[Seven years ago…]

  (During a violent snow storm, Ethan walks alone on the thick ice, being only six years of age at the time. His thick clothing doesn’t stop his constant shivering, which causes his steps to turn unequal and imbalanced. The kid remembers those who initially accompanied him; they all ended up being frozen to death beforehand, and he was forced to leave their frost-bitten bodies and horrified faces behind and continue walking in desperation. His arms hang close to his sides, elbows bent but weak, fingers curled inward without intention. The gloves on his hands look bulky and clumsy, but his fingers inside barely move. When they do, it’s slow and uneven. The skin visible at his wrists and cheeks is pale and washed out, tinged faintly bluish, the color drained thin by the cold.)

  (His face is slack, and his mouth hangs slightly open, lips dry and dull-colored. His cheeks are stiff, barely reacting to the wind brushing against them. His eyelashes carry tiny flecks of frost from his own breath. His eyes are half-lidded and unfocused, drifting rather than tracking where he’s going. He blinks slowly and inconsistently, sometimes forgetting to blink at all for a few seconds. His breathing is shallow and uneven. Each breath fogs weakly in front of his face, thinner than it should be. His chest barely rises. The air sounds faint in his throat, quiet and fragile. His shoulders droop instead of bracing against the cold, his posture collapsing inward. His shivering suddenly starts to slow down and eventually stop; his body has run out of energy, unable to warm him in any way anymore.)

  (His lips part as if he might say something, but no sound comes out. His jaw barely moves. His face shows almost no expression — not fear, not pain, just a muted blankness. His eyes are fixed on the road ahead, and he sees a camp in the distance, just within his range. He tries to hurry up with his steps, but it’s as if the road keeps stretching on and on. And on. And on. And on. And on. On and on with no end in sight. The storm intensifies even further, the freezing wind fiercely blowing past him. His body finally gives out, and his eyelids gradually start closing as he falls into the ground, and upon falling headfirst on the ground, his body fully stops moving.)

  (It’s at this moment that something stirs inside him. As he remains on the ground, his body starts getting enveloped with a faint icy hue, and his eyelids remain unmoved, just on the brink of fully closing. His unmoved pupils start glowing with that same icy hue, and after a while, his parted, frozen lips release a single cloudy puff; he’s breathing again, albeit slow and shallow. Soon, his fingers start to stretch out and faintly move inside his gloves — just faintly, and the shivering returns, albeit weakly. He slowly attempts to get himself back up, but the moment he stands upright, he falls back into the ground, and he then desperately attempts to crawl to the camp ahead of him, his eyelids open enough to faintly show him the way ahead.)

  Ethan: (very weakly and quietly, his lips trembling) Th-th-there.

  (He keeps crawling with all his effort, his icy hue developing even further until it becomes a complete aura enveloped around him. It’s then that his shivering returns with full force, and his body keeps shivering rapidly at an uncontrollable rate. The shivering is so intense that he can’t crawl anymore and is forced on the ground; he can’t even express the sharp pain coursing through his body with a yell of pain or even a groan. Back inside the camp, a young couple — Mr. and Mrs. Carter — are setting up the fireplace in their small home, and while doing so, Mrs. Carter looks through the window and sees a kid shivering uncontrollably on the ground near the camp, to which her face twists in horror.)

  Mrs. Carter: (to her husband, horrified) Look! Over there!

  (Mr Carter glances at the window and witnesses this exact sight, then the couple immediately get out of the house and hurry to the kid’s aid. Meanwhile, Ethan’s pain continues, and his aura intensifies even further. His pupils keep glowing with energy and eventually fade, and he finally is able to groan loudly in pain. Mr. and Mrs. Carter head out of the camp and run towards Ethan to check on him.)

  Mr. Carter: Hey, you okay there?

