen, blasted, kicked, punched, thrown, shot by a bullet, been the bullet, inhaled things he shouldn't have, touched things he shouldn't have, and been in place he shouldn't have.
He knew for a solid fact that if he were to truly be serious about spending more time on this adventure, possibly years of his life, he'd have to get used to the beatings, and in a way, he did. However, there always seemed to be a new way to get beaten up, and whenever he experienced that, it brought him back to day one, when he was still wearing custom air hockey gear.
Every time Meditat found himself being defeated or taking critical hits in a way he hadn't before, his instinct had always been to analyze what exactly he was lacking in protection, and try to integrate a solution into his next design.
Of course, this meant that every upgrade he made to the suit came from a severe beating he endured, which usually cost him a night of silent crying in his sleep, and he would've much rather just knew what exactly to look out for and make all the defenses necessary from the start.
However, when he did try to take a shortcut, he accidentally destroyed several blocks of the city, ruined many people's lives, and ended up doing more harm than good without even being able to catch the criminal.
It was cruel, but he had to endure pain to get stronger.
The beating he was dealt from the man who could control the direction of gravity was no different, as he had taken the harsh defeat and worked on improvements for his suit to learn from a rather embarrassing fight.
It was deep into the night, as the lights of the city were up and running to their fullest, giving the city its own life even after the supersun was gone. The skyscrapers far below have lights running up their walls, and large holographic screens plastered all over the city's skies show different advertisements for films and products, appropriate for the city of business.
This particular night was rainy as well, as the sound of the water falling from the sky created a more intense ambiance, and the rain itself was just barely visible in the dark night.
The wind was strong too from the combination of the nightly breeze, the stormy weather, and the specifically high altitude of the rooftop of the ZPrints Enterprise building, which has a reflective floor made by the rain.
The building towers over all others in the city, reigning supreme over the supreme skyscrapers. The rooftop wasn't the highest point of the building either, as there were still more towers for communications.
On the flat rooftop accessible to people was also the radio tower, and next to the tower was Meditat, whose suit was less clear from a distance due to the night and rain. His blue glowing eyes look from the tower to the edge of the rooftop, and he begins walking, the top of his head seeming to be covered by some sort of black hood.
Meditat approaches the edge of the rooftop, his black boots stepping on the shallow puddles of water, with light raindrops on his white and blue striped legs. His black and white striped abdomen and blue plated chest also has a reflection of their own due to the wetness, however it was his gold piece that seems to have collected the most rain due to it being on top of his shoulders, and thus exposed to all the rain coming down on it.
His neck was protected by intricately cut gold plates that seem to connect smoothly with the pauldron, leading up to his white mask, where Meditat peers out of his blue goggles.
However, there was a major difference with his armor, as previously stated, he seems to wear a black hood over his head, covering the back and top of what his helmet once covered for him anyways.
Nonetheless, that wasn't the most dramatic change, as sitting towards the back of his gold shoulders is a long black cape that runs down to his boots, a rather heavy shift from the more sleek and mobile-centric design. The cape and hood both seem to be made of a material that appears similar to chainmail, however it was much softer, and while it was not as thick as typical chainmail armor, it seems far more compact, being completely opaque and allowing for not a slightest opening in the cape.
The cape reacts to the wind as well, blowing upwards while still seeming to be held down to Meditat's shoulders, however while that seemed to be the case, it wasn't entirely.
The cape and hood, which were one single piece, wasn't actually connected to the suit at all, but rather there was an infinitely miniscule space between the cape and the shoulders, keeping the two systems separate, yet connected by a constant energy pull. To the naked eye the two seemed connected, however due to the intricate design, impact inflicted on the cape would not be transferred to the main suit, thus not sending any shock to Meditat himself.
The cape and hood were made of an extremely dense yet soft material that was well suited for absorption, able to solidify itself when hit with a blow, and thus doesn't move when struck. This made the cape and hood almost like shields, although they fought the battles behind him, not in front.
The purpose of the new piece was to negate damages dealt from behind Meditat in the event of a surprise attack or him being surrounded. While he was still responsible for protecting himself from the front, any attempt to shoot or hit him from the back would be blocked by the cape or hood, protecting him from both body and head shots.
After being hit by a pod, Meditat realized that attacks made to his back could be fatal, as he wouldn't be able to protect himself, and they could be just as if not deadlier than what the opponent throws at him head on. The hope with the cape was that it would protect him where he couldn't easily protect himself.
While his initial designs were meant to be more of a thin layer of armor that lightly clinged onto his back, which could've technically been better due to the aerodynamic advantages, Meditat didn't want to admit that part of the reason for his design change was completely out of the fantasy of superhero cape.
