(Flare sees Focus closing in on her with an energized fist, and she swings a fiery fist at him as well, but just before their fists collide, the two of them are taken by surprise from their left side by a punch to the face, and the one who dealt that blow is none other than Boltix. This sucker punch sends both Flare and Focus flying and tumbling into a rooftop, the former’s developing neon red aura fading away, and as the two get back up on their feet, they glance at Boltix through gritted teeth, who meets their expressions with an excited smirk.)

  Flare: (gritting her teeth) Just when it was getting good! So who’s the party pooper?

  Boltix: (smirking) Party pooper, you say? Girl, I’m the whole party! Name’s Boltix!

  Focus: (gritting his teeth) You’re one of the Sparks, aren’t you? What’re you doing here?

  Boltix: Oh, so you know about us after all. Wait, you’re the guy Aegis sent after the girl?!

  Focus: (unamused) You’re saying that as if I don’t look the part.

  Boltix: (smirking) You probably don’t. Wait, scratch that. Definitely. You definitely don’t look the part.

  Focus: (sternly, clenching his fists) Perhaps not, but I can play the part… better than anyone else.

  (Focus dashes at Boltix for a blow, while Flare watches with blank bafflement. Focus attempts a punch at Boltix, but he propels himself upwards in a flash of lightning then swipes both his hands, launching several lightning strikes at Focus, who jumps out of the way. However, Boltix crashes into the rooftop Focus is standing on, unleashing an electric shockwave that sends Focus skidding back, and then he dashes at him with a rapid burst of speed and lands a kick at his face with an energized foot, sending him flying.)

  Boltix! The Kinetic Surge! You may mistake his ability for a regular Lightning Surge, but it’s even more awesome than that! He can amplify the kinetic energy he generates with electricity, which can perform a lot of functions, including amplifying the power behind his blows, increasing speed and range of motion, and unleashing projectiles with a simple swipe from his hand! Let’s not forget that he’s also a crazy adrenaline junkie!

  (Boltix dashes at Focus once again for another blow, a trail of electricity emitted from his legs, but the latter quickly and eloquently dodges that blow. Boltix quickly turns to him and attempts another punch, but Focus grabs his fist and acrobatically kicks him in the chin, sending him flying.)

  (Boltix regains his balance and glances at Focus with a smirk, chuckling a bit in excitement, and the latter dashes at him once again. Boltix keeps swiping both of his hands, unleashing several lighting bolts from the kinetic energy generated from his hands, through which Focus eloquently passes through. As he swings his fist for a punch, the two get interrupted by a fireball from Flare, who glances at the two of them in bafflement.)

  Flare: (baffled) Okay, are both of you really after me? I myself don’t see the appeal. And you two are jerks, you know that? (annoyed) I didn’t even get to introduce myself! You two didn’t introduce yourselves either! (to Boltix) Well… you did, at least. Hey, Bolt. I’m Flare. Not-so-nice to meet you.

  Boltix: (muttering, blankly) It’s Boltix. Not-so-nice to meet you too.

  Flare: (to Focus, annoyed) Now you talk, Sasuke character archetype!

  Focus: (blankly) Focus.

  Flare: (exasperated) What do you mean “focus”?! I’m focused enough, thank you very much!

  Focus: No, my name’s literally Focus.

  Flare: (raising an eyebrow) Really? Wow. You’re more emo than I thought.

  Focus: (unamused) I’m not emo.

  Flare: In any case, three-way battles suck, and you two certainly wouldn’t team up to beat me, so… (to Focus, pointing at Boltix) Hey, why not kick that guy’s butt?! (turning to Boltix, pointing at Focus) Or the two of us beat the tracksuit out of him?!

  Boltix: (smirking) Nah, not interested. You see… I’ve got company.

  (Suddenly, a giant black mist surrounds and submerges Flare, to Focus’s shock, who is left to deal with Boltix on his own. Inside the mist, Flare looks around in shock, the air feeling thick around her and making her movement more stiff. Mistrick approaches her, cutting through the mist with a faint smirk.)

