A certain police station in Braga, Portugal.
*BAM*
The doors of the station swung open with a bang as a man dressed in a police uniform walked in, breathing heavily. He was covered in sweat and looking around the station with trembling eyes.
"Chief, what—"
"Is it true?!"
The man cut off a female officer before running up to her and grabbing her shoulder.
"Is it true we have the Orchestrator of Madness here?!"
"Y-Yes, sir! She and dozens of other Iron Rain members were brought here by—"
"Are you people insane?!"
The Chief's shout shook the station, causing everyone to flinch. He released the female officer and started walking briskly through the station. He headed to where the cells were. He stopped in front of a cell and saw a woman lying down on the floor. Her black and white tactical clothing was torn and worn from battle, and her pale skin peeked out with sections reddened from being hit. Her red hair was spread out underneath her curvy body.
"It really is her..."
The rest of the officers gathered to watch as their chief fell to his knees with his hands on his head.
"Which idiot left her here? Do they have a grudge against me or something?"
"It was the guy who defeated Sinvula last night."
One of the officers answered the chief.
"That Impactor guy? Why didn't he drop them off at one of the GHF Branches?! We're the police! We handle normal crimes and wannabe Villains!"
He pointed at the woman in the cell.
"Not Supervillains like her!"
"We tried to tell him that, but he said he wasn't an official Hero yet, so he doesn't have a way to contact the Global Hero Federation. So, he thought he could leave them with us since we were close by."
"Why did you guys take them?! Are you suicidal?!"
The chief sprang to his feet.
"Maybe it's not too late."
He pointed at his officers.
"Everyone, we're leaving."
"Leaving, Sir?"
"Yeah, we're going to go home and pretend we had nothing to do with this."
"But Chief, we're the police. We can't just—"
The chief walked up to the officer and stared him in the eyes, causing him to shut up.
"You people haven't seen the Mad Shaman in action, and it shows."
His eyes were bloodshot.
"Do you know why the Global Hero Federation haven't taken down the Three Calamities yet, despite them being the most wanted criminals in history? It's because they can't! The GHF has tens of thousands of Heroes around the world and has the military power to punish countries if needed, and yet they can't capture those three. In fact, before even meeting with one they must round up the top 100 Heroes and have them all write wills just in case things go south!"
The chief pointed at himself.
"And you want me to stay in the same place as one of those monsters' Top Executives? Who's beaten up by the way!"
The chief started unbuttoning his uniform while grumbling.
"I am not getting paid enough for this shit."
He threw the uniform on the ground and pushed his subordinates out of the way.
"I wasted enough time on you people. I'm leaving the country."
The ground started shaking.
"An earthquake?"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
"Chief, is this...."
They turned around and the chief was gone.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"
The chief was bolting down the streets while cursing. He didn't dare look back as he ran way beyond his limits.
Meanwhile at the station, the building was shaking as if it was in the centre of an earthquake. With a deafening noise, the roof of the station was torn off. The police turned their gaze upwards to see a man floating in the sky. The broken pieces of the roof orbited around him before blocking out the sun. All those inside, whether they were criminals or police officers, were glued to where they stood. Fear had crept into their hearts and dominated their minds. The being in the sky no longer seemed human; he was the archangel of death who controlled whether they lived or died.
"To throw my people into cells, such hubris."
The archangel's voice was neither gentle nor melodious; it was coated in venom and overflowing with malice.
"......"
Sinvula silently raised his hand. This simple movement caused lungs to clench and hearts to stop. The woman lying in the cell floated off the ground and flew towards him. She wasn't the only one, there were dozens of unconscious Iron Rain members as well. Despite his eyes being hidden behind his bangs, Sinvula didn't break eye contact with those in the station while doing this.
"Because of certain reasons, your city gets to remain on the map."
He turned his back to them.
"Thank your God."
With a boom, he flew off into the distance with his subordinates. Those in the station, and near it, all fell to their knees panting, covered in cold sweat. They all thought the same thing.
"I escaped death today."
An hour later, Sinvula had returned to his underground base with Kiara and her team.
"Fucking Hell!"
Sinvula was raging back and forth in his home as Bastion watched while sitting on the couch.
"I should've blown that whole city up, especially since that bastard might still be there! But nooo, "I like the city and I want to visit it again for vacation next month", fuck you."
He gave Bastion the finger. Bastion returned the gesture.
"Hey, it's my job to keep you in check. If I let you wipe a city off the map and get the GHF on our asses again, I'm the one who has to clean up your mess."
"I still say we should just destroy those pricks. If we had done it back when they tried to take me down, I wouldn't be having these problems right now."
"Unlike you, the rest of us can't survive a World War."
Bastion sighed.
"Alright, calm down. Kiara got publicly defeated so we need to think what our next steps are."
"Next steps? We kill the fucker! What do you mean next step?"
(No good. There's no reasoning with him when he's like this. Kiara getting injured is really messing with his head. I'm surprised his sanity is still intact; but the question is, for how long?)
Bastion's thoughts started to race as Sinvula walked back and forth while mumbling under his breath.
(We need to handle this Impactor situation soon or the world will be reminded the Moniker Mad Shaman isn't for show. Sinvula is actually insane; push him too far and he will destroy everything around him....Including me.)
He held his head down.
"I should've stayed a white-collar officer worker."
"You're acting as if you weren't the one who asked to join us."
He looked up and the woman Sinvula saved walked down the stairs. She looked at Sinvula and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, Boss. I failed and made your situation worse."