  (Suddenly, a shockwave of cold wind knocks the two back, and they fall on the ground. They look at Ethan and see him slowly picking himself up and starting to stand upright on his own two feet. His face is back to normal, and he starts to move his fingers smoothly, eventually clenching his fists. His pupil-less eyes glow with icy blue energy, and his parted lips are finally closed together, forming a grim frown.)

  Mrs. Carter: (shocked, to Ethan) What’re you doing?! Are you okay?!

  (The winds intensify and get colder, creating a loud whooshing sound in their wake, while Ethan slowly walks past Mr. And Mrs. Carter, heading right for the camp; he’s awakened the Ice Surge. The wind is coupled with tiny ice crystals that keep striking at the small houses from outside and causing noticeable damage, even shattering windows and allowing the cold air to rush through. The residents glance through the broken windows and see Ethan entering the camp with a scowl in his powered-up state, his Surge Beacon form. They struggle to keep away from the increasingly intense winds blowing past them, which puts down their fireplaces and exposes them to the cold once again, and Ethan forms several giant ice crystals around him, growling with his palms extended and ready to unleash them on his surroundings.)

  Mr. Carter: (to Ethan) Calm down! It’s okay!

  (Ethan slows down on his attack, his lips parting in surprise, and little by little, he slowly lowers his icy palms while turning back to Mr. And Mrs. Carter. He maintains his distance, still ready to attack, but the couple slowly get closer, gesturing to him to calm down with reassuring smiles.)

  Mrs. Carter: (making a soft smile, gently) We just want to help, okay? There’s nothing to worry about. Just… calm down.

  (Ethan’s lips quiver, and his aura struggles to maintain shape, as if it’s hesitant as well. The ice crystals around don’t shatter; they dissipate into energy and dissolve into the air. Then, Ethan quickly runs out of energy and collapses into the ground, falling unconscious and leaving a heavy silence among not only the Carters, but all of the residents as well.)

  [Present Time…]

  (During the cloudy, sunless afternoon, amid all the panic and rubble, the attack keeps going, and the masked shadow soldiers continue their merciless onslaught, firing at the residents and destroying homes. Ethan grits his teeth fiercely and envelopes himself with an icy hue, his fearful eyes betraying his outward ferocity, and his parents — Mr. and Mrs. Carter — are left to watch in horror as their son comes face to face with Hollow, who remains firm and eerily calm in his stance, enveloped in his electric neon red aura.)

  Hollow: The look on your eyes betrays you, Ice Surge. You know I’m right, and you fear it. You know the truth, so why not just give it up? My master can bring out the best of you… just like he did with me.

  Ethan: (his voice breaking) I already told you… leave me out of this!

  Hollow: I have my orders from my master, and I will carry them out with everything I’ve got for the cause. All of us… for the cause.

  (Ethan tightens his jaw, his body involuntarily shaking, and he lunges at Hollow by gliding on the floor with the ice under his legs at high speed. He launches an ice crystal at Hollow from point blank range, but the latter swiftly blocks it and jumps to avoid Ethan’s next blow. He launches a barrage of blasts midair, but Ethan launches an ice pillar at him, only for him to destroy it with his blasts. Ethan then manipulates the ice fragments and launches them back at Hollow, but he gets knocked off balance when the latter aggressively lands close to him, then he gets struck with an energy beam to his gut that launches him to the air.)

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  Mrs. Carter: Ethan!

  (Hollow dashes after Ethan and launches a pair of energy tethers at him. He regains his footing but fails to avoid the energy tethers, which are wrapped around his arms, and then he gets pulled back to Hollow, who kicks him in the chest and sends him flying. He gets pulled once again and then thrown at a pile of rubble, and before he gets to regain his balance, Hollow strikes him with a powerful blast, launching him through the air and obliterating the rubble. Upon seething foot on the ground, Ethan slides backwards with his icy feet in an attempt to maintain distance from Hollow, who continues running after him while firing several blasts his way.)

  Ethan: (thinking to himself, anxiously) I can’t get close to him! He’s… he’s too powerful!