  Mistrick: (faintly smirking) I heard you complain about the lack of formalities. I’m Mistrick. Happy now?

  Flare: (unamused) Indubitably. Gonna be even happier outside of this mist. I’m guessing you’re the one controlling it.

  Mistrick: (rolling her eyes) How perceptive of you, sweetheart. Now are you gonna give up? Please do. I’ve got a nail appointment later today.

  Flare: And if I say no?

  Mistrick: (deadpan) Then you’re a terrible person.

  (Mistrick lunges at Flare for a blow, and the latter lights up her fist with fire and swings it for a punch, but her movement is noticeably slower, and Mistrick’s movement is actually faster than usual, allowing her to land a punch at Flare’s face and send her flying. As Flare regains her balance, she finds several cloudy copies of Mistrick around her, and she grits her teeth.)

  Mistrick! The Mist Surge! She can generate a black mist within a fifty-meter radius that not only slows down the movements of anyone who happens to be inside it, but it also amplifies her own speed and strength! She can also form several cloudy copies of herself inside that mist to mislead her foes, as well as blend in with that mist to reappear out of nowhere! Inside that mist, she’s crazy awesome!

  (All of the cloudy copies lunge at Flare, who propels herself upwards with the flames underneath her legs then launches a barrage of fireballs at them, turning them into dust. However, the real Mistrick reappears behind her and finally lands a taser shot at her, electrocuting her. She falls into the ground in an unconscious state, and as the mist dissipates, Mistrick grabs her by the back of her shirt and drags her away. Focus sees Flare getting dragged away as Boltix circles around him, generating an electrical trail behind him.)

  Focus: (gritting his teeth) Who paid you guys to go after Flare?

  Boltix: (smirking, circling around Focus) Sorry, not gonna happen. Client privacy and confidentiality.

  (Boltix propels himself upwards and launches a quick lightning bolt at Focus, who blocks it with the back of his hand, getting sent off balance nevertheless. As he regains his balance, he glances at his hand and sees the watch on his wrist destroyed as a result of the lightning bolt, to which he reacts by gritting his teeth.)

  Focus: (gritting his watch) Damn it.

  (Meanwhile, as Stone and Jackpot drive to the scene, Mistrick approaches them, dragging an unconscious Flare with her. Jackpot steps out of the car and opens the door to the backseat, then he pulls out some chains from the pot attached to his back and tightly ties her up before throwing her into the backseat and closing the door.)

  Jackpot: There’s our bounty.

  Stone: The job’s not over yet. We still have to get rid of Aegis’s operator. Mistrick, you and Boltix will deal with him.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Mistrick: Is it really necessary? We got the bounty. That’s what we were paid to do.

  Stone: (scowling) The best course of action is to eliminate our competition. Now go.

  (Mistrick sighs deeply and nods, heading back to help out Boltix, and Stone and Jackpot head back inside the car, the former taking the wheel. They drive off elsewhere to wait for the other two to get the job done. Meanwhile, back at a rooftop, Focus and Boltix’s fists collide, the two of them sent skidding back, but the latter quickly propels himself back at Focus and kicks him in the face with an energized leg, sending him flying. Mistrick joins in with Boltix, and Focus notices that through gritted teeth as he regains his footing.)

  Mistrick: (to Boltix) Stone wants us to kill the Aegis Surge user, and he seems really adamant about it.

  Boltix: (nonchalantly) You know him. Oh, well. That’s more fun I’ll be having.

  Mistrick: (frustrated) Forget about your fun! I’ll be late for my nail appointment!

  Boltix: (annoyed) What’s so special about your nails?! Besides, you already had one of those two weeks ago!

  Focus: (deadpan) I’m standing right here.

  Mistrick: (unamused) Oh, right, you’re still here. Listen, we wanna kill you, and I’m especially in a hurry, so please die quickly.

  Boltix: (annoyed) Hey, don’t listen to her! Give it everything you’ve got! Make it fun… and then die!

  Focus: (deadpan) Sorry, I wasn’t listening. Were you threatening me or just whining?

  Boltix: (gritting his teeth) Are you mocking us?!

  Focus: Correction. I’m still mocking you.

