CHAPTER 11: A MATTER OF FAITH, PART 4
Over time, America has had its own 'capital' of crime, having one city notorious for murder and violence, brought upon the people by poverty and lack of outreach and help. In the 1970s, this capital was New York City. In the 1980s and 1990s, this capital was Los Angeles. In the 2000s and 2010s, this capital was Detroit.
Now, this capital has become Hillwood, Washington. But only for so long.
Where Hillwood once was a town synonymous with crime and violence just like its predecessors in the country's most violent towns, it has now become the ground zero for caped crusaders; costumed crimefighters that call themselves heroes. While there may be countless different heroes now throughout the country and even the world, leading to an oversaturation of the field, there is always a level of respect for the originals.
The introduction of superheroes has been nothing short of controversial and polarizing by the country, the fire only fueled by events like the the U.S. Department of Justice's failed SCRAP (Super-Crimininal Rehabilitation and Application Program) resulting in incidents like Royal Woods' S3 (the Silver Sentinel Scandal), and other various appearances of posthuman criminals.
Nonetheless, there has always been a strong connection to the various do-gooders who keep the heroic spirit alive, like the young and spirited Ace Savvy or the renegade racing group Rocket Power. But, as mentioned, there has always been the utmost respect and recognition for the originals of the trend: The Hillwood Heroes.
Gathering at their underground base located underneath the Lloyd Manor, the Heroes make their plans for the night's patrol work, but not all their thoughts lie on the job at hand. With an eventful evening set out for each of them, there is still a degree of doubt on other affairs that linger in their minds.
With Gerald and Phoebe, there is a sense of frustration towards each other, and anger towards themselves, regarding their differing views of the future of their relationship.
With Harold, he holds doubts on whether he should muster up the courage to once again speak to 'Big' Patty, and renew their relationship again.
With Nadine, there is still a remnant of concern over the mental state of Buckley Lloyd, hoping that his own tragic circumstances will come to eventually take their toll on him.
With Arnold, there is the very last issue he expected to encounter: The unresolved feelings he has towards Lila Sawyer. Ever since she had announced her love for him in San Lorenzo, Arnold has always remained ever-loyal to Helga, even going so far as to be engaged for marriage. Still, there is the presence of warmth he has for Lila, especially knowing her now as a young woman, and it toys with his heart even more.
For now, these men and women must put their own troubles aside, for there is now more important manners to be dealt with, regarding not their own concerns, but the concerns of others. With the welfare of the citizens of their city fresh in their minds, the Hillwood Heroes make their plans for their next patrol, splitting themselves up in groups to cover the most ground possible.
"Alright, there's no sort of special case or report of any groups making any organization tonight, so we should have a fairly standard night ahead of us. For patrols, here's how I see ourselves going: Green Eye, G-Funk, and Lady Tetsu, you three head down Toran Lane and watch things there. Star of David, Bad Boy, and Dirt Man, you three take Van Dyke Place. Insect Girl, Flower Child, and Mauve Avenger, you three are on Klein Street. I'll patrol Linz Avenue, shouldn't be too much for me there to need backup." Valiance said.
"Um, Valiance? I don't suppose maybe I could come with you on your patrol?" Lady Tetsu asked.
The question of wishing to patrol with someone else was an unusual move for Lady Tetsu, everyone looking at her request in confusion. Knowing of her relationship with G-Funk, the conscious effort to be away from him seemed strange to hear for themselves.
"You want to be on a different team? Despite being insistent that you stay with G-Funk on most patrols?" Valiance asked.
"I just... I just need a change-up for now. Is that okay?" Lady Tetsu asked.
"Hmph. Well, I don't take sidekicks, so you'll have to switch. Any of you feel like trading off?"
"I mean, does anyone have to switch? Arnold can easily take on anyone by himself, he'll barely need me or even Gerald."
"Fine, then. You can go with Insect Girl's team. And remember to use our code names when we're on duty."
Taking her designated spot with Insect Girl, Flower Child, and Mauve Avenger, Lady Tetsu gained a few strange looks from the others, but also a look of disappointment from G-Funk. Though no one immediately sense the problem with the two, it was more than evident between these two, but not clear enough to find its resolve yet.
"Right. Now, patrols should come to an end around 3 AM like usual. Let's get started and move out." Valiance said.