  (Ethan forms several ice blocks to block Hollow’s incoming blasts while gliding backwards with his icy feet, then he launches a barrage of ice blasts at him. That does little to stop his advances, and he easily cancels out the blasts heading his way then closes in on Ethan, landing a punch at his gut and sending him sliding fast. However, he does manage to take Hollow off guard and pull an ice pillar out of the ground under his feet, sending him flying upwards, but he quickly uses his energized foot and launches an energy shockwave that destroys the ice pillar.)

  Hollow: How long will you keep this going, Ice Surge? I can do this all day, but what about you?

  (The ice fragments are launched back at Hollow, but he obliterates them entirely with an energy shockwave then flies right at Ethan, striking the ground under his feet and knocking him off balance. Seizing the opportunity, he grabs Ethan by the foot and throws him away. Mr and Mrs Carter are left to watch Ethan getting overwhelmed by Hollow’s brute force.)

  Mrs. Carter: (horrified) This has to stop! What if Ethan gets — ?!

  (Mrs. Carter turns to her husband with a terrified expression, whose lips are parted in a similar sort of horror. Several residents manage to hide under the rubble and watch as the masked shadow soldiers continue their relentless onslaught, and others also watch in worry as Ethan lands on a pile of rubble. He gets back up on his feet, panting through his clenched jaw as he sees Hollow slowly approaching once again. In that moment, his memory takes him back seven years ago, during the aftermath of his Surge awakening. He has just woken up a while after his outburst, finding himself warmly tucked in a bed. Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Carter are dealing with the angry residents outside their small house.)

  Male Resident 1A (flashback): Have you seen what this boy did?! If this kept going, we would’ve all been dead by now! We can’t let him in!

  Mr. Carter (flashback): (attempting to calm down the residents) He’s a kid. He was freezing to death just a moment before that.

  Mrs. Carter (flashback): (softly) I know what I saw. He’s no monster. He’s just… scared. He needed help. Please… let us take care of him.

  (Ethan was able to see and hear this exchange from the window, reacting with a guilty frown. Looking back at the event, he can actually notice the extent of the fear and animosity the residents carried. He gets snapped out of it when he notices Hollow lunging at him with an energized fist, and he quickly jumps out of the way, launching a narrow yet powerful ice crystal at him afterwards. He finds himself taken by surprise and forced to block it with both his hands, which knocks him off balance, and then Ethan lands a kick at his gut, knocking him to a pile of rubble. He instantly emerges from the rubble, obliterating it in the process.)

  Hollow: (venomously) Look at me, Ice Surge. Do you truly believe that anything you do makes a difference? Do you?!

  (Ethan’s pupils narrow in shock upon seeing Hollow unscathed following his attack, then he receives a blast for point-blank range, and he gets flung away by the hit. Upon regaining his footing once more, he sees his parents from a distance, covering their mouths with their hands in horror, and his mind takes him back to another memory. It was after Mr. and Mrs. Carter calmed down the residents and approached him with a warm bowl of soup; he was still warmly tucked in his bed, glancing at them with a frown.)

  Mrs. Carter (flashback): (gently setting the bowl of soup on the drawer close to him) Here. This will help you warm up.

  Ethan (flashback): (in a soft-spoken manner, lowering his gaze) Those people sounded so angry. Was it… something I did? I don’t remember.

  Mr. Carter (flashback): (muttering, almost to himself) You… don’t remember? That’s strange. (smiling at him reassuringly) Everything’s okay, kid. We’re here to help.

  Mrs. Carter (flashback): (endearingly, sitting on the bed with him) So what’s your name, sweetie?

  Ethan (flashback): (softly and quietly) My… name? Ethan. It’s… Ethan.

  Mr. Carter (flashback): (amiably) Ethan, huh? Would you like to stay with us?

