Duel of fates (part 1)

As Ethan packed the last of his belongings, Mike moved to meet Kadyn in the hallway.

[Mike] - "Got everything you need? "

[Kadyn] - "We don't got much to begin with. "

[Mike] - "May need to shop for some clothes after the ordeal. "

Said Mike as he began to walk away.

[Kadyn] - "Where are you going? "

[Mike] - "A little something I need to do before we go. "

Inside the prison facility, McCree slept on his bunkbed while singing some country songs. He has just finished his last meal and waiting for his execution. Just as three prison guards began unlocking his cell door, they suddenly vanished without a trace.

[McCree] - "Huh? What in tarnation? "

Exclaimed McCree as he approached the cell door.

All of a sudden, a hand smashed through the handle and pulled the entire door out of its frame.

[Mike] - "Sentence commuted, wanker. "

Said Mike as he threw the door on the side.

[McCree] - "Well, ain't that a surprise. "

[Mike] - "You will go back to the Allies and give them the relevant information for them to deal with the empire. That's my only condition and no question asked. "

[McCree] - "Good enough of a deal, I won't argue with it. "

[Mike] - "Good. I hope you have a strong stomach. "

[McCree] - "Wha-? "

Mike suddenly grabbed McCree by the collar and threw him into the wall. Instead of colliding with it, he phased through several floors until he crashed into Ethan's laboratory.

[Ethan] - "Ya must be the prisoner Mike talked about. "

[McCree] - "Oh son of a gun, what kind of buster throws a man like that! "

Said McCree as he pushed himself off the ground.

[Ethan] - "Allow me to introduce myself, doctor Ethan, ex-chief of crystal technology research. "

[McCree] - "Agent McCree, Allied undercover intelligence agency. "

Said McCree as he shook Ethan's hand.

[Ethan] - "I'm looking for a job after my current resignation. Could ya arrange that for me? "

[McCree] - "You with that young fella I reckon. Sure, I'll see what I can do for a fellow Texan brother. "

[Ethan] - "Perfect, now we don't got much time. Follow me. "

Said Ethan as he departed with a few of his bags.

Meanwhile, Mike moved with Kadyn through the hallway. Both of them hid their anxiety by holding each other's hands as tightly as possible.

[Kadyn] - "I still couldn't find the ring you talked about. "

[Mike] - "I was sure I put it in my jacket when we went to Italy that day. "

[Kadyn] - "Don't worry, we can just get another one when you come back. "

Said Kadyn with a warm smile.

Before they reached the execution arena, Mike stopped Kadyn and took off his coat.

[Mike] - "Here, keep yourself warm until I come back. "

Said Mike as he wrapped Kadyn inside his coat.

[Kadyn] - "Just don't keep me waiting for too long. "

Kadyn leaned forward and shared a passionate kiss with Mike. The two struggled to let go of each other until Mike finally broke the ice and pulled himself away from Kadyn. As Mike turned away and walked toward the light of the arena, Kadyn simply stood behind while tightly holding onto Mike's coat.

Inside the arena, Mike presented himself before Sniper but he refused to bow like the others. Instead, Mike simply stared at Sniper with a firm and determined expression while all the cyberknights on the scene were shocked by this act of disrespect.

[Sniper] - "So you've made your choice, I see. How foolish. "

Said Sniper with an ominous aura lurking around him.

[Mike] - "You betrayed the cause of cyberknights. You betrayed the very ideas the empire was based upon. Instead of freedom, you brought tyranny. Instead of justice, you brought anarchy. You are no longer fit for your role as emperor or as leader of the cyberknights. "

Yelled Mike accusingly with a finger pointed right toward Sniper's forehead.

The other cyberknights were quite frustrated by Mike's level of disrespect toward their emperor. Meanwhile, Sniper seemed to be quite amused by the situation.