"Don't worry about it, Kiara. As long as you're safe, everything is alright."
Kiara stood up straight with teary eyes.
"I almost had him, I swear."
Her body started to shrink as her red hair grew. She slowly changed from a alluring woman to a petite teenage girl with freckles. Tears flowed from her eyes nonstop after her change.
"That son of bitch, I'm going to get him next time."
Sinvula walked up to her and patted her shoulder.
"I'm sure you will. Iron Rain's strategist is the best in the world."
He spoke with a gentle and nurturing voice. Frowning, Bastion stood up from his seat.
"Kiara, tell us what happened in Braga."
"Can't you see that she's upset? Give her some time to vent."
Sinvula gently hid Kiara behind him.
"Kiara is a Vice-Leader of Iron Rain and we're in a crisis. She needs to step up."
"She will step up when she's good and ready."
Bastion gritted his teeth. He pointed at Sinvula.
"It's this type of behaviour why she's a spoiled brat!"
"Who are you calling spoiled, Baldy?!"
Kiara pushed Sinvula out of the way and ran up to Bastion. She fearlessly locked eyes with him.
"I'm the Orchestrator of Madness, show me some respect!"
"I refuse to show any respect to a 21-year-old who can't sleep in the dark."
"It's human instinct to fear the dark!"
"You have an army of stuffed animals lined up in your room to protect you from ghosts. Wait, no."
Bastion clapped his hands together.
"We got sidetracked. Why do I always turn into an idiot around you two?"
He looked at the glaring Kiara.
"So, what happened?"
"....Well, after the Boss was taken out, I took my squad to hunt down Impactor before he left Braga."
A few hours after the news of Sinvula's defeat spread, Iron Rain had stormed into Braga headed by Kiara. On her orders, Iron Rain spread out to find Impactor, which proved to be easy since he was walking around in his tattered clothes and wrestling mask. Once they found him, they surrounded him.
"Huh? Who the hell are you guys?"
Impactor looked around in confusion. Kiara stepped out.
"Impactor, we're Iron Rain. Big fans of yours."
"Oh....This sucks. I didn't practice my autograph, so I might mess up."
Kiara's eye twitched.
"We're not here for autographs."
She snapped her fingers. Guns were drawn and pointed at Impactor from every angle.
"We are here to put your face on a T-shirt, though."
The guns opened fire and bullets flew at him from all directions. Impactor stood his ground. The bullets hit his body without any resistance.
(He didn't dodge.)
Kiara raised her hand, and the gunfire came to a halt. When the smoke faded, Impactor stood there with his clothes more torn up than before.
"My turn!"
Impactor blasted off the ground with a boom. He flew straight at Kiara. Several Iron Rain members formed a wall in front of her. Impactor threw a punch and they were blown away.
(High defence, super speed, and superstrength.)
Kiara's thoughts raced as she retreated and had more Iron Rain members step forward.
"Let's figure out his power first."
Those in front pulled out rocket launchers and fired them at Impactor. Explosions erupted and flames spread through the area. Impactor flew through the explosions with a roar.
"Arrows!"
More Iron Rain members appeared on the roof holding bows. They fired them at Impactor, who easily broke through them. Kiara calmly pointed at him. Members came from the back and fired more guns at him. Impactor didn't stop and even moved faster.
"Blades!"
Members rushed at him, wielding swords and axes. They rushed at him swinging their weapons. Their attacks bounced off him and he took them down with swift and powerful attacks. Kiara calmly scanned her surroundings. Bullets were on the ground.
(They weren't crushed when they bounced off him.)
She looked at the weapons on the ground.
(There are no chips or cracks in the blades.)
She looked at the arrows on the ground.
(They are in good condition too.)
Impactor was clashing with the Iron Flame members as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
"I think I'm starting to understand how his defence works. Just to be sure..."
She clapped her hands and members stepped out, pointing flamethrowers at Impactor. His eyes widened behind his masks as flames shot towards him. His body flickered as he avoided the flames with explosive steps. He flew around the area and the flames followed. Soon, a ring of flames surrounded him. He clenched his teeth and drew his arm back.
"Re-Impact!"
He threw a punch and the air itself shook as an invincible force rushed towards Kiara and the Iron Rain members. They were blown away along with several buildings close to them. When everything settled, Impactor was the only one standing in the sea of flames. Kiara laid on the ground with her body aching. She sat up and saw Impactor standing in front of her.
"Your lackeys used their bodies to shield you. They must really love you."
Impactor's voice carried no malice or signs of mockery; he was just speaking his honest thoughts. Yet, this infuriated Kiara for some reason.
"They aren't lackeys, they're my comrades."
"I see."
Impactor brought his hand in front of her face while she glared at him.
"This is my win."
He flicked her forehead, and a dull noise rang in her head. Her brain was rattled, and her consciousness started to fade.
"Goddammit."
She mumbled as she passed out.
"That's all I remember."
Present time, Kiara was sitting around a table drinking with Sinvula and Bastion.
"So did you figure out his power?"
Bastion asked. Sinvula was silently fuming. Kiara nodded.
"You'll feel stupid when you realise how obvious it was. It's in the guy's name."
Bastion's eyes widened after thinking about it for a bit.
"Wait, no. That can't be."
Kiara nodded. She remembered looking at Impactor's body before passing out. There were burn marks, shallow cuts, skin tears all over his body, but no damage from brute force.
"He's able to absorb the impact of attacks."