Cole MacGrath

Cole woke up about a day after his encounter with Ace with a pounding headache. Ugh, he thought. That was awful. I feel so damn ashamed of myself I don't even want to leave this hole. Someone so weak shouldn't be allowed to roam the streets of a warzone like this.

Cole got up unwillingly. His joints were stiff and every movement pained him greatly, but he had his resolve. If he was going to patch together what was left of his self-respect he was going to have to take down the kid who had humiliated him.

Cole used his shockwave to blast the car directly beneath the hole in the roof of the tunnel. He gathered the electricity from the car's engine into his feet and jumped out with a burst of energy. He landed on the road harshly, cracking the cement.

Cole did a quick scan of the area's electricity, searching for Ace. He felt nothing out of the ordinary, not a single conduit in the joint. He widened his search area and tried again. This time he felt something. There was a powerful amount of dangerous bioelectricity in the Historic District; the biggest sign of an enemy conduit. The bridge to the Historic District was all the way across the Neon. Luckily, with no more Reapers running around, it was going to be smooth sailing all the way.

Cole jumped across the rooftops with no company but his thoughts and the gleeful shouts of the hero-worshippers below.

He landed at the foot of the newly repaired bridge. City engineers had been hard at work for days trying to build a footpath from the Neon into the Historic District. He was about halfway across the bridge when out of nowhere, a large man in a red coat slammed onto the bridge with tremendous force, cracking the pavement.

His voice seemed to have a second tier to it when he spoke, as if he had something dark and powerful hidden inside. "Hello, Cole; I've been waiting for you." He contorted his face into a twisted caricature of a smile.

Cole recognized the man's face. "Hey! You're that guy who asked to photograph me a week ago in the Historic District."

"Glad you recognize me."

Cole took notice of what the candid photographer was wearing. It seemed really familiar, but he couldn't place it. "So what do you want? Another photo shoot or something?"

"No, I've come for only one thing…."

Cole's eyes widened as the puzzle pieces slipped into place. The man drew a dagger out of the pocket of his coat and Cole finally recognized the sigil on his hood.

"And that's your life Cole!" The man's eyes widened and he stabbed his knife towards Cole. Cole was amazed by the speed and just barely dodged the switchblade.

Now I recognize it! It's a different colour, but that's the coat that Reaper conduits wear! And he's so fast, he wasn't like this a week ago!

"You're faster than I thought, Cole! But I'll get you!"

He stabbed again, and again, and again. Cole tried to fire off a lightning bolt, but there was no way to attack with the constant strikes of the Reaper.

What's up with this guy? Cole thought. He's so much different from before. I can't even try to shoot or he'll gut me!

After a few more minutes of the repetitive battle, Cole finally thought of a way to beat him.

Cole stayed rigidly still and waited for the knifeman's attack.

"Finally given up, MacGrath? It's about fuckin' time!"

The knife was about to plunge into Cole's stomach, but then he shifted himself slightly to the side and the dagger stabbed into Cole's side. He grinned happily.

"I've won, you damn flip-flopper!" Cole shouted excitedly. He aimed his arm at the head of his attacker and shocked him. The man dropped instantly, the knife still impaled in Cole's torso. He staggered towards the nearest lamppost, removed the knife from his body and siphoned the electricity into himself. The wound closed slowly and deliberately and he was then fully healed.

Cole ran the rest of the way across the historic district to reach the First Sons' HQ. He was shocked at what he saw. The compound was in ruins. There was a clear attempt to patch it up, but the huge, gaping hole in the centre of the building was pretty noticeable. As he got closer, Cole noticed that there was a group of people, about six of them, standing at the top of the building. He found that he recognized one of the people and immediately armed himself.

Ace stood in the middle of the group, of course. He was exactly the same as he had been the day before. He had the same black hair, enigmatic purple eyes and placid facial expression.

To his left was a very intimidating man. He had thin sharp eyes, long black hair tied back in a ponytail and huge muscles. He wore what appeared to be an ocean-blue martial arts gi.

To Ace's right was a man with almost the exact same expression as he had. The man had grey eyes and a light smile. His light brown hair appeared to dance on the breeze. He wore a brown riding jacket monogrammed with the initials DA.

Next to the brown haired man was one without many identifying characteristics, with the exception of an X-shaped scar on his forehead. He had military-style black hair and wore a black muscle shirt and camouflaged track pants. His right shoulder was tattooed with the emblem of the First Sons.

Next to the man in the gi with the long black hair was yet another black-haired man. He wore no shirt so the battle-scarred muscles of his upper body were visible. His hair stuck up at all different angles and he had a nasty, murderous look on his face.

The one next to him looked like a vagrant you might find at a junkyard. He wore a long black coat edged with filthy fake fur. Underneath that was a dirt-encrusted t-shirt that Cole imagined must have been white at one time. His scarlet hair stuck up in jagged tufts all over his head as if he had stuck his finger in a light socket. He also wore goggles on his forehead like a biker who wasn't riding.

Upon closer inspection, all six men wore the same sliver skull ring that Ace did.

Ace smiled down at Cole and said, "Hello, Cole. I thought you might show up soon, so I brought out the generals of my army to introduce to you."

"Generals?" Cole exclaimed. That was when he realized that he could sense their power even though he wasn't trying.

These guys are dangerous! Cole thought. He began to panic.

"You don't need to know their true names at this point so I'll just tell you their codenames." Ace gestured to each general as he spoke their names. "Sea Knight"—the one in the gi—"Bucking Horse"—the one in the riding jacket—"Giant's Might"—the man with the X-shaped scar—"Flame Colonel"—Ace gestured to the man with the unkempt black hair. Cole interrupted him at this point.

"Colonel? I thought you said these clowns were generals!" Cole was acting tough to hide the fear. The truth was that he was absolutely terrified because he knew he'd have to fight these guys. Where did he find freaks this strong? Cole thought angrily.

"Don't interrupt Cole. It's unfortunate, but you'll probably be killed by my generals. If you had only accepted my generous offer, you'd be able to survive what is to come. Now, to continue, this is Heavy Metal," he said, gesturing to the last general, the crimson-haired one in the black trench coat. "Now that you've met my generals, how about we—"

The one called Flame Colonel interrupted Ace this time: "Hey, I thought you said we'd get to fight now! Why can't you stop talking so that I can turn this stupid bastard to ashes!" The murderous glare in his eyes had gotten even worse since Cole arrived. "I just want to kill, and kill, and kill! That's the only reason I joined your stupid geek squad! You said there'd be blood!"

"Relax, my friend," Ace said calmly. "You'll get your fill of destruction in due time. However, I think it's time to go now, so let us leave."

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going," shouted Cole. "If you know I'm gonna be killed, why don't you just kill me now!"

"Oh please, Cole. It's not the right time for that. I have to let you get stronger before I take you down. It's no fun destroying you unless you're at your very strongest. I do want a rival." Ace smiled down at Cole. Cole glared up at Ace. "Goodbye Cole, I hope to see you again soon."

Ace and his generals retreated into the building. Cole could've gone after him, but he had nagging doubts in his mind that he really would be killed. He knew that he had to get stronger; the only question was, how.

A/N: I thought I owed you guys a longer chapter since I forgot to make the third chapter for so long, so enjoy.