  (Ethan lifts his head and glances at them, his lips parted in surprise, then he bows his head again, sheepishly nodding. Mr and Mrs Carter warmly smile at him in response, and a little, soft smile forms on Ethan’s face. He’s snapped back to the present time, seeing Hollow charging up his fists.)

  Hollow: You think you’re compassionate for holding on to what you cherish, for refusing to let go. When will you see it? When will you notice that there is no greater act of selfishness than that? You didn’t want to leave them behind, and look where that brought you. If it were up to them, they’d have thrown you out… don’t you think?

  (Hollow rapidly lunges at Ethan, punching him in the gut and hurling him off his feet, and then he closes in once again and roundhouses him in the face, sending him flying to the right. Ethan doesn’t even get to set foot on the ground before Hollow lands another punch. Upon regaining his balance, Ethan immediately pulls out several ice barriers, one after the other, with subtle panic, hoping to keep Hollow out in any way, but he easily pierces through the ice blocks, obliterating them without even leaving a single fragment, to Ethan’s horror, whose eyes start to well up upon seeing Hollow tower over him from up close.)

  Ethan: (internally, tearing up in fear) He’s unstoppable!

  (Hollow then throws punch after punch at the helpless Ethan, and his mind takes him back to several memories. First, it’s the first time he introduced himself to the residents, sheepishly waving at them, only to be met with a rather lukewarm reception, the residents reacting with expressionless faces that fail to hide their wariness. He then reminisces about several instances in which he helped out the residents over the years, and looking back at them, he sees one thing in common: they reacted with forced smiles, and whenever he turned to leave, the look on their faces would shift, as if they were concealing their deep animosity and fear towards him. With Hollow’s words getting to his head, he finally comes to realize in this very moment that they have always feared him no matter how much he tried to help: Hollow was right.)

  Ethan: (internally) They don’t… want me.

  (Ethan’s pupils widen upon coming to that realization, and as he keeps receiving punch after punch from the relentless Hollow, his eyes tear up once again, then he receives the final punch, knocking him back. He regains his balance, then he bows his head, tears freely flowing from his eyes as he clenches his fists and grimaces. Mr and Mrs Carter get to see this from afar, and tears start forming on their eyes as well.)

  Mrs. Carter: (tearfully) This can’t go on! Why is this happening?!

  (Mr and Mrs Carter rush over to Ethan in desperation, trying to save their kid somehow. As the masked shadow soldiers continue their onslaught, reducing even more houses into mere rubble, Ethan can no longer stand upright and breaks down quietly sobbing on his knees, and the residents in hiding get to see this moment of vulnerability in shock and silence. Ethan clenches his fists and tearfully grimaces, his teary eyes showing his increasing desperation.)

  Ethan: (to Hollow, tearfully muttering, his head bowed) Please… don’t. (yelling) Don’t get any of them involved! If your business is with me, then settle it with me and only me! They have nothing to do with this!

  (Ethan tearfully glances up at Hollow, his pupils narrowing as he sees the latter towering over him with an unmoved, cold demeanor. He doesn’t budge; he just looks down at Ethan, the neon red symbol on his mask narrowing and glowing with energy. To everyone’s shock, he kicks Ethan’s head and knocks him into the ground. Ethan lifts himself up and glances at Hollow in terror, seeing the latter’s imposing figure towering over him. Hollow then grabs Ethan by the throat and lifts him up, looking him dead in the eye.)

  Hollow: (harshly) You’re right. Indeed, they have to do with this. Their only sin… is that you thought you were one of them. Too many lives have been needlessly taken, and all of it… is your fault.

  (Hollow loosens his grip on Ethan’s neck and then immediately lands a powerful blast from close range right at his chest, launching him into another pile of rubble. His parents and all the other residents are left to watch in horror as Ethan lays on his back — beaten, bruised, and unable to carry on. Hollow slowly approaches with his electric neon red aura, with no one capable of stopping him. Is it over for Ethan?)