  Mistrick: (scowling) You brought this to yourself.

  Focus: Agreed. And I ask for more.

  (Boltix and Mistrick dash at Focus, who eloquently skips past them and gets in behind. Boltix quickly turns and launches a lightning bolt at him, but he blocks it with a roundhouse kick, then he regains his footing just in time to block a punch from Mistrick and kick her in the chin, sending her skidding back. Boltix propels himself at Focus with an incredible burst of speed, forcing the latter to block his blow, which sends him flying regardless. Mistrick reappears behind him, ready to deal a blow at his back, but he acrobatically gets in behind her instead and kicks her in the back, sending her flying. Boltix, however, grabs her hand and throws her back at Focus, who blocks her next kick and gets sent skidding back only a bit, but he gets sent flying when he’s forced to block Boltix’s next blow.)

  Focus: (thinking to himself) I can’t hold my own against these two, especially not after the amount of effort I put in against the Beacon. I must make a run for it, but to do so, I must find a way to slow the two of them down. (glancing at Mistrick, thinking to himself) The girl’s Surge might help with that.

  (Boltix runs rings around Focus, repeatedly launching lighting blasts at him, while he eloquently cancels each of them out with individual chops. He closely observes Boltix’s rapid movement while doing so, attempting to time his attack. He finally makes a decision and dashes exactly at the point where Boltix is, landing a punch at his gut and sending him flying. He quickly turns to block a punch from Mistrick.)

  Focus: (unamused) So what’s your Surge? Coughing baby punches?

  Mistrick: (scowling) You’re so full of yourself, aren’t you?

  Focus: (deadpan) Well, if you happen to be someone’s younger sister who got lost here, then just say it. I could even let you make it to that nail appointment of yours.

  Mistrick: (gritting his teeth) Right, that does it! Wanna see my Surge?! You’ve got it!

  (Mistrick begins to display her Mist Surge just when Boltix dashes at Focus from behind for another blow, and the latter makes use of that lack of synchronization. With slick, eloquent movement, he passes from underneath Boltix and quickly regains his footing to acrobatically kick Boltix in the back, sending him colliding into Mistrick just when she was about to unleash her mist, sending the two tumbling farther, and when Mistrick’s black mist is unleashed, it submerges only her and Boltix, being just a breath’s length away from taking Focus with it, who makes use of this chaos and quickly flees the scene. Mistrick and Boltix glare at each other in annoyance after what happened, the two of them inside the mist.)

  Mistrick: (annoyed) Hey, watch where you’re going! I was just gonna trap him inside the mist!

  Boltix: And I was just gonna pounce on him from behind!

  (Mistrick growls in annoyance and cancels out her mist to clear the area, only for her and Boltix to find Focus nowhere to be seen. They glance around in shock, but they see no sign of him whatsoever.)

  Boltix: (shocked) What the — ?! Where is he?!

  Mistrick: (gulping) Stone is gonna be livid when he hears about this! (hurriedly) You’re telling him!

  Boltix: Why me?!

  Mistrick: Cuz you crashed into me!

  Boltix: And you created that mist and helped him escape out of sight!

  (The two glare at each other in annoyance then jump from the rooftop and land on the ground, storming off in frustration, while Focus — hiding in an alley — carefully peeks on this, his expression deadpan and unamused.)

  Focus: (thinking to himself, deadpan) This is the greatest humiliation I have endured since I lost a bet to Jax and had to tidy up the whole training camp. Not only have I actually messed up the mission and lost contact with Aegis, but it was two dysfunctional idiots who put me in such a situation, who, for the record, would actually make a great couple. (gritting his teeth) Focus. Your name is literally Focus. I’m on my own now, so I gotta figure out something… and fast.

  (Meanwhile, police cars roam the streets of Reno, the specific scene of the incident surrounded by traffic cones and barricades while several cops investigate the scene. Several officers attempt to reorganize the disrupted traffic and mitigate the chaos created in the recent clash, while the civilians react at the ongoing chaos in bafflement. Back at Aegis Headquarters, panic ensues as the analysts struggle to link up with Focus and their other soldiers in Reno, and Commander Cromwell grits her teeth as she observes the screen, Flare’s signal fading away.)