While he was never big into fictional stories, as he felt reading about events that never existed was a waste of time, he did do light browsing on some well known superheroes in the media, and noticed that more than a handful of them dawned capes.
At first he found them laughable, as it seemed they were wearing blankets on their back, but as he kept thinking about it, he found himself trying to create an excuse to make his own. There was something elegant and larger than life to them, and even though his suit was designed with agility in mind first, he figured that as long as the designs were well made, it wouldn't cause any issues.
Now that it was protecting half of him, he felt he had found a reasonable excuse to use, and so now he donned a great cape.
Meditat looks down at the city with his blue eyes, and he brings his gauntlet up to his chest, which was redesigned to not be entirely black, but instead has an overall blue glove with white streaks on the sides, and a black cover that rests on the top of his forearm.
Meditat taps on the black cover, and suddenly, a blue hologram of the basic avatar he had made for Orial appears, which then looks at him.
Meditat asks, "Is everything good? If you responded to that tap, then I'm guessing the gauntlet's interface works. Are you also getting adequate signal?"
Orial's hologram nods his head, and he responds, "Yes, new additions seem accessible and operable. I also access new programs, such as map."
Meditat nods his head, relieved that the advancements to Orial's integrations were also successful. While the changes to his gauntlet weren't designed for his own protection, he was still working on improving Orial and his usefulness in the battlefield. Of course, that usefulness was not really anything at all, but the hope was to eventually bring him to a state where he could be.
He was clearly learning over the time he spent with Meditat in the city, and with more gadgets at his disposal and greater connection to Meditat himself, he would become stronger.
Meditat spent the majority of the afternoon on Orial, creating new databases and links for him to be able to access, with one being public satellites that could be used for live time mapping of the city.
Meditat steps forward, his foot on the very edge of the rooftop, and he says, "Good, then let's get going."
With that, Meditat dives off of the rooftop, letting himself pick up speed the more he descends. He begins passing other towers, and once he gets low enough to the ground, he holds his right arm out, and pulls himself up and into the sky again, beginning his flight through the city.
While he hadn't been able to completely rid the fragile middle man that was his Connect from being able to work with Orial, he was making progress on getting closer, however actually being able to wield Orial without his Connect would still be a difficult task to accomplish.
For now, all of Orial's integrations to the suit were possible due to close proximity connections from the Connect, and leaving the Connect back in the dorm would sever necessary ties.
Every time Meditat took the Connect out into the city, he ran the risk of destroying it, something that made him uncomfortable due to just how much he needed it, but for now he had no other way.
As Meditat boosts past several buildings before pulling himself towards another skyscraper, he wonders how much longer it would take to be able to recreate such a complex system, as his Connect was easily his single handed most advanced item in possession, perfected to be capable for any digital task needed from the user.
It was a device only truly mastered by the one company that became the titan of consumer technology, a company that Meditat wasn't even sure he'd be able to work at if he never strayed from his old path.
However, it took millions of workers to create them, and Meditat would have to do all that work himself.
He kept busy with making the suit work perfectly with Orial, and tried to study the inner workings of a Connect on the side, but if the Connect broke before it was possible to create his own computer, all the work would be lost and impossible to continue.
Meditat clears his head, and decides to head eastward, changing directions above one of the street's intersections. He was at least confident now in his suit's protection, and wanted to put himself to the work he could do now rather than worry about projects he wasn't able to currently complete.
Meditat catapults himself forward with two well aimed pulls, and asks Orial, "Hey, what places could be targets in the east side? Just name a few close by, so I can stay near them."
Orial answers, "According to map, there are multiple shopping complex, and there is Arct mall. It appears Arct mall has high popular."
Meditat nods, and he thrusts his chest forwards, replying: "Got it, I've heard of that actually. It's one of the most popular malls in the city, or at least the section of the city, so it would be a great target. I mean, that's a bit more extreme of a target, but I guess we can just do a quick check and continue off if everything's calm."
He swings down the city, his cape flowing behind him like graceful wings. He passes pods below him, traversing the rainy city.
After a long flight, Meditat eventually reaches a different region of the city, which lacks skyscrapers and instead has far more buildings low to the ground. They are closer together, and the streets between them are wider.
There were a few office buildings which still remain far taller than the other buildings, with reflective walls that shine in the rain.
The office buildings make for good grappling points for Meditat, who swings deeper into the area, following the route to the east section of the city.
He looks down, watching the pods drive in the space they have, and people walking on the ground. While the weather isn't as desirable, most citizens are still fine with walking around in the rain, especially since most are protected by circular energy shields that remain above them, emitted from their Brella devices that they wear on their wrists.
