Chapter 3
In the underground hideout, the masked man limped his way to the light bulb at the center, where he saw three people and his master waiting for him. One wore golden gladiator armor and a golden dagger, the other one had messy black hair and artificial arms, and the third one had a ponytail, a plain white shirt, and jeans.
"Good morning, Havoc," the gladiator said to the masked man. The tone of his voice was friendly, but Havoc knew that he was being played with. "You seem pretty beat up."
"We've heard about the Solar-Powered Man and what he did to you," the man with a ponytail said. "He must be stronger than we thought."
Before Havoc could defend himself, the man was behind him with a knife touching his throat. "What's this all about?" Havoc asked.
"You have failed your mission, Havoc," Wrath said. "You weren't able to capture the Amphibian. And then you found the Solar-Powered Man, the most powerful of all lamedvavniks, and he kicked your arse."
Havoc wasn't listening. Instead, he was thinking of a way to escape the underground base without dying in the process. He ran a finger across the blade of the knife. "Well, I'm sorry about that, Master," he began. "But what will you gain if I die?"
He could see his master's surprise in his eyes. Havoc took this as an opportunity. "See? You would not gain anything. You would lose one of your best servants."
"You? One of the best servants?" the gladiator laughed. "Prove it, then. Prove to me that you are one of the best servants here!"
Havoc inhaled. Then, with two fingers, he slid the knife out of Ponytail's hand and threw it into the darkness. He gave Ponytail a good kick to the solar plexus, then, still in mid-air, he kicked his head. Hard.
He turned to face the other two and gestured them to approach him. The gladiator charged with a Trojan War battle cry. He drew his golden dagger, but Havoc kicked it off his hand. The gladiator cursed and gave Havoc a right hook. The punch connected, and Havoc fell down. His heart was palpitating; he needed to escape fast or he'd be a goner. And he also needed to find a new mask, for his was about to give in.
"Hey, Kyrios!" He called out to the man with the artificial arms. The gladiator picked Havoc up by the neck, and he saw his opening. Havoc kicked the gladiator's golden chest plate, and he staggered to keep his balance. The masked man wasn't going to give him time to do so, because he lunged and tackled him to the ground.
Kyrios pulled Havoc away from the gladiator, and he was caught by the ponytailed man. Havoc cursed and grabbed the man's leg, but let go the instant he saw the 'XXXVI' tattoo on his right leg. "Don't tell anyone," Ponytail whispered before Havoc could say anything. He kicked Havoc in the face, and his mask broke into pieces. He immediately covered his bleeding face with his gloved hand. He got up, dodged a punch, jumped over a kick, and slid past a tackle.
The three men were about to run after the escapee, but Wrath said, "No, it is a wild goose chase. There's only one person fast skilled enough to catch him." He stared at the darkness. "Come out, Genkai."
A slouching long-haired man stepped out of the darkness. "Sora Genkai," he said. He pulled out seven swords out of his black robe, and seemed to be quite skilled with them, as he was twirling them around. "At your service."
Meanwhile, at the Sterling train station, a man called through a mega phone, "All aboard for Altara!"
Chase boarded the steam train for Altara. With his house gone, he had nowhere to stay. Then he realized that his Aunt Nannie lived in Altara. He only brought enough money for him to pay for the train and meals, because the safe was burnt down, along with his clothes and food.
As he sat down at the last row (he disliked riding with strangers beside him) and watched the view of Sterling, many things went through his mind. I'll have to rewear these clothes until I get to Altara, he looked at his red shirt and black jeans and smelled them. Still good, for now.
Pryce said that he'll be heading north. If he travelled by lake Umami, he would probably be at Central by now. And since Altara is just beside Central, maybe I could visit him sometime.
Oh yeah, I wonder what happened to the masked man? His face wrinkled at the thought of him. He was the man who set fire to his house. He was the man who killed his mother. He was the man whom he had almost killed.