Breaking off the meeting, the Hillwood Heroes organized their own groups to head out on their patrols, pairing up their teammates and preparing themselves for whatever battle may come their way. Lady Tetsu, joining with the group of Insect Girl, Flower Child, and the Mauve Avenger, had a few strange looks from the group, none understanding why she chose to run a separate group from G-Funk.
"So, what's with the sudden switch? Gerald getting under your skin?" Nadine asked.
"Eh, I'd rather not talk about it." Lady Tetsu said.
"But what's going on between you guys? You two were, like, the 'it' couple since we knew you." Flower Child said.
"I said I don't want to talk about it, okay? Can we please just go?"
"Oh, okay. But we could probably help if you talk about it."
"Maybe later. I just need to get my mind off it for a little bit."
"Well, maybe we can take care of that just fine. An all girls' night out? Sounds like fun to me. Well, I'm still a guy, but you know what I mean." Mauve Avenger said.
As all the Heroes began making their departures to their respective streets to patrol, keeping with their organized plan to evenly distribute their manpower down separate streets of Hillwood. Heading down the concrete path of Toran Lane, the dynamic duo of the Green Eye and G-Funk began their patrol of the area; both keeping watchful eyes over the streets and the people patrolling.
Much like most of their usual patrols, the presence of the two led to much good feedback from various Hillwoodians, some giving waves or honking their car horns, and others greeting the two in person, giving high-fives, or asking for autographs, among other things. The majority of superheroes in the country might look on these opportunities for simply hollow adoration, but the Green Eye sees each instance as a chance to brighten up someone's day, happy to offer his kindness to anyone who might need some.
Typically, G-Funk follows his lead, and tries his best to keep the same sentiments. With his own troubles in his romantic life, this task is not so easy anymore, as he feels the weight and pressure of his loved one beating down on him for change. Not one to openly accept change just yet, G-Funk could not bring himself to accept some of the proposals Lady Tetsu put forth, leaving the two at a temporary stalemate in their relationship.
The Green Eye's focus remained mostly on the job of the patrol, but his concern for his best friend does not leave him, nor permit him to ignore the issue.
"Hey, G-Funk. Something wrong?" The Green Eye asked.
"Huh?" G-Funk asked.
"Are you okay? You don't look too focused on the job."
"Uh, no, man, I'm fine. Really."
"I don't need to use my empathy powers to know something's wrong, G-Funk, and I won't use it on you because I respect your privacy. If something's wrong, you can tell me. I'm your friend. Is it Lady Tetsu?"
Swallowing down a dose of pride and discomfort, G-Funk brought himself to answer the question.
"Well, Eyeman... Things ain't 100 percent between us right now." G-Funk said.
"How so?" The Green Eye asked.
"See, it's like this... Uh... She's talkin' 'bout a whole lot of stuff about marriage and college and stuff. She says that she wants to start thinking about the future."
"And what'd you say?"
"I said I didn't want to talk that much about it. She tells me about how she gets some pressure from her dad, and I tried to take her mind off it, but it wasn't really helping. I was telling her that I just wanted to enjoy what we got for the moment; not rush into anything."
"Well, you guys have been together for longer than any of can remember, don't you think you could use a little growth?"
"I don't know, man. I just never really put a lot of thought into things in the future like that. You know me, I was always a 'live-in-the-moment' guy. If you ain't enjoying the life you're living, then what's the point of living?"
"But what about living with somebody you love? Don't you think that's a life worth living?"
"Absolutely, man, no doubt about that. But I don't see the point in changing what we got right away. If it ain't broken, why fix it? I mean, I know this sounds kinda weird; you, havin' only a few years together with Helga and on your way to marriage, and me, the one with the longer relationship and not being for marriage, at least not yet."
"I admit that what I have with Helga's not for everybody, but you have to think about your own life. You love Lady Tetsu, don't you?"
"Hell, yeah, I do."
"Then you guys have got to put a focus on your future together. She's obviously trying her best to think about both of your interests, so, what's stopping you from heading on the next step of your relationship, work on your future?"
"Actually, man, it's you and all the guys. I've lived in Hillwood my whole life, I ain't ready to leave yet. You and I are best buds, you think I can just ditch that so easy?"
"Well, I'm certainly not in a hurry to see you go, either, but, as your friend and hers, I care about both of your futures."
