Chapter Three

“Your time of villainy has come to an end, villain,” the big red oaf proclaimed, with his fist proudly perched on his belt and a cheesy grin wider than his shoulders. The Alpha Corps soldiers aimed their weapons at me. This was about to be their burial ground, but Metaman stopped them. “Lower your weapons, friends. The number seven hero is here to protect and serve!” 

I rolled my eyes, but as soon as they locked back on to the red dumbass, he was flying directly at me. I was too slow to react and he forced us back into the lobby--my back breaking through the doors and knocking them off their hinges--and in front of the elevator. He placed his hand around my neck and began to squeeze. Though his action felt sinister, his smile didn’t change from the cheesy one he flashed outside. It was as if he thought he was being humane. In the right. I guess I was one to judge. 

“Seventh…ranking…meaning…you’re not the strongest,” I said, taunting him. I was egging him on so he’d do something else, letting his grip loose. He chuckled.

“The ranking for Nobles just has to do with the number of people you’ve saved. It’s not a power ranking or some sort of tier list,” he said, tightening his grip. 

“So…you wouldn’t be at the top of the power ranking either, would you?” I goaded. His grip tightened even more. I could barely speak. 

“Of course, I would,” he said through his smiling, grit teeth. 

“Bet…Cap...tain…Cadet…could…beat…you.” Who was Captain Cadet? The number one Noble. The powerless number one Noble. 

It worked. He let go of my throat, but super-punched me in the stomach. And with my back against the closed elevator doors, it hurt that much more. He punched again and I felt a dent that formed from the last punch in the door. It’s like he was punching through my stomach. It definitely felt that way. A third punch sent me through the elevator doors and into the back wall of the elevator itself before he grabbed me and tossed me through the roof. 

As I floated in the air for a brief second, he floated before me--keeping his ridiculous grin--and tackled me against the back wall of the elevator shaft. It was covered in metal pipes and electrical wires that were now sticking out. He held me against the wall and began to fly the two of us upward, my back scraping against the back wall of the elevator shaft. I had endured enough of this pain. I grabbed his wrist and, using the wall as leverage, kicked him in the stomach, sending him to the other wall of the shaft. 

I stuck to the wall with my ice abilities and as he recovered he glared at me, keeping his smile still and flew at me again. Before he could hit me, I let go of the wall, falling some, but extending my hand out at the black ice I left behind. I forced it to grow and it stabbed through his shoulders. He grunted and snapped the ice off before diving down to grab me and take us both through the roof of the building, using my skull as a battering ram. 

He let go of me and I rolled to one side of the roof. As I gathered myself and got to my feet, he stood with his fists on his belt again, flashing that same. Goddamn. Smile. 

“Ha, ha, ha! You cannot possibly hope to win, villain. I outclass you in strength, speed, and durability,” he bragged. “Consider yourself lucky your regeneration has kept you alive for this long.”

“What about wit?” I asked. 

“What about it?”

“You don’t outclass me in that.”

I shot out a hand and managed to instantly freeze his cape. He kept eye contact with me as he punched his caped into small pieces of ice. His smile finally disappeared. 

“I have grown tired of this battle. You’ve clearly been backed into a corner with no hope of escape. Time to take you to the Pris--”

He had finally realized. With me freezing his cape, the black ice reached the back of his neck. Then it extended and crept to the middle of his back. He tried, with futile effort, to snatch it from the middle of his back, but his big, bulging muscles covered in his red spandex wouldn’t allow it. Perhaps if he was brighter, he could’ve flown upward slightly and slammed his back against the roof, but I wasn’t about to reveal anything. 

I held out my hand and caused the black ice to extend and shoot spikes into the rooftop, nailing him in place. To add injury to his injuries, I also extended the tiny pieces from his cape and shot them through his body as well. He wasn’t dead yet, but he was no longer mobile. I wasn’t finished. I placed my hands on the roof and formed a room of ice with a ceiling included. 

“The walls will do nothing, but alert everyone to--”

“Shut the fuck up,” I said as I caused a large ice spike to shoot through his shoulder from the wall. I retracted it and formed another one from the ceiling, hitting another non-vital spot. I continued to create and retract spikes from all over the room, sending them through him, as I approached him with a black icicle in hand. “You know, you big, brawny types never really give a shit about the destruction you cause to cities. You’re just happy when you think that you’ve found someone to be your match. And when you’re in that state of mind, civilian casualties are among the last things on your mind.”

I began to poke his throat with the icicle, drawing more blood. 

“But, what if one of those civilians you failed to give a fuck about became that match you were looking for?”

“P-Please--”

I drove the icicle through his throat. As he bled out, I dragged it through his face, all the way to the top of his head, splitting it in two. 

I dissipated the ice. It all disappeared into clouds of black mist and his lifeless body dropped. I peeked over the edge of the roof to see the magic Noble, Dr. Man, arrive with the nullifying Noble, Anthroman, and the shield Noble, Grim Guardian. 

I believed it disadvantageous to take them all one with my body still recovering, so I leapt off the roof and created a stream of ice to slide across until I reached a bar: The Bloodbath.