[Sniper] - "Was the world before my empire any fairer than what it is now? Didn't think so, Grand Knight. Besides, when you are making the mother of all omelettes, you cannot fret over every egg. The result is all that matters. What is caught in between is nothing but a microcosm of a greater plan. Your concept of indiscriminate good is more harmful than my concept of necessary evil because progress cannot be halted just because a few disagree with the majority. "

[Mike] - "You were corrupted by the power you held. You felt that you were absolved of responsibility because you see yourself as a God. However, behind that mask, you are still nothing but a frail old man. "

[Sniper] - "Yet I do not degrade myself by sleeping with an animal. I hold absolute control over nature and reality, isn't this the definition of God? "

[Mike] - "This still doesn't absolve the chaos you have unleashed upon this world. I saw what your "cyberknights" did to the innocent. I saw the ugly truth of the empire. All the empire ever did was replacing the previous criminals of society with ones dressed in an imperial uniform. You lied to me, uncle, you lied to me my whole life. You enslaved me, massacred my family, and now you wanted to kill the only people good to me. What more do you want? Is there still a heart left behind that cold steel plate? Tell me, uncle, tell me that you understand what you have done! "

Yelled Mike with passion.

Mike's eyes searched for an ounce of compassion on Sniper's cold emotionless face. He hoped that maybe, despite all, the Sniper he once knew was still hidden somewhere behind that inaccessible horizon.

[Sniper] - "I'm fully conscious of all my actions. The man who massacred half of Paris is still the same man standing in front of you today. The hands that have slayed your parents remain stained still at this very moment. "

Said Sniper without an ounce of remorse.

[Mike] - "So I mean nothing to you. All that talk about me becoming a hero is nothing but lies. All the heroic deeds from you and the empire were nothing but a front. I have been in the service of an empty cause my entire life. "

Said Mike in a distraught voice.

[Sniper] - "I didn't raise you to think, Mike. I raised you to serve without question. "

[Mike] - "Just as I thought... I'm nothing but a tool in your eyes. "

[Sniper] - "How naive of you to believe such obvious lies. Yes, I want humanity to progress beyond its current stagnation but the result is all I care about. As to how many people will perish during the process, that is none of my concern. I would erase Europe from existence if it meant I could create tools as efficient as you are. Naive little idiots who will loyally serve me for an entire decade without question. You accuse me of being a genocidal maniac but how many perished in your hands when you were just following orders? "

Mike gripped his fists and stared into Sniper's eyes with fiery determination. Instead of feeling guilty or hurt, Mike felt disgusted by Sniper's behaviour. At first, he was fearful of the confrontation but all this talk only reinforced Mike's reason for wanting Sniper dead. In an instant, Mike's confidence and fiery nature finally crawled out of their coffin with revenge and retribution in hand.

[Mike] - "Don't change the subject, you bloody bastard! I am my own master now. You don't frighten me because I know you are just a human like me. I can just as easily fuck you up, unlike other cyberknights. All the blood in my hands flowed from your blade. Don't think you can just guilt trip me, you piss-fuck wanker! "

Said Mike in an aggressive tone.

Mike's sudden change in tone caught Sniper off his guard. For the first time in his life, since he gained his godly power, no one dared to speak with such language and manner in front of his face.

[Sniper] - "So be it. "

Said Sniper in a cold voice.

In a flash, Sniper's fist was already in Mike's face. A massive shockwave shook the arena as Mike collided with the ground and created a massive crater.

[Sniper] - "Deal with that traitor, captain. "

[Pitcher-3] - "Will be done, my lord. "

Said the cyberknight as he bowed before Sniper.

When Mike pushed himself up from the crater, he noticed that he was surrounded by 12 cyberknights in all directions. Acting totally unbothered by his enemies, Mike got up and began to clean his armour from dust and debris. As one of the men charged toward Mike, he was suddenly diced and frozen into little cubes. In a coordinated effort, another 5 charged Mike with their abilities but Mike simply snapped his finger before giant spikes from the ground impalled one of them.

One of them reached Mike and activated his crystals but Mike simply created a shockwave that ruptured his eardrum. Now disoriented and in pain, Mike grabbed him by the head and merged him into the body of another cyberknight. The last two both punched Mike in the face but their attacks didn't even make Mike flinch. In response, Mike rotated his finger and caused both their crystals to pop into a pile of broken pieces before knocking them out by colliding their head together.

[Mike] - "You people must be working for the United Nations since I don't see any effective action. "

Said Mike with a slight smirk on his face as the 6 remaining Cyberknights approached him.

After a long wait, as none of the Cyberknights dared to approach Mike first, the knight positioned behind Mike's back abruptly charged at him. Just as he did, the one in front of Mike also charged at him. Mike abruptly jumped up as both Cyberknights' abilities collided and created massive spikes out of the material from the ground. On one side, the spikes were so hot that they became molten lava spikes while the other side's spikes were so cold the air around them became a layer of solid nitrogen on top of the spikes.