Meditat looks back up, and he asks, "So Orial, how close are we to the mall?"
Orial answers, "3.5234 miles."
Meditat sighs, and he says, "You can round to the nearest tenth, Orial. But thanks, so we're close."
As he continues swinging off of office buildings, he notices a massive chrome building in the distance, which was shaped like half an egg resting horizontally, with a wide base that curves towards the center. The building was larger than any other in the area, requiring its own space away from other buildings, with a massive dedicated parking lot surrounding it.
Meditat focuses on the building, and he asks, "Is that it?"
Orial answers, "If 'it' refers to Arct mall, then yes."
Meditat nods, and he says, "Okay, let's check it out."
Meditat jerks his arm back as he pulls himself forward off of another office, having enough speed to reach the mall. He thrusts his chest forwards, giving him a boost forwards, and then promptly puts his legs together to get into a diving position.
While his body starts to fly towards the mall, he boosts with his feet, flying faster. He approaches the building like a shooting star, letting him see the parking lot closer up, with the rows of pods resting in their slots.
He turns to see a few glowing orbs around the parking lot, which act as lampposts, giving more light to aid with visibility.
The spherical lights were too small to rest on, but they could make for good points to pull towards, and so Meditat aims near a few of them to be able to use them to fly out after his quick evaluation of the area.
Meditat puts his hands out to lightly boost himself up right before landing, softening his drop. He lands on the ground next to a couple of the orbs, and turns his attention to the massive mall, which was far more grand than expected.
Meditat notices that while the whole body appeared chrome from far away, there were several large windows on the exterior, allowing visibility into the mall. He sees several visible floors from one of the massive windows, with crowds of people walking one way and another, with many speaking to one another.
As anticipated, the mall was full of people, and from what he sees, the mall also seems completely fine.
Meditat sighs in relief to see that the people in the mall were safe and happy, walking into different stores with their friends and family.
His eyes contract, and his goggles zoom in, allowing him to see more clearly, one of the many features built into his mask. He watches two people, a teenage boy and girl, walking down one of the floors together, with one of their hands holding cups of what seems to be tea, and their other hand holding the other person's.
The mall was one large shopping center, one of the popular locations for dates, yet Meditat had never gone to one with Erica, who was most likely fast asleep in her dorm.
It wasn't just that he never went to a mall with her, but he had never gone on a true date to begin with.
Meditat sighs, trying to take his mind off of the thought. He had hardly seen her in the past month, using the time he once used to be in her room to instead be in the city.
He couldn't let it dissolve his determination though, even if he was losing part of himself, it was for the best.
Meditat reports, "The mall is fine, that's good. Come on, let's go, maybe that map can help you find a crime in progress."
He then turns to the orbs above him, and aims his left hand, ready to fly up and away to continue his survey of the city.
Just as Meditat fires a link from his hand to the orb in order to pull himself up, he suddenly hears something similar to a roar of thunder, followed by a sea of terrified screams. It was horrifying, as though the suffering souls of hell were calling out to him, burning in their purgatory.
Meditat immediately turns his head towards the source of the scream, which is the mall building itself. His eyes widen as he notices the light inside the mall, visible through the windows, suddenly becomes blindingly bright, so much so that the parking lot around the mall lights up for a moment as well.
Seconds later, the light dims down to darkness, shutting off visibility of the mall, as all there was behind the windows was a black abyss.
Meditat turns his body towards the mall, realizing that something horrible had occurred, and he sprints down the parking lot. He leaps forward, kicking his feet down to boost towards the mall, at least close enough to get within range for a pull.
He aims both of his hands at one of the massive windows, and links himself to the wall. He pulls himself towards the window, rotating himself to have his feet facing the window. He grits his teeth, hoping that whatever happened, not too much damage had been done.
The window shatters on impact, and Meditat's body flies into the dark mall. He lands on one of the upper floors, sliding on the floor before boosting off of his back, which brings him to his feet.
Meditat looks around the dark mall, which was hard due to the absence of light. Luckily, his goggles kick in a night vision mode, causing the mall to become brighter, at least enough for him to see where he was going.
He looks around, and notices that he couldn't see anyone on the floor. He slowly steps forward, not knowing where to go.
That was until Meditat hears a loud sound similar to an electric arc, which comes from below his feet. Following the sound of the arc, Meditat hears more screaming, which leads him to begin sprinting forward, hoping to find a path to the floor lower, as he had landed on the lowest floor accessible through the window.
As Meditat runs down the wide and empty hallway, he hears more electricity, and more screams. He grits his teeth, knowing that people were in pain and needed help, and he had no idea where to go.
