The Solar-Powered Man

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.