A Trusted Friend and An Ally

Watching Indra stand straight with his office attire, people's cheers turned into boos. It was quite strange for those who felt like he didn't belong here. Some laughed to their heart's content, wagering their entire money on Indra's loss. Then there were others, who were felt embarrassed to watch the battle. Turning around, some quietly left. They didn't want to watch the pitiable Indra be skewered by a giant sword after all.

Avan shook his head in exasperation. He had seen many strange people in this tournament, but never had he seen a person like Indra. Like a person casually going to his office, this man seemed carefree enough to appear at the tournament. Like it was the norm.

Over at the spectator's arena, a woman with a fair complexion, with glasses and an average build was secretly recording the events that took place in the battle arena.

On her shirt was a button, which contained a video recording device. The moment she noticed Indra make his appearance, she was astonished. To think someone with such looks, would make his advent here in the arena.

Placing her hand on the button, she twisted it to the right. The camera zoomed and remained focused on Indra. While others focused on Sherry, this camera woman decided to focus on the latter. Something about him peaked her interest. She would eventually find out, how right she was.

"A-Anyway, we have number 167. Up next we have number 98. A woman, unmatched in beauty and strength, we have.... Sherry!" The crowd completely ignored Indra's presence and began cheering for Sherry, who walked up with a broad sword in her hand.

"Is this some kind of joke? If you don't wish to fight, better surrender now." Sherry replied coldly.

"..." Ignoring her remarks, Indra simply stood quietly and waited for Avan to begin the match.

"Close the cage! Now... let the match begin!" Within a split second Sherry was sent crashing into the cage, out of it and into the wall. Just like Swifter, she was knocked unconscious. The crowd turned extremely silent, unable to process what had happened.

Walking away amidst the silent crowd, Indra went back to the waiting room and began collecting his belongings from the guard. The camera woman had her eyes widened. She realized her camera was miles away from capturing something at the level of Indra's speed.

"The winner is... Indra... That concludes tonight's event ladies and gentlemen! Tomorrow the quarter finals, semi finals and finals shall commence. Once again, get ready to be prepared for more unexpected battles... such as this..." Avan's words trailed off, as he gulped at the speed which Indra decimated Sherry.

Had he attacked her with the kill to intent, what could've plausibly happened? Avan wiped the sweat off his hands and his forehead and continued to stare at huge hole indented to the wall.

He was most definitely aware of Sherry's strength. Indra was simply an anomaly. Even The Crusher would have to put much strength into defeating Sherry. Alas, another dark horse had appeared, and everyone within the arena had just begun to realize it.

--

Back in the waiting room, The Crusher had thoroughly seen the fight which ended in a split second. His eyes wavered anxiously, albeit a little. He walked over to Indra and stood in front of him, and began pressuring him with his demonic aura.

Indra furrowed his brows in annoyance, squashed his aura and grabbed onto his neck. The Crusher, who had underestimated the man's strength in front of him, struggled to free himself from Indra's grasp. In need of more power, The Crusher tried transforming into his demonic form and unfortunately, it never activated.

Astonished by the turn of events, his bones around his neck began feeling the immense pressure.

"Le-Let me go!"

"Why should I? Look, I can guess why you'd want to pick a fight with me, but it is not easy to beat me with that puny demonic form of yours." He responded.

"I-I'll kill you!" The Crusher roared, as he tried to struggle with all his might. Firmly gripping him, Indra stared at him with his golden eyes and said,

"One more time, you pull this cheap trick and I'll be snapping that neck of yours next time." Releasing The Crusher, he walked away from the place only to halt in his footsteps again by a certain someone.

"Can't go recording people without your permission." A woman appeared, who hid against the wall when he confronted The Crusher earlier.

A sneaky camerawoman indeed. Indra shook his head in exhaustion. Not physical or mental exhaustion. But exhaustion by the fact that too many people snuck up on him today. He just wanted to return home and relax.

"Sorry I shouldn't have done that, but I'm not stalking you or anything like that. I'm from-"

"The press, yeah I know. You know you've invited yourself into hell's lair right?" Indra raised his brows as he gazed at the button like recording device.

"I needed to get in no matter what. And I was able to record something far more amazing than anything I've seen!" She squealed in delight as she readjusted her glasses from falling.

"Interesting, a daring woman indeed. Still, better not sneak up like that. I don't want to go around accidentally killing innocent people." Indra sighed, earning a little chuckle from the camera woman.

Placing her hand out she said:

"I'm Olivia Hartley, from NewEra." Shaking her hand back, he said:

"Ah, I see NewEra huh? Quite the famous news channel indeed. Well, what should I do with you for recording illegally?" Boring daggers at her, she took a few steps back in fear. Before she could run the opposite direction, she heard Indra chuckling at her.

"Are you serious?! I thought I was a goner there. You know what, I'll just delete this footage."

"Don't. You've actually done a good job, so why don't you telecast it?" Hearing Indra's statement, she stared in surprise. How many more surprises did this man have?