  Commander Cromwell: (gritting her teeth, to the analysts) You still can’t link up with our agents in Reno?

  Analyst 1A: No, ma’am. The soldiers aren’t reporting, and we’ve lost connection with Focus.

  Commander Cromwell: And apparently, we’re also unable to track down the Beacon anymore. That prior energy spike has finally faded. (to a soldier) Call up Operators Jax, Proxy, and Pulse. Tell them to head into my office.

  Soldier 1A: Understood, ma’am.

  (Back at Reno, Focus silently traverses through several alleys and follows Boltix and Mistrick, who reluctantly take several turns and come across Stone and Jackpot, who were waiting in their car with an unconscious and tied-up Flare.)

  Stone: Did you get him?

  Boltix: (chuckling nervously) Oh, yeah, about that… um… he probably got away.

  Stone: (scowling) Say what?!

  Boltix: (panickedly, pointing at Mistrick) It was her fault!

  Mistrick: (annoyed) Me?! Who crashed into me and sabotaged my attack?!

  Boltix: And who trapped both of us in a black mist and helped the guy escape?!

  Jackpot: (unamused) You two suck. Does that settle it? (sighing deeply) I knew I should’ve been there to handle it myself.

  Stone: Silence! All of you! This isn’t the time to get petty! (firmly) He’ll come back to face us, so we either get the job done and receive our bounty before he catches up… or we wait for him. We’ll go for the former, and if he stands in our way… then we kill him. Now get in the car. We’re getting out of here.

  Boltix: (rolling his eyes) Alright, alright. Jeez, man.

  (Boltix and Mistrick get inside the car from either doors and into the backseat, incapacitating an unconscious and tied-up Flare between them; Jackpot is comfortably seated in the passenger seat, and Stone is taking the wheel. Focus watches as the Sparks drive off into the streets, glancing at the car plate.)

  Focus: (thinking to himself) K7M-4829. Gotta remember that one.

  (As Stone drives into the streets, he and the Sparks look around in surprise at the fuss created by the incident, several police cars and officers surrounding the scene and attempting to control the congested traffic, and Stone manages to slip by unnoticed through the alleys.)

  Boltix: Woah. (glancing at the unconscious Flare) This girl caused quite a scene, huh? She really is something. Why does our client want her alive? What business does he have with her?

  Mistrick: (nonchalantly) None of this matters as long as we grab our paychecks. (to Stone) Oh, and please make sure you drop me off at my nail appointment.

  Stone: (sighing deeply) You and your nail appointments. Alright, fine. If you’re gonna spend your share of the last job’s bounty on it, then it better be worth it. Oh, that reminds me. I need to make a call, let our client know that we’ve got the job done.

  (Stone pulls out his phone to make a call with a firm expression. Back at an unknown location, a masked individual sits comfortably and patiently in his office, glancing at a combat training session for his masked followers, then his phone rings, and he picks up.)

  Stone: (via phone, firmly) This is Stone, field leader of the Sparks. We’ve got the job done, and the Surge Beacon is secured. She’s alive and incapacitated.

  ???: (via phone, his mask distorting his voice) Very well. The rest goes as planned. You know where to meet me.

  Stone: About that, there may be a slight change of plans. Apparently, an Aegis agent was on the case and caused a massive fuss. The streets are a mess at the moment, so we gotta head somewhere secure and wait for matters to settle down before we get moving. I hope you wouldn’t mind a few hours of delay given the circumstances.

  ???: I see. Alright, then. I’m expecting you at the agreed location come nightfall. Is that something we can agree on?

  Stone: Certainly.

  ???: Then that’s settled. Once the exchange is complete, you’ll receive your payments accordingly. Until we meet again.

  (The mysterious masked man ends the call then heads out of his office. He heads to a laboratory in his headquarters and inspects a green, faintly energized crystal the size of his palm, placed securely in a test container. His expression is unreadable, but the infinity sign in his mask glows with intent.)

  ???: The Catalyst… is ready.