While the screams were below him, they were also still ahead of him, and so he had a direction to run other than just trying to find a way down. He smells something burnt as he runs, and he takes several sniffs, wondering what the source was.
He turns a corner and continues running, taking a leap forward, and boosting inside the mall just to push himself faster. He sees a faint yellow glow at the end of the hallway, finally a sign that he was getting somewhere, and he lowers his body to run faster. The glow becomes brighter the closer he gets to it, and he notices a railing ahead, as though he was approaching a balcony.
He sighs in relief, seeing that he had a point he could take to get down to the lower level, however his relief suddenly shatters as he notices smoke coming off of the floor he was on, close to the balcony.
Meditat boosts forward again, and lands in a far wider hallway, which appears to be in the core of the mall. Far on the other side of the balcony was another hall that also had its own railing, which runs parallel to the hall Meditat was on. The two halls seem to converge at a department store to his left, and continue far down on his right towards more intersections.
More stores were lined up along the two halls as well, and there was a wide space in between, where more halls were visible from above, right above the ones on Meditat's floor.
Meditat looks up at the center of the mall, seeing that there were many more levels, and he then looks back down at the source of the smoke, that he could barely see over the glow.
His eyes widen immediately in horror as he quickly finds the answer, but it is something he didn't find relief in at all.
In front of Meditat were several bodies, all lifeless and smoking. There were three directly in front of Meditat, an older woman, an older man, and a young boy.
Meditat slowly bends his knees to get lower to the bodies, completely silent and shocked, as he hadn't seen real fatalities since the incident in the O.R.I.A.L building.
He gently lays his hand on the young boy, who was laying in his mother's arms, who was clinging onto him. He then looks up at the mother, and notices that her long hair was standing straight, as though she had been electrocuted.
Meditat looks down the hallway again, and finds more bodies laying across the hall, all smoking as well. All of them were dead.
He breathes heavily, realizing he was too late, and he couldn't save everyone. He quietly asks, "Orial...do you see this?"
Orial responds, "Yes I can, is there something wrong with them? They appear to not be moving."
Meditat sighs, and he answers, "They're dead Orial…."
Orial replies, "Oh, I see."
Meditat looks back at the young boy, but his attention is quickly moved when he hears a quiet sob coming from past the railing, which seems to be coming from a boy.
Meditat stands up to his feet, and he walks to the edge of the railing, surprised that there appeared to be a survivor. He looks down to see that there were two more levels below him, with the second being the ground level, and on the ground seems to be a pod on display, most likely for advertisement.
The pod's roof seems heavily bent in, and next to the pod is a boy, in fact it was the same one who Meditat saw through the window. He was on his knees staring at the ground, weeping.
Meditat takes a deep breath, and he throws himself over the railing, descending down the floors.
His feet give a light boost right before he lands, and he touches ground a few feet from the boy. He turns to look at the boy, and finds that he was kneeling in front of the body of a girl, specifically the one who was with the boy earlier; she isn't smoking, however she wasn't moving either, and has blood running down her forehead.
Meditat slowly approaches the boy, who continues to weep, seeming oblivious of the entrance. He quietly asks, "Hey, are you hurt? Hello?"
The boy stops, and he looks up at Meditat, with tears streaming down his face. His only response was, "Can you please help Jenny? She's not waking up. Can you please help her?"
Meditat lets out a soft breath, and he approaches the boy again. He stops right in front of the body, and kneels down beside him, looking down at the girl. Her eyes were closed, and there was a small puddle of blood under her head.
Meditat gently places his hand on her neck, as while he very well knew what her state was, he wanted to just make sure he wasn't wrong. However, after letting his hand rest for a few moments, he feels no pulse.
He sighs, and looks up at the boy, answering "I'm sorry...she's gone."
The boy's eyes widen, and he looks back down at the girl's body. He cries louder, his tears dropping on her, and he yells: "Wake up Jenny! I have to drop you off at your house! Jenny!"
Meditat looks back up at the boy, and he gently places his hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy stops weeping, and he looks up at Meditat, with pain struck on his face.
Meditat softly says, "You're not safe here, you need to get somewhere to hide, not out here in the open. Listen, uh, what's your name?"
The boy sniffles, and he answers, "I'm...Gre-Greg…."
Meditat says, "Okay, Greg, I need you to go inside one of these stores, and hide somewhere where you can't be found. Stay there until the threat passes, okay? I'm going to find who did this, so you won't be safe near me."
Greg asks, "But, what about Jenny?"
Meditat sighs, and he looks down at the body. He answers, "When this is over, her family will decide what to do with her body. All you can do is make sure she doesn't lose you too, okay?"
Greg wipes his eyes with his hand, and he responds, "Okay...I'll go."