"Telecast it, but morph my face and voice with someone else's. I already have a lot on my plate now."

"Why should I trust you?" She asked suspiciously, not wanting to believe him.

"I mean, I could've deleted your device right here and bury you without anyone noticing. Besides, I'd like to make a deal with you. Just not here though." Indra needed as many cards as he could to launch a full scale attack against DW-Industries and demolish them.

"You don't have to decide it here. Here's my card, and if you ever agree to it, just telecast the video and I'll have known that you agreed to our deal. We shall meet after that."

"I have one last question!" She asked.

"Shoot."

"Why would you place your trust on me? We just met."

"Well, let's just say I have a good hunch about you. It was nice meeting you Ms. Olivia Hartley." Waving his hand, Indra flickered away from the place leaving a curious news reporter. She smiled as she quickly walked away from the place. Her eyes flashed cunningly, aiming to dug out all the secrets on him.

--

Right outside John F. Kennedy international airport, a man wearing a grey suit was waiting impatiently with an elated look in his eyes.

He had waited long enough for this day to arrive. These few minutes however, felt like eons to him. The man was simply huge. His huge muscles were clearly exposed, despite the large suit piece he was wearing.

Next to him was a girl who was busy munching on her favorite chewing gum. Her attitude was several times better when the man fed her some gum, earlier. Bring sporadic, the teenaged girl quieted down and yet the impatience was wearing on her too.

Contrary to her appearance, the 18 year old girl looked ethereal and eye captivating. She wore a maroon tie front long sleeved dress, matching her died maroon hair. There was one aspect which made them an interesting pair. The man's strength was at Emperor's realm, and the girl's was at King's realm.

A black car arrived in front of them and from the car a, person of familiarity appeared in front of them and welcomed them with a hug.

"Come over here you bugger!" The huge man replied, as he hugged the frail looking man in front of him

"Good to see you Tony! Thank God I arrived just in time for you to not throw a fit here."

"You know me well don't you Richard? Guess who I managed to bring this time?" He whispered the last part to Richard, without grabbing her attention. The girl walked up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Good to see you too, Felicity." The girl stepped back silently and began chewing on her gum, spacing out into her own world. The trio hopped into the car and left to Golden Enterprises.

In the car, Tony talked with Richard about the recent events, relating to DW-Industries and Falcon Steels. Being away for a while, Tony perked his ears when he heard about Indra. A man whom Tony and Felicity had heard multiple times from Richard for a long time.

"I don't know about this so called Indra, Richard. In order to cut the roots, we must initiate our plan with Falcon Steels. We must do it tomorrow night itself, but must be cautious about it. That's why we came as soon as possible." Tony replied as he continued to look out the window.

Tony Walt, a man of pride and honor was one of the first to help Richard establish Golden Enterprises many years ago. Being good friends with Richard, Tony continued to dedicate his loyalty towards Richard and to the company without complaints.

He had many reasons to destroy DW-Industries. Right now he didn't have the time nor the opportunity to trust outsiders. Despite Indra being friends with Richard, Tony still had his own reasons to keep an eye on him. Even if that man was a long time friend of Indra. What if there was a scam or a foul play within it?

Any person would indeed find it suspicious, however knowing Richard and his personality, he trusted his friends a lot. And Indra, was on top of the list.

"Tony, you're only saying that because you aren't aware of Indra. He is a man of commitment and loyalty. He would gladly give up his life for us." Richard tried explaining it to Tony.

Not wanting to jump to conclusions, Tony refrained from blurting anything which would strain his relationship with Richard. By considering Indra as most trusted friend, similarly, to Tony, Richard was the only true friend for him.

"Either way, with us two tagging along with little Ema and the others, we can definitely defeat them. Where are we attacking?"

"We're attacking them at the New York Cargo. They will definitely be there." Richard replied as he continued to drive towards the interstate.

"Why there?" Tony was surprised this time. Off all the places, why would they be there? Especially the day before the summit?

"I've gotten news that, many huge containers are being shipped to New York Cargo. You know what that means right?" Hearing the last part of the statement, Tony's eyes widened as his face contorted in fury.

"The new drug they're about to release. More precisely, demonification! Shit!" Tony gritted his teeth in fury and looked towards Felicity, who stopped chewing her gum and nodded in return.

"I want to kill them so badly!" Felicity hugged Tony from behind and calmed him down. Eventually returning to his usual demeanor, Tony looked at Richard who was quiet and calm.

"How can you be so calm? Do you realize how many people are going to die?!" He never expected Richard to be calm about this. Where did such confidence sprout from? A never seen strength.

"I was scared too, but that isn't going to be of any help to us. We need as many people as we can to catch them off guard and kill them." Richard replied.

Without replying, Tony and Felicity who overheard him simply remained quiet. The rest of the drive was pleasantly silent. Tony and Felicity, who were initially nervous, turned confident. To become determined and give everything they have against their greatest foes.