As the spikes rose up to reach him in the sky, Mike, with a snap of his finger, turned the ceiling of the room into a rain of high-velocity rods that fell with a speed of 3200m/s. The other 4 Cyberknights fended off the rain either by attacking them or using a defensive ability but the two spike creators were immediately reduced to meat paste.

During this time, Sniper entertained himself by watching the fight from a raised platform. As soon as Mike landed back down, a Cyberknight charged upon him and barraged him with a series of punches which caused the ground to shake and crack simply from the resulting shockwave. Mike was unimpressed as he easily blocked his attacks with one hand before concentrating all of his energy on his two fingers.

[Mike] - "Are you sissies even trying? Come at me already, the rest of you! "

Said Mike in a taunting tone.

Infuriated by Mike's mockery, two other Cyberknights also launched themselves at Mike. One of them extended his arms and activated an invisible cage around Mike while the other one discharged a massive current of electricity from his fists at him. Meanwhile, Mike simply stood with an unimpressed expression on his face as his hair slowly stood up while the electricity passed around him without hurting him. When the floor around him was completely destroyed, Mike simply floated in the air as if the floor still existed.

[Punch Cyberknight] - "AAAAAARGH! "

Screamed the punch Cyberknight in horror and agony as he realized that his hands and forearms were completely gone after punching Mike for an extended period.

[Mike] - "Sorry, was I too hard on the defence? "

With the compromise of his ability, the crippled punch Cyberknight was abruptly struck by a rogue bolt of electricity which instantly reduced him to a huge piece of burning charcoal.

[Mike] - "Come on, you are killing your comrades, you useless pig! "

Said Mike as he turned toward the two other Cyberknights.

With a slight movement of his finger, Mike sent a single drop of dust toward the electric Cyberknight. The pec of dust strangely started to collect the electricity before breaking through the cage, which caused barrier Cyberknight's crystals to crack and break. Immediately after, the dust particle abruptly passed through the electric Cyberknight's head but left no visible mark of damage.

[Electric Cyberknight] - "Ugh! "

The electric Cybeknight gaged before suddenly going limp and collapsing on the floor. The barrier Cyberknight's helmet suddenly showed a radiation warning of beyond 200 sieverts before the man started vomiting in his helmet. He felt an intense surge of pain as he removed his helmet to reveal a series of severe radiation burns.

[Pitcher-3] - "Now it's just the two of us, Grand Knight. "

Said the last Cyberknight as he approached Mike with a metal bat in his hand.

[Mike] - "How noble of you to step in after sending in all these cannon fodders. "

Said Mike as he turned around.

[Pitcher-3] - "I might have retired from baseball but I haven't retired from kicking asses. "

Said the bat Cyberknight with a killer look in his eyes.

[Mike] - "You seem quite cocky for a king-sized cannon fodder. "

Infuriated by Mike's remark, the cyberknight accelerated his body using a Conagher MK.7M and appeared behind Mike's back. Before Mike could notice, the Cyberknight bashed Mike's head with such force that the resulting shockwave enlarged the crater around Mike.

[Pitcher-3] - "How is it, Grand Knight? Where is that confidence of yours, huh? "

To his surprise, Mike simply climbed out of the crater with a slightly messed up hair.

[Mike] - "A blood fly can be less annoying than you. All that big talk... It's all swings but no score. Let's play then. I can give you 3 strikes using just one ball. "

[Pitcher-3] - "Heh! You don't even know the rules of baseball. There is no such thing as 3 strikes with one ball. "

[Mike] - "But am I your regular pitcher? "

Said Mike as debris formed a solid ball inside his palm.

In a flash, the cyberknight circled around Mike and bashed him multiple times before he could react. This was the first time Mike felt something as the attacks actually caused him to lose a bit of his balance. Without hesitation, Mike threw the ball which immediately created three sonic booms before locking onto Pitcher-3. The insane speed of the ball forced Pitcher-3 to run even when under the effect of acceleration.

[Pitcher-3] - "Damn you! Witness my second ability! "

Suddenly, the world around Mike went dark as light was reflected away from him. Without any vision of his enemy, Mike can only defend himself without any way to precisely strike back.

[Pitcher-3] - "Let's see how long can you last, Grand Knight! I can do this for days without needing to rest! "

Said the cyberknight as he bashed Mike on the abdomen.