"Still, Eyeman, I don't know. I love her, but you're still my best bud. I mean, how much stuff have you and I gone through together? We saved our neighborhood from being bought out by Scheck and turned into some shopping mall, we beat La Sombra and saved both your parents and the Green-Eyed People, and we also stopped the Freak from causing all kinds of crazy shit like taking over our old school."
Hearing the name of the Freak spoken yet again, the Green Eye paused in his own speech for a brief moment, never so easy to hear the name of one of his most feared enemies spoken again.
"Yeesh... I never can get used to hearing that name." The Green Eye said.
"Still shook up about him?" G-Funk asked.
"It's never easy to get over him. Not only did he nearly kill Helga, he threw an entire group of people mad and tried to kill us. Regular people, he turned into an angry, killer mob. I've never seen anything like that in my life. I already knew Curly was 'off' back when we knew him in school, but I still can't believe that he was capable of the things he did."
"Yeah. Well, he's completely paralyzed thanks to you, so, I don't think we outta worry about him anymore. Maybe some of those dumb kids that follow him every once and a while, but, if you can stop 'em by just putting them up for a round of football, then, I wouldn't lose any sleep over them, either."
"I never meant to paralyze him, G-Funk, I made that very clear. I might have thought about it for a moment, but I would have never actually done it. He shot me in the stomach, I lost my grip, and he pulled me down with him."
"Hey, I believe you, man. I'm just saying, ain't nobody woulda blamed you for droppin' that psycho. Some might have even told you to do it from a larger height, make sure that piece of shit never walks again at all."
"G-Funk, stop. That's not how we handle things. We don't kill people. We're not the bad guys."
"I know that, man, but this dude literally blew out a little girl's brains on live TV and laughed about it. You really expect me to show any sort of empathy for somebody like that?"
"Of course I do. His lack of empathy is what makes him the villain, what made him able to kill that girl and not feel a thing. You lose your empathy, you kill him, and you don't feel anything from it, then how are you different from him?"
"I would feel something from it. Knowing that I stopped him from killin' any more kids and not letting him do anything else."
"That was the attitude Valiance had before I got to him. He killed Torvald in cold blood for selling drugs. You knew Torvald, he was just a kid at heart who wanted to help his mother. Did he deserve to die because he sold drugs?"
"I'm not talkin' 'bout Torvald, Eyeman, I wouldn't have killed somebody like him. A little jail time is enough for somebody like that. But the Freak? He's a monster. You could tell me that Torvald wanted to help his mother, and I might give him some slack, but the Freak just wanted to hurt people. He just wanted to cause pain."
"His name is Curly, G-Funk. And he didn't want to cause pain. He wanted a good life."
"How do you know that, man? How the hell can you really look at me and side with some kinda killer like him?"
"You know I can experience whatever and all emotions someone can as they do. When I saw him on that rooftop during our fight, you know what I felt? Emptiness. Hatred. Rage. With each of those emotions, I saw what caused it. He was literally tortured by his parents for years. All that time when we knew him, all that time he was being abused by the people that were supposed to care for him, and we just laughed him off. I had no idea about any of it, and... and maybe if I had helped him, none of this would have happened. Maybe Rhonda wouldn't be dead. Or Nancy Moore. Or Gino. Or anybody he's killed. The fact that if we'd done something that much earlier, the fact that if I'd done something much earlier to help him, it makes me feel all the worse about myself."
With the Green Eye's speech cutting the air between them to a dead silence, G-Funk no longer continued on his focus on the Freak, realizing that he would have no more ground to take in the conversation. More than this, he had no intention of offending his best friend, leaving him to grow quiet out of respect.
"But, like I said, don't worry that much about me when it comes to your future. I know you and Phoebe have a great life ahead of yourselves together, and I don't want to be the one to end that for you. I'll always be your friend, but, as your friend, I want to do whatever is in your best interest." The Green Eye said.
Having the cold and uncomfortable ending of their intense debate be given a slight reprise with the Green Eye's last positive note, G-Funk gave a smile, feeling his confidence restored in himself once again. Thanking his friend for the soundful advice, G-Funk extended his fist and thumb up, prompting the Green Eye to complete their handshake.
Always glad to share his special handshake with his closest and best friend, the Green Eye returned the handshake, bringing an official and more positive end to their previous discussion.
"Thanks, Eyeman. Sometimes, your ability to look on the bright side impresses even me, knowing you so long. I still don't know how you do it." G-Funk said.