He then stands to his feet, and runs towards one of the dark stores to hide, wiping his eyes while he does.
Meditat watches Greg run into the shadow, and he looks back down at the body. He was once more reminded about the cruelty of the Exhumans, what he intended to take down.
Meditat hears another electric arc, and he turns around, facing the wide hallway on the ground floor. He notices the yellow glow down the hallway, giving him his path.
He stands up to his feet, and begins sprinting towards it, breathing heavily as he fully intends to find the one responsible.
Meditat passes more bodies on the ground, all smoking, as it seems there were more than a few casualties. The mall was one of the most popular shopping centers, and everyone inside on that night was made a victim.
He runs all the way down the mall, as it seems the light was on the far side, past all of the stores and restaurants. Meditat boosts forward with every step, trying to get to the other side faster, wondering if there was even anyone else left to save.
The glow seems to come from within the department store on the other side, which was named 'Staceys,' and he boosts inside it, passing a few more burnt corpses.
Meditat steps into the inside of the store, looking around to see racks of clothing along the walls, and piles of dresses and jackets that seemed to be meant to be on display.
The glow seems to get brighter, although it was still ahead of Meditat, and so he continues running in the store, trying to breathe more quieter in case he could be heard.
While Meditat runs past shelves of pants and mannequins wearing outfits, the yellow glow becomes brighter, and he begins hearing yelling. However, rather than the yelling being of fear, it was of rage, and the voice seems to be distorted and altered.
Meditat continues running and boosting until he finally gets to a wide area of the store which has rows of racks of clothing, with holographic sign projectors on the ceiling, however it wasn't projecting anything due to the loss of energy.
He looks down to the center of the area, where he immediately steps back, as he sees large yellow arcs of electricity coming off of the center of the room.
He quickly runs behind one of the racks to hide, and then peeks over, trying to see who he was dealing with.
Another roar of anger comes from the center of the electric arcs, which seems to be a man wearing some sort of sleek purple suit that appears to be made of a rubber-like material, with brighter purple lining all around what seems to be a single piece.
The suit was also glowing yellow from different vents around the body, as there was a long rectangular vent that ran down the inner side of his thighs, a smaller vent on his knees, and his boots seem to be glowing with the same yellow from the ankle to sole.
His belt also has two small vents, and he has two long vents curved from his shoulders down his back. He has two on the backside of each upper arm, and his forearms and hands seem to be encased in an oversized dark blue gauntlet, which each has three vents on each side.
His neck and head weren't glowing, however they were still covered by the purple suit, and the top of his head has a metallic purple ring along with a streak that runs from the top of his head down to the bottom of his head, above the neck.
Meditat hears the weak cry of a woman in front of the man, who was walking forward, and he hears the woman beg, "Please no...I didn't do anything...please-!"
The man growls, and he raises both of his arms. Yellow electricity starts coming off of his gauntlets with a greater intensity, and he roars in rage once again, as if ready to slam them down.
Before he could however, Meditat steps forward, and yells "Wait! Stop!"
The man stops, and he turns around to face Meditat, the energy from his gauntlets calming. The front of his body has two diagonal sharp vents on each breast, and two longer vertical vents running down his abdomen on each side, making a total of eight vents on the front of his body. However, these vents seem to come out a bit, as though they were more of containers rather than vents.
The man's face was masked, with the purple metallic ring visible along with the same streak that runs down to his eyes before stopping. His eyes had goggles that glow with the same yellow energy, shaped as wide ovals, and where his mouth was covered by another vent, with visible bars running vertically across the oval opening. Far more linings run down the mask, specifically vertically, resembling a ski mask.
The man asks in his distorted, almost demonic voice, "Who are you to tell me what to do?"
Meditat slowly approaches the man, and he asks, "Why did you do all of this? And stay away from her, not another person."
The man growls, and he lowers his arms. He then says, "I'm free, and nobody can chain me back."
His lowered hand, which was aimed at the woman, begins glowing again. The young woman's eyes widen, seeming to be the cashier judging by her red uniform, possibly being in her teens.
Yellow electricity fires out of the man's gauntlet, and into the woman, causing her body to glow for a moment, making her shriek in pain before silencing permanently with a burnt body.
Meditat tilts his head, and threatens, "You're going to regret that."
The man slams his armored fists together, and says, "I've stopped doing that."
Meditat begins sprinting at the man, and the man does the same, both running at each other as electric arcs come off the Exhuman's body.
The two leap at one another, throwing fists, and as Meditat boosts forward while also boosting his arm to make his punch harder, the man's gauntlet becomes coiled by electricity.
The two punch one another in the face, causing both of them to fly in opposite directions, across the aisle.