[Mike] - "Why ask me? I'm not batter. "

The Cyberknight was suddenly caught in an invisible string which immediately collapsed onto his body like a net. Now trapped in a steady position, only his arms and head are allowed to move.

[Pitcher-3] - "What the hell is this?! "

[Mike] - "You need to score some points somehow. I think it's time to swing that bat. "

Said Mike as he estimated the position of his opponent using his ability.

The cyberknight could hear his heart pound in his throat as sweat started to pour from his forehead. With newly gained terror on his face, Pitcher-3 raised his bat in preparation.

[Pitcher-3] - "I can do this, I can do this! I was the best among the professionals! "

Whispered Pitcher-3 as sweat trickled down his forehead.

However, as the ball approached his position, he began to feel the doom that awaited him.

[Pitcher-3] - "It's too fast, it's going to- "

Screamed the cyberknight as an expression of fear filled his face.

Pitcher-3's swing was precise enough to hit the ball but his bat instantly disintegrated upon contact with the projectile.

"Impossible! What kind of ability is this? Its power... it's almost as if something unstoppable was fueling this ball. "

Thought Pitcher-3 as his crystals shattered in front of his eyes.

The ball smashed through his crotch before an intense pain radiated through his body.

[Mike] - "Like I said, I can score three strikes by launching one ball. I never mentioned the extra balls being added to the equation. "

With his complete and utter defeat, Pitcher-3 collapsed to the ground and passed out. With the last enemy dealt with, Mike turned his attention toward Sniper. Meanwhile, the irradiated barrier Cyberknight slowly crawled up to Sniper.

[Barrier Cyberknight] - "My lord! Save me, please! "

Pleaded the Cyberknight as barf leaked out of his helmet's ventilation holes.

The ground around the Cyberknight suddenly opened up and swallowed him alive while the sound of breaking bone could be heard before the hole closed completely. As Sniper started walking, small creatures made from the marble floor appeared behind him and started to clean his armour of the bloodstain left from his kill.

[Sniper] - "I'm rarely entertained this way. I must show you my gratitude for offering me such a pleasant show. "

Said Sniper as he clapped at Mike.

Without thinking, Mike launched himself at Sniper but with a single swipe of his finger, Sniper sent Mike crashing into the wall. Just as Mike was preparing to launch another attack, he was suddenly launched out of the mountain base. Once in the air, the hills around him rose from the ground and crushed Mike under thousands of tones of soil. Just as Mike was about to escape his prison, gas crystals formed from the air and stabbed him in the back.

The sheer amount of gas crystal kept pilling on Mike until they forced him to crash into a river below. As soon as he found himself under the water, a massive amount of pressure suddenly began to crush him like the centre of a planet. The pressure was so great that Mike had to use all of his power just to keep himself alive. Soon, the water turned to ice before eventually turning into plasma.

Mike thought for a second before coming up with an escape plan. Using his ability, he began to generate a reversed drilling motion inside the plasma which caused the pressure atop him to translate into a rotational force which went under his body. With this gap, Mike finally escaped from captivity. Now, Mike finally understood why so many feared Sniper. What he just experienced was nothing but an appetizer. Sniper has yet to unleash the full extent of his power.

To be continued...

*EXTRA:

- Profile: Mike

- Complete name: Mike Gioacchino Mundy

- Ability: [Distant Dreamer]: "One of the rarest abilities obtainable for a crystal user with only 3 known cases. Mike's ability can manipulate molecules and energy in any way he desires as long as it follows the rules of physics and chemistry.

A limitation of the ability is Mike's lack of a specific ability. For example, a crystal user with a flight ability can use his ability easily without spending much mental effort while Mike has to focus and formulate the thought of flying in his head. In Mike's case, the more complex the task, the more mental efficiency and focus are required.

When Mike's mind or ability is idle, a passive molecular shield is activated sub-consciously which protects Mike from unexpected harm. Mike often prefers direct fist attacks and basic molecular shields as they are the easiest abilities to conjure and maintain. On top of that, a basic kinetic punch often carries more power than spending your time conjuring weapons from your environment. "

-Ability stats:

Power - S

Speed of the ability - S

Speed granted by the ability - A

Range - A

Durability of the ability - S

Durability granted by the ability - S

Precision - A

Potential - S