He looked at his hands. The feeling of punching the man was much different than when he punched the wall. Punching the man felt good. But he had the intention to kill him. He ran a hand through his caramel hair and sighed. He was a righteous man, a man who would never kill anyone.
Then, a gunshot echoed across the unit. It hit one of the lights and everyone was surprised. Chase saw a man at the center with a bandanna covering his nose and mouth, a pair of shades, and a cowboy hat. It reminded him of a bandit, those who attack freight trains and such. He was yelling at everyone to get down. Chase did as told, and so did everyone else on board. A second gunshot was fired. It made a hole on the roof.
"Listen 'ere," said the bandit. He yanked a little girl out of her seat and pointed his gun at her head. "I'm gunna let this lil' fella go if I get all of yer munny." He cocked the gun. The little girl screamed.
Chase's eyes widened. It's a ransom! And he's going to kill her if someone wouldn't save her on time! He scanned the place for a ray of sunlight, but the brightest one he found was from the hole on the roof. Maybe… just maybe…
He stood up and faced him. The bandit's eyes widened. Then he said with a chuckle, "Well, hell-o there, junior."
"Let her go," Chase said.
"Confident, eh? I like it. But what ye gunna do if I don't?"
"Oh, you wouldn't want to know. Now, let her go."
"Was gunna happ'n if I don't?"
He put his palm under the tiny ray of sunlight. A tiny speck of sunlight twirled around it. But it was so slow that it died out. Uh-oh.
The bandit saw Chase's scared expression and laughed. "Ha ha! Just as I thought. Ye ain't got nothin'. I like yer guts, though."
Chase shook his hand some more. Come on, sunlight! Make a Fireball! he thought. It's getting awkward!
"I s'pose I'll get ye first," the bandit pointed his gun at Chase.
The boy's palm was getting sweaty and red, so was his face. He swore. He was concentrating on the sunlight so hard that he was getting exasperated and fatigued. Not to mention humiliated.
So this is it, he thought. He put his hands in the air. This is how I die. But at least I stood up to that little girl. Urgh, it would have been better if I just kept my mouth shut and gave away my money.
He closed his eyes. Then he heard a gunshot. Then some gasps.
When he opened them, they widened. The bullet was just an inch away from his glabella. He staggered back and realized that it was caught by an ice sculpture. He looked at the bandit, who was just as shocked as he was.
A boy stepped out from the front row. His brown hair was long, swept to the left, covering both his eyes. He wore a black jacket, sleeves rolled to the elbows, black jeans and black sneakers. "Stand back," he told Chase. "Let me handle this." He had a strange Asian accent.
The bandit dropped his gun and let the little girl go. "Who are you?"
"Call me Hyun. And what were you doing to the little girl?"
Hyun was about to strangle the bandit, but after a high-pitched whistle, four more bandit goons appeared and tossed Hyun aside. Chase tried to get a fireball again, but he still couldn't. Hyun got up and slammed both hands on the floor. A giant iceberg shot out from the floor and ripped open half of the roof, and two of the goons were thrown out of the train.
Chase charged and kicked the remaining two bandit goons while Hyun made two smaller icebergs that threw them out. The bandit leader threw his arms in the air. Chase saw his chance and concentrated on the fireball. The sunlight was so strong and wide that he finally formed it.
Hyun's eyes widened at the sight of the huge spinning fireball. Chase wondered if it would kill the bandit, so he aimed it at the iceberg. It melted and the strong flow splashed on the bandit's head, knocking him out. The water went out of the unit through a hole underneath, and luckily no one got wet except for the bandit leader.
The train didn't seem to stop or slow down; it just kept on going. Chase told the people on board that everything's taken care of. On the other hand, Hyun was staring at Chase, still awestruck after seeing the fireball.
"You're… you're… The Solar-Powered Man!" Hyun's expression darkened as he turned his hands into ice. The ice formed a sword on his right and a shield on his left. Then he charged.