"Somebody has to." The Green Eye said.
Just as their friendly exchange of words came to an end, the time for words itself came to an end to give a call for action. Through the air, the two heard a terrified scream out of the corner of an alley; clearly communicating to the duo that there was a citizen in need of their help.
"Well, look at that. Showtime." G-Funk said.
Instinctively, the dynamic duo ran to a dark corner, seeking out the source of the endangered citizen calling for help. The search carried out by the Green Eye and G-Funk did not continue long, as the two found their search put to a quick stop by seeing the calling victim surrounded by a selection of three heavily-dressed suspicious characters.
Taking their brief moment to observe their targets, the Green Eye and G-Funk stood aside to study their enemies, waiting for the best moment to strike. While the victim does not know that his soon-to-be saviors are lying in wait for the moment, he takes his time to test his faith in these defenders of the city, hoping that they will come to his rescue in time.
"Alright, pal, you ain't goin' anywhere. Give us your money." One mugger said.
"No way! The Green Eye or one of his pals are gonna show up any second now. You all better get away from me before they put some hurt on you guys!" The victim said.
"The Green Eye? Gimme a break. You got better odds of surviving jumping out of a plane than having that dork in green spandex save you here. Now, we ain't gonna ask again, kid. Give us your money or we're gonna kill you. In what way is this a hard decision?"
"The fact that people like you still don't get that this is my town." The Green Eye said.
Turning their attention to the two defenders of Hillwood, the muggers looked on the Green Eye and G-Funk not with fear or intimidation, but some form of satisfaction. Anyone would easily doubt why these attackers would anticipate the arrival of superheroes to fight them, but, if they could see their steel-like stances and smiles growing underneath their heavy cloaks, their doubts would be nil.
"Ha. For a second there, we thought you really weren't going to show up." The lead mugger said.
"Huh?" The Green Eye said.
"Say what now?" G-Funk asked.
"We've been looking for you guys for weeks. You know how long a drive it was to get here in Hillwood?" The lead mugger asked.
"Wait... You want to fight us?" The Green Eye asked.
"Of course we do. Getting yourself some respect in this field's hard to get, so, to get our foot in, we wanted to start with the best: You."
As the mysterious muggers commented on their goals of attaining the attention of the Green Eye, the once-victim of the muggers stood by in confusion; not sure what to make of this turn of events.
"So, uh, are you guys, like... not gonna rob me anymore?" The victim asked.
"Beat it, kid. We got what we want outta you." The lead mugger said.
Not interested in the victim anymore, the lead mugger pushed him away, shooing him off as he now had his main objective. While the victim was not too keen on the methodology in which he was dismissed in, he could barely complain about the results; putting him out of the situation and out of harm's way.
The Green Eye and G-Funk, however, were not so clear of any danger yet. With the Green Eye wielding his staff and G-Funk holding his Sonic Fork, the only danger that would seem to be apparent for these two would be a sense of boredom shortly to come, these three muggers appearing more than easy to defeat between the two.
But, as we all know, appearances can be deceiving.
Taking a small object from his pocket, the lead mugger tossed it to the ground, letting it slide towards the two superheroes. The Green Eye and G-Funk, looking down to the item, held their weapons in preparation for defense, but the appearance of the object led them to let their guards down.
"Is that a... hockey puck?" G-Funk asked.
Looking down at the small object, appearing to be some sort of hockey puck with various electronic pieces, the thrown item let out an electronic burst which pushed the two superheroes back, sending them flying to the ground with its blast. Quickly picking themselves up to continue their attack against the cloaked enemies, the Green Eye and G-Funk found the three fleeing the scene.
Obviously unable to let the criminals escape their sight, the two began pursuing the fleeing muggers, keeping just enough of a distance to see what these strange attackers might be planning. On the way of their pursuit, the two found themselves questioning their motivations aloud to mentally explore their reasons.
"So, what do you think these guys are up to?" G-Funk asked.
"Obviously, they want to fight us. From what I could read, they're looking to make themselves look like respected supervillains." The Green Eye said.
"But what's with the hockey puck gag? You think these guys know those guys down in Ocean Shores? What's their names... Rocket Power? I think they use something like those pucks."
"Maybe. We'll have to wait and see."