Meditat quickly gets up, seeing the man struggle to do the same. He takes a deep breath, feeling a little shock from the hit, but he had taken worse. He begins sprinting at the man again, and boosts forward again, trying to throw another punch.
However, the man gets back up, and flies backwards, using the electric arcs around him to throw himself back. He dodges the punch, and immediately aims his right hand at Meditat. Electricity fires out of his hand, firing straight for Meditat.
Meditat's eyes widen, and he immediately boosts sideways to strafe, just barely missing the strike. His eyes stare at the yellow electricity as it flies past him, and then strikes the wall behind.
The man growls, and he flies towards Meditat, firing more electricity, now with both of his hands.
Meditat jumps, using his boots to boost him up to the ceiling. He orients himself so his back presses against the ceiling, which then clings on, allowing him to avoid the strike.
However, the man doesn't stop, but continues flying down the store, as if trying to make his escape.
Meditat notices, and he lets go of the ceiling. He aims his hand at the wall ahead of him, pulling himself forward before boosting, trying to catch up to the man so he can't get out.
He follows the man, who was impressively fast, slightly faster than Meditat, but that said Meditat still managed to keep pace. The man flies out of the store, and so does he.
Meditat uses the halls above him to swing off of, boosting with every pull, trying to maximize his speed while also staying safe from collision.
Another obstacle he has to worry about is the man himself, who notices that he's being followed, to which he begins firing electric bolts back at Meditat, trying to shake him off.
Meditat dodges each bolt, having to be careful about where he leads himself next. He strafes to the side before thrusting his chest forwards, trying to get beside the man, as it would make it easier to bring him down.
However, the man wouldn't go down so easily, as he turns to Meditat and fires more bolts at him, forcing Meditat to stay distanced from him, making it hard to close the space in between.
While the man had nearly limitless projectiles to shoot at Meditat, Meditat had nothing of the sort himself, as he was really just contained to his fists and blasts, although even his blasts required close proximity to make any effect, something he wasn't able to achieve.
The man flies down the center of the mall while Meditat swings on the left side, trying his best to keep up with the man's speed, forced against being able to do anything else since he couldn't advance without getting himself shot.
The man chuckles, and he remarks, "With the amount of power running in this mall before, I have nearly infinite energy at my disposal. But it doesn't seem you have anything to throw at me except your own body. I'm as good as done here, so I'm leaving."
Meditat growls in anger, and he shouts back: "You're not getting away free, not after all those people you mindlessly massacred."
The man yells back, "Mindlessly? No, I knew what I was doing, I chose to kill each and every one of those monsters."
Meditat's eyes contract, and he asks with hatred in his voice: "Monsters?"
He then strafes to the left, throwing himself onto the wall. However, he orients himself so his boots make contact, to which he then boosts himself straight at the man, pulling his arm back as he prepares a blast.
He screams, "You're the monster!" before blasting the man back, getting just close enough, and causing the man to fly into one of the stores.
Meditat lands on the ground, and runs towards the mall, knowing that the fight isn't over. He leaps again and boosts inside, his spirit charged to win.
The inside of the store was even darker than the outside, however the Exhuman's glow made it easy to spot him. He had crashed into several racks and shelves, leaving a path of destruction behind with clothes all over the floor. His body lays against one of the back shelves, groaning, with yellow electricity still coming off his body.
The man gets up with a groan, and he aims both of his hands at Meditat. He then yells, "You're the real mindless one here! What are you, a master or another slave?!"
He then fires two electric bolts out of his gauntlets, but not just that, the arcs coming off his body also direct themselves at Meditat, throwing ten bolts straight for him.
Meditat strafes to the side and runs behind a short wall that divides the store up, using it as a shield. He dodges all ten of the bolts, and then strafes over the wall, getting back in the middle of the store, with the man once more in his lane.
He leaps forward and boosts, pulling his arm back for another punch. He yells back with an angered voice, "You're the abusive master, and I'm not your slave either!" He then punches the man straight in the face again, causing him to fly through the other shelf, and causing him to hit the cashier table, which breaks on impact.
The Exhuman groans in pain, as the close quarters was making it difficult for him to keep the advantage. He watches Meditat land a few feet ahead of him, and start approaching him, almost seeming ready to kill.
The man stands back up to his feet, trying to puff his cheeks to relieve the pain, as he argues "You have no idea what is going on, do you? Do you have any idea what the world does to us? The people you protect annihilated my ancestors, and now they put us on shock collars, ready to kill us if we do so much as open our mouths. As always, the ones in power want nothing more but to continue their reign of oppression on those below them, which means taking away any means for them to be rivaled. The people who run these worlds are the masters, and everyone in them are slaves, meant to serve obediently, and those who do not are punished."
