Episode 19: Out of the Shadows

[Vengeance]

Another masked person was arriving to the scene, specifically from Alpha City's elevator. The one from the palace was filled with guards, but they still had some ways to go since they left a couple of seconds later. The distance from the two elevators wasn't far enough to where they couldn't discern an elevator going up and down, so they saw whoever it was on the elevator. He/she looked at the guards and saw how curious they were, but he/she didn't care. "I'd hope they don't confuse the person down there for me and walk up on me instead," he/she hoped. "I haven't killed anyone here...at least not yet."

Hades then drove its way out of the building by going straight up, and he/she caught a glimpse of the other masked individual for the first time. Hades received more attention though. "That looks a lot more menacing than I expected. Not bad." Krakix - with Siege in tow due to the latter's inability to fly - looked like he was chasing after Hades.

"They may be trying to capture Hades so the Hurranians can wield its power. That's probably why they're so committed to taking it down. That only leaves one question: what is that person up to running away from them rather than attacking?"

[Insidious]

Out of the corner of his/her eye, he/she saw many Royal Guard members descending from the palace and Beta City's elevators. Seeing this as a better time than ever to decrease their resistance, he/she ordered Hades to have them all destroyed. "Sorry, ladies and gentlemen. The battle's already over. You should go home now," he/she said. "...to hell. Ability activate! Photon Tail!" Hades's tails generated high amounts of its energy to secrete a violet laser beam out of each of them. It pointed them in several directions, catching all elevators in its line of fire. They were completely destroyed.

The next order of business was carelessly moving the lasers through the building, not worrying about anyone or anything that could be killed by the attack. What this did was make the building very unstable, given that it sliced through all of support it had remaining from Krakix and Siege doing their damage. The building started to collapse and was on track to having its service ending in the lava pools below.

"I'll be taking my leave now." Noticing that Krakix and Siege were slowed down by having to dodge Hades's attack, he/she needed to leave. Hades opened its three mouths and shot a laser beam out in front of them that later conjoined into a singular beam. The meeting point was where a portal was produced. "Later, maybe." Hades flew through along with Krakix and Siege behind them.

[Vengeance]

Hades's blast shattered the elevator shaft this particular masked person was in. Fortunately for him/her, the elevator itself was below the point that got destroyed. Everyone else who was coming down probably weren't. "If I had left just a few seconds later..." He/she knew that they dodged a bullet right there, but this also meant that no one was getting out of there using those elevators.

"Okay...how am I going to do this...?" Various parts of the building were on fire and the temperature was lower than it should have been. He/she started to feel the building shake, and since it never happened, there was definitely something to be concerned about. "What are you plotting now?" A laser came from the left side. "What!?" This time, he/she didn't have the reaction time of the other. He/she jumped out of the way, but wasn't fast enough; his/her arm was singed as punishment.

He/she screamed while holding his/her arm. He/she didn't let go of it at all. It'd probably be a first-degree burn at the worst from how it happened. He/she couldn't let that stop him/her though. He/she gathered the strength to get up as the building was collapsing and ran through numerous explosions and crumbling pathways to get to Xavier and the head scientist, both unconscious from their dealings with this butcher.

There was a slight pause from the person when he/she saw them lying on the ground with Xavier having a wound just below his nose. "Was it really that easy...?" The floor started to crumble, and so did their time remaining. He/she knew Xavier and the head couldn't be escorted out normally due to the injury, so he/she had no choice but to wait for the building to take them with it. When it did, the person opened his/her BakuMeter to open a dimensional portal in front of them for all three of them to fall through.

The person regained consciousness quickly, but still had noticeable arm pains from the burn. Looking up, he/she could see that they were on Earth. Xavier and the head's life signs were checked briefly to confirm that they were still living. He/she stayed there for a bit to see if they would awaken. When they wouldn't get up, he/she chose to leave them there while he/she pursues the other masked person with the Hades.

"You look pitiful down there. You're better than that..." He/she lifted up the bottom portion of his/her mask. He/she knelt down and kissed Xavier on the cheek and then returned the mask to its original position as he/she walked away.

[Noland Hardy]