Soon, their pursuit led them outside the Hillwood Community Center, where the three muggers made their way inside. G-Funk was more than enthusiastic about making his retaliation on the attackers, but the Green Eye was not so brash in his attacks, stopping his partner for a moment's time to plan.
"Hey, what's the deal?" G-Funk asked.
"This could be a trap. We'll call in backup first." The Green Eye said.
"And let 'em get away?"
"They clearly brought us here for a reason, they won't be going anywhere until they get what they want."
Not taking the Green Eye's advice, G-Funk began rushing into the building, leaving all care and concern behind in favor of action without consequence. The Green Eye was extremely disapproving of his actions, but had no choice but to head inside the center with him, unable to leave his best friend to face danger alone. Before heading inside, however, the Green Eye had sent out a scramble on his communicator, calling for backup to arrive soon.
As his signal was sent out, the Green Eye ran inside the Community Center, joining with G-Funk inside. Catching back up with his partner, the duo were united yet again, each now proceeding inside the building carefully. Entering the Hillwood Community Center, the two heroes held themselves tightly towards one another; neither able to immediately spot the threats within.
"That was stupid, G-Funk. We don't know what we're dealing with. Lucky for you, I sent out a scramble to the others for help." The Green Eye said.
"We're dealing with 3 guys with some weird weapons in a dark building and we're somewhere where help is far away from us. That's a good sign that we don't know what we're dealing with."
"Well, you can see in the dark and sense where they are. Can't you see these guys yet?"
"I'm looking, haven't spotted them yet."
"Don't bother looking, we'll save you the trouble." A voice said.
Before either hero could react to the sound of the voice, the front doors to the Community Center shut, closing off the one source of light for the building. The pitch blackness that followed did not last long, however, as the lights to the building soon came on, revealing the three attackers standing atop some elevated positions on the building.
"Now, we've finally got you right where we want you, Green Eye." The leader said.
"Who are you guys? Some kind of S.C.R.A.P. rejects?" The Green Eye asked.
"No, we're not like those losers. You can call us..."
The leader and his two subordinates shed their cloaks at last, revealing their outfits underneath. These 3 attackers showed themselves to wear suits extremely similar to the infamous Rippers of the Ocean Shores Incident, but visibly produced in a lesser manner than the 'true' Rippers; having actual sports equipment rather than anything too fancy for weapons.
"...THE REAL RIPPERS!" The three shouted.
"So, it's not bad enough that we eventually get some idiot supervillains, but we get rip-off supervillains, too?" G-Funk asked.
"As our name implies, my friend, you'll find that we're no rip-offs, but we're the real deal. Rippers, lets show these guys why we're the 'Real' Rippers!" The leader said.
[Soundtrack Cue: Suicidal Tendencies - Go'n Breakdown]
Jumping off from their posts, the Real Rippers began skating across the floor, all heading towards the dynamic duo to begin their attack, all skating forward with anti-gravity rollerblades. Preparing their first strike, the leader dropped down another Gravity Puck, proceeding to take his hockey stick and whack it towards his targets.
Unable to afford another strike from their Gravity Pucks, the Green Eye took his staff and deflected it, sending the puck sliding back towards its sender. Not immediately ready for the attack, the leader of the Real Rippers just narrowly dodged the strike; its impending blast sending him against the wall.
"High sticking, that's a 2-minute penalty!" The leader said.
"With you guys' misconduct, I doubt you got any real argument." G-Funk said.
"Enough games, G. We need to take these guys down." The Green Eye said.
"Too late for that, Eyeman. I think the hockey team from Hell here already put us in the game. Might as well play."
Taking another Gravity Puck and slapping its towards the heroes, the Real Rippers quickly found that the Green Eye and G-Funk were quick to adjust to the fight, quickly fighting back the Real Rippers at their own game of hockey. G-Funk, taking his Sonic Fork and knocking the puck around as if his weapon were a hockey stick, slapped the Gravity Puck towards the group of 3 to break them up.
As the puck fired its gravity blast, it served just that purpose, splitting the 3 Real Rippers across different areas of the building. With the group now divided, it came for the second part of their plan: Conquer.
"I'll take the left, you take the right." The Green Eye said.
"Got it." G-Funk said.
Moving towards the Ripper on the right, G-Funk made his approach to his target, readying his Sonic Fork in hand to fight off against his chosen target. Soon enough into his charge, he found that this Ripper was just as ready for the fight, wielding in his hand a hockey stick, outfitted with the same technology as the pucks.