The man closes his fist and stares at his gauntlet, continuing: "For so long, us people could never attain freedom, because the rulers always made sure to stay one step ahead in power. Holding us back from having the technology and weapons they do, creating a system that strikes challenges. And when they found themselves staring at gods, they tried killing all of them, and even when they changed the bills, they still made sure to keep their guns to our heads. But at least we have the power to make a change, and release ourselves from this cruel world. You humans must think we're just monsters, but really, you're the monster."
Meditat tightens his fist, and he asks, "Are you done?"
The man growls in anger, but before he strikes, he hears a scared squeal behind him. He turns around to see Greg, who was hiding behind the cashier table, but was now found. His teary eyes stare widely at the man, scared for his life."
The man aims his hand at Greg, and he says, "I thought I killed you. Did that girl save you? Whatever, I'll finish it."
The Exhuman's gauntlet begins to hum as he readies for an electric blast, about to kill Greg off.
However, Meditat boosts forward, flying right over the man, and landing between him and Greg. He immediately holds his hands out, facing Greg, and grits his teeth in readiness.
The Exhuman fires the blast of electricity, which strikes Meditat's black cape, which manages to take the strike fine.
Greg breathes heavily, and he says, "Th-th-thank you-...."
Meditat looks at Greg, and responds, "I'm sorry you got caught up into this, I'll take him away from here."
He then turns to the Exhuman, and bends his knees. He aims his hands at him, but rather than blasting him, he pulls himself towards the Exhuman. He then grabs the Exhuman by the waist, and boosts forward, sending the two out of the store.
The Exhuman growls, and the electricity around his body begins curling and striking Meditat, defending the host.
Meditat screams in pain, as he's filled with agonizing burning from the electricity. While his suit was able to keep him alive, the shocks still hurt, but he had to keep his hold.
He screams as he flies out of the store and into the hall before finally letting go, and letting the man fly into the opposing wall, although the man manages to suspend himself in the air and avoid the collision.
Meditat pants heavily, but stands up straight, ignoring the pain. His body sparks again, releasing the rest of the energy that hit him, and he takes a deep breath to calm himself.
He then clenches his fists, his eyes staring at the man, his blue glowing eyes filled with rage.
Meditat shouts, "You really are full of yourselves, aren't you? Yes, I know the history of the Exhumans, I know how they were treated and I know much of it was wrong. Trust me, if I was apprehended by the police or worse, I'd certainly be executed. I know this world is against people like 'us,' but that doesn't mean you have to go out and confirm their worst fears. Just because they thought we were monsters doesn't mean we have to actually become those monsters! These people you killed, all the bodies laying in this building, none of them deserved it. They didn't chain you up, they didn't kill anyone like you, they were just living. You talk about masters and slaves, you're the one helping to enslave all these people in a cage of fear, you're the one continuing this cycle of violence."
Meditat bends his knees, readying to boost himself. He then adds, "We might both be the same breed, but you're the demon. And I remember why I was here in the first place: To exterminate the demons."
He then leaps forward and boosts, throwing himself at the man, trying to bring him down again.
The Exhuman dashes upwards and out of Meditat's way, and then dashes again to create more space. He fires another bolt at Meditat, who strafes away from it, and turns back to face him.
The man asks, "Wait, so you too are an Exhuman? Well, doesn't that make this interesting. To think you're one of us, someone who was gifted with the power to obtain freedom, and then chose to toss it aside and chain yourself for your frail masters. How stupid are you? To think you have the potential to live as you want, and then take upon the worst life possible: wasting your days fighting your own people and protecting those who keep you inferior? I can't believe you actually spend your time protecting these cattle, when you could do so much more."
Meditat's eyes contract, and he stares silently at the man.
The Exhuman aims his hand at Meditat, and he says, "I don't know what your power is, but I can feel it. You're strong, either that suit is your power or it's whatever fuels it, it's something greater than any generator I've absorbed. If you hadn't said anything, I would've mistaken you for the police, wearing some new shiny battle suit, but you're clearly something better. With power like that, you could've done so much, and you choose to waste it like this. Well, if you don't know how to use your own power, I guess I'll do it for you."
He then opens his hand, and Meditat suddenly feels a strange pull on his body, making it impossible to move.
Meditat begins screaming in pain as the blue electricity that came from his body begins to come off of his chest, as though his own energy was being siphoned off.
The blue electricity, which was nothing like normal energy, crawls to the Exhuman's hand, as he begins trying to steal the power. However, as the blue electricity makes contact with his gloves, his body suddenly flies backwards, and slams straight through the railing on the floor above, as though he had taken a severe strike.