Seeing some of the equipment lined on the stick, G-Funk naturally assumed that it was outfitted with the same technology as the Gravity Pucks. After colliding his Sonic Fork with it, his assumption turned out to be quite correct. With this first collision followed many more collisions, each in a series of mutual strikes, each deliverer intent on destroying the other.
With a luck enough strike to G-Funk's feet, the Ripper managed to send the disco-themed superhero to his feet, soon to be sent to his grave with a strike from his Gravity Stick, shown to have a serrated metal blade on the end. As the Ripper threw his stick up in preparation to strike, G-Funk revealed that the Ripper was not the only one with fancy weapons, nor wits.
Aiming the Sonic Fork towards the Ripper, G-Funk sent the foe flying back with a soundwave attack, sending a frequency out that landed him against the wall. Despite a few struggles and groans, and a few twitches, the Ripper was shown not to get back up again, despite a few good tries.
"That's the sound of soul, baby." G-Funk said.
On the other end of the room, the Green Eye came into contact with his own opponent, meeting with the other of the two subordinate Real Rippers. Just as the Ripper that G-Funk was facing had his own weapon to defend himself, this Ripper, too, had his own specialized means of attack.
Taking out two baseball bats outfitted with various technological enhancements that the Gravity Pucks shared, these baseball bats were presumed as well to have the same abilities as the pucks. Unlike G-Funk, however, the Green Eye did not grant his opponent a chance to display these weapons' capabilities in full.
Instead, the Green Eye lunged forward with his staff, aiming it straight to the Ripper's chest. Making contact with his target and pushing him forward, the Ripper began skating backwards as a result of his target. Soon, the Ripper made contact with the wall, landing a hearty strike to the back of his head and his spine against the concrete wall.
Though, now, he sought to return that favor on the Green Eye. Taking his Gravity Bats and grabbing the staff around them, the Ripper skated around the Green Eye, putting himself opposite to the wall and pushing the Green Eye straight into it. With his target against the wall and seemingly defenseless, the Ripper prepared his bat to use against the pinned-down Green Eye.
Making his own counter-attack, the Green Eye slid down the floor and between the Ripper's legs, avoiding the strike and letting him hit the wall instead. Watching the bat hit the wall, the Gravity Bat's impact left a good-sized hole in the wall; grimly reminding the Green Eye what could have become of him if he had not avoided the strike in time.
Propping himself up on his feet again, the Green Eye sent a kick towards the Ripper, sending him skating towards the wall yet again. This time, however, the Ripper used his anti-gravity rollerblades to skate up the wall, kicking off the wall and landing behind the Green Eye yet again.
Readying his bats once again, the Ripper prepared to land the Green Eye into the wall, perhaps this time pushing him into the hole in the wall that he had created. Rather than try to keep on with this cycle with the wall, however, the Green Eye opted for a different means to end the fight.
Stepping to the side, the Green Eye allowed the Ripper to hit the wall once again, letting the impact increase the hole in the wall. Upon the impact, the Green Eye used his staff to knock the bats out from his hands, officially disarming his opponent and leaving him open for one last attack.
With one finishing blow, the Green Eye leapt up into the air, throwing a straight heel kick right to the Ripper's face. Feeling the impact of a hard boot collide with his face, the Ripper went straight out cold, being sent on his back and left unconscious.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Finishing off his opponent, the Green Eye met back up with G-Funk, both fresh off their own wins, and both now ready to face off against the last of the Real Rippers: Their leader. While both of his subordinates were down and out, the leader was not ready to follow the remainder of his group. Arming himself with a Gravity Puck in each hand, the leader prepared himself for the attack of the two to come, readying both explosives in suicide-bomber fashion.
"I didn't come this far to lose, I didn't come this far to surrender!" The leader said.
"Give it up, pal. Your buddies are out, and you ain't gettin' any help here." G-Funk said.
"Forget it! I came here looking for a chance at glory and fame, not for your pathetic semantics!"
"Listen to me. I know what you want is recognition. I can see how you feel. You want to be loved by someone, but this is not the way. I can help you find other ways to-" The Green Eye began to say.
"Forget it! You're not gonna sweet-talk me, Green Eye! I know your stupid little tricks, you're not gonna-!"
Before the leader of the Real Rippers could make further on his threats, a loud crashing sound began to come from the ceiling, prompting the whole party to send their attention to it. Coming down from the ceiling was not only a shower of broken glass from the window, but Valiance, the white knight of the Hillwood Heroes, coming to the rescue of the Green Eye and G-Funk, landing between them and the leader of the Real Rippers.
"Got your scramble." Valiance said.
"A little late to the party, man. We've pretty much wrapped it up except for this guy." G-Funk said.
"Then you won't mind if I take care of this one."
"Oh, I don't think so, you caped cocksuckers. I don't care how many of yourselves you throw at me, I'll be the one who wins here!" The leader shouted.
Taking his Gravity Pucks in his hands, the leader charged himself towards Valiance, preparing to detonate them on the white knight and gain himself a victory on this night. Not aware of the nature of the Real Rippers and their weapons, Valiance drew his sword, preparing to use it on his opponent.
Before Valiance could make his first strike, however, the Gravity Pucks detonated, sending both him and the leader of the Real Rippers across opposite ends of the Community Center. As the two opponents flew across, Valiance lost his grip on his sword, letting it fly through the air. In its flight path, its blade made its way across the Green Eye's cheek, drawing some blood by way of a deep cut.
While the Green Eye held his face to prevent himself from spilling much blood, Valiance and the remaining Real Ripper landed on differing ends of the building; Valiance in a pile of stacked chairs, and the Ripper into a podium, shattering it as he flew through it.
Picking himself up from the attack, Valiance made his way back to the leader of the Real Rippers. As he was left mostly unharmed by the blast by thanks to his armored suit, the Ripper was not so lucky, being severely cut and injured by several scraps of wood and the blast taking most energy out of him. Recognizing some of the technology from a stolen piece of technology that led to the Ocean Shores Incident, Valiance sought to interrogate the Ripper for information regarding it.
"That was anti-gravity technology. Where did you get it?" Valiance asked.
"Screw you..." The leader said.
Not accepting of this answer, Valiance stepped on the Ripper's leg, crunching it underneath his foot. As his leg was already broken from the impact of being sent through a wooden podium, the pressure of Valiance's boot was even worse, forcing him to scream out in pain.
Though Valiance believed himself to be justified in his interrogation, G-Funk and the Green Eye were not so approving.
"Hey, V, you just crippled the man!" G-Funk said.
"He's young, he'll probably walk again. But you'll also talk, won't you, punk?" Valiance asked.
"Agh! Okay, okay, the designs for Rocket Power's gear got leaked and we built the stuff ourselves, okay?! Shit, man, we had to build it out of our own sports gear and some computer parts, why do you think they look like shit?!" The leader asked.
"Where'd you get the designs?"
"The internet, man! Anybody can get that shit if they want! Just look for yourself!"
Content (though not pleased) with the answer he got, Valiance released his foot from the Ripper's leg, letting him suffer slightly less in his current state. Heading over to his sword and picking it up from the ground, Valiance prepared himself to head out of the Community Center, leaving the Real Rippers to be handled by the authorities.
"Let's move. We've only got so long before the cops arrive." Valiance said.
"Yeah, no problem, just leave these guys here to die, why don't ya?" G-Funk asked.
"Ambulances are on their way as well. I called 911 before I got inside. Figured we'd have it wrapped up for them."
As the heroes began to leave the center, Valiance took notice of the Green Eye's cut, watching blood still pour from his face.
"That gonna heal up soon?" Valiance asked.
"Soon. It was a deep cut, but I'll be fine." The Green Eye said.
"Good. Wouldn't want DNA left behind for the cops to find out our identities."
"Oh, and it's not like, y'know, he was cut? By your sword?" G-Funk asked.
"He can heal from anything. Ask him if you don't believe me."
Angered by Valiance's cold reaction, G-Funk began making his way away from the scene, with the Green Eye following close behind to safety. While the two heroes were well on their way to somewhere away from the authorities, Valiance, before sheathing his sword, took notice of one important detail from it.
Where the blood drawn from the Green Eye would have dried by now like normal, the blood still appeared to be wet. Even from being spread out on the sword, the blood clumped itself together in droplets, as if trying to stay formed and keeping itself alive like a living entitiy.
The fight between the Real Rippers might not have gained him any information regarding the equipment, perhaps this blood held some kind of key to bringing back his daughter at last.