Meditat staggers backwards, the pull seeming to have gone. He felt slightly more tired, however he wasn't drained at all, and could still keep going. He aims his hand at the railing, and pulls himself up to the second floor, taking the fight away from Greg to protect him.
Meditat lands on the hall across from the Exhuman, confused with why the transfer failed, but he was more determined to take down the Exhuman rather than learn what happened.
The man coughs in pain, his body against the wall, and he says to himself: "Huh...I haven't felt such pain since...when I first started using these abilities. It's almost nostalgic, back when I was so young, and would cry every time I tried absorbing the power of a lamp. But I kept going and going, building up my tolerance, because I wasn't going to let some little shock stop me from embracing who I was."
He stands up to his feet and takes a deep breath, continuing "For years I thought I could absorb anything and feel nothing, but I guess at last I found the next step. It'll take some time getting used to, but whatever that power you have is, I need that. One way or another."
Meditat leaps off of the hall, and boosts over the gap, flying towards the other side where the Exhuman was. He pulls his arm back, and yells, "I'm not giving you anything!"
The Exhuman flies off of the ground, and dashes in the air next to Meditat. Meditat turns around and boosts upwards as well, pulling himself towards the ceiling above to keep himself in the air.
The man begins dashing in zigzags, gradually climbing higher up the mall, firing bolts of electricity at Meditat while maintaining distance.
Meditat tries to catch up to the man, pulling himself towards the Exhuman and using boosts to close the gaps as quickly as possible, but every time he ends up missing. Meditat growls in anger, as he was truly enraged by the criminal, as he had killed so many innocents, and on top of that he spilled an ideology that made Meditat hate him even more.
He let that fuel himself as he tried to catch up to the man, throwing himself forwards and trying to boost quicker, however he missed again and again, while barely dodging the electricity being fired at him.
The electricity makes it even harder to catch him, as Meditat has to worry about keeping distance from the bolt while trying to close the distance with the man sending them, a pair of missions that juxtapose each other and make each one harder than it should be.
As the man climbs up the floors, reaching past the fourth one, his electric bolts all miss Meditat, and instead strike the walls and floor, leaving burn marks behind.
He growls in annoyance at Meditat's speed, but notices very clearly that he is still at an advantage. He notices as well that he is nearing the ceiling, and couldn't keep going up. He looks down at Meditat, who still seems adamant about taking him down.
The Exhuman stops at the top, knowing he had nowhere to move. He instead waits, and lets himself build up charge with the remainder of what he had left to fight with.
The electricity surrounding him all goes into his gauntlets, charging them up, playing a loud hum.
Meditat pulls himself up from the top floor, and boosts upwards, finally having corned the man. He throws his arm back, ready to make a strike, his arm about to boost forward.
However, rather than being able to land a hit, the Exhuman fires down a single yet massive stream of electricity, which strikes Meditat in the chest. Meditat then immediately flies down every floor as the stream continues striking him, as though he was being continuously struck by lightning.
Meditat's body finally slams into the floor of the first level, and it sparks with yellow electricity a bit as the excess charge still consumes his insides.
The man stares above him, and shouts, "I don't have enough energy to kill that kid, so good for you, Meditat. I hope they kill you, you're pathetic as a human and Exhuman."
The man then floats onto the top floor, and simply walks away, leaving the mall and making his escape.
Meditat stares at the ceiling in silence, trying as hard as he could to get up, but he couldn't, as his whole body was still in pain.
Greg leaves the shop to see Meditat on the ground, and he runs to him, trying to see if he is alright. However, Meditat couldn't move his head, and could only stare up, staring at his failure.
That man had done so much wrong, he was the reason why Meditat was surrounded by bodies, including the girl who Greg no doubt would mourn for a long time.
He was completely delusional and believed himself to be in the right when he slaughtered so many helpless innocents.
That man was out in the city, free to do as he pleased, and Meditat failed his one chance to bring him down. It wasn't that Meditat wasn't protected enough necessarily, no amount of padding would've won the fight.
He just had nothing to fight with, his fists weren't enough, and he couldn't fight an enemy who was standing just a few feet away. His suit was still nothing more than an overprotective air hockey suit, it wasn't even a battle suit.
Meditat spent all his time worrying about being able to take hits that his suit's design completely ignored the question of dealing with his own, and now because of that major flaw, all those people died without their killer being brought to justice.
As Greg continues to try to check on Meditat's body, Meditat just stares at the sky, realizing that he has a new road ahead of him with a whole new set of challenges.
To protect others, he had to be able to protect himself.
But to even protect in the first place, he had to be able to fight.
He had to fight.