— "Cassandra, has the problem in southern California been solved yet?"— asked a man in a formal suit.
— "Not yet sir, but they informed me that there are already two mid-rank heroes taking care of the situation" — Cassandra answered.
— "Two mid-rank heroes? Why were they sent and not one of higher rank?".
— "Well... They decided to go on their own, sir. Turns out they were close to the spot".
— "...And who are those heroes?".
— "Their names are Luis Goodwell and Amanda Storm, or as they are known in The Fortress, One Hand and Crazy Wand".
— "One Hand and Crazy Wand... Aren't they the ones Charles cares for and represents?".
— "That is correct, sir".
— "Hm... I'll have to talk to him later, now I just have to send someone of higher rank to calm-".
— "Um, sir, I was also informed that two new individuals appeared at the scene" — the woman said, interrupting what the man was saying.
— "Two new individuals? And who are they?".
— "Well, I still don't have much information about them. One seems to be a hero that isn't in any of our records, and the other is some kind of demon, a villain for sure".
— "A hero who does not appear in our records? How is that even possible?".
— "I'm not sure, Sir, but this hero might be a new recruit for The Fortress".
— "Or a new problem. Without a hero documentation he is technically working illegally out there and that might get us in trouble with the Hero Recruitment Association. Prepare the teleporter, I will stop this madness myself".
— "As you say, sir".
Meanwhile, at the scene of the disturbance.
— "Dark Destructor, I introduce you to The Purifier!" — said Punch Boy, holding the cross of fire in both hands.
— [Damn it... How the hell did he manage to create that with so little power!?] — Dark Destructor said in his mind, sweating a little due to his nerves. His little scar disappeared almost immediately — [If it works like the other attacks of his arsenal, I won't be able to block it in any way possible]. Punch Boy recklessly lunged at Dark Destructor, swinging the fire cross at him, but Dark Destructor managed to dodge it without too much trouble. [I'm lucky he's inexperienced with the weapon].
— "Heh..." — said Punch Boy with a smile. What Dark Destructor didn't realize was that the attack was just a distraction so the Guardian Angel could grab him from behind, rendering him immobile.
— "What the fu-" — said Dark Destructor, surprised by what had just happened — "Let go of me, you bastard!".
— "The plan worked perfectly, Angel!" — said Punch Boy with joy on his face.
— "Of course it worked, there were almost no failures" — said the Guardian Angel.
— "Ugh, let go of me already, you stupid ghost!" — Dark Destructor exclaimed with an angry tone.
— "Of course not, not until you stop destroying the city" — Punch Boy said.
— "Do you think I'm going to stop just because I'm unable to defend myself?" — Dark Destructor said — "You're an idiot if you think that, I'd rather die than follow your orders".
— "Well... If dying is what you want..." — Punch Boy said, pointing the fire cross towards Dark Destructor's neck — "It will be an honor for me to send you to heaven, or hell in your case".
— "Pfft, you don't have the balls to do it."
— "Do you want to try me? After what you did that day when we first met, and what you have caused today, I cannot allow you to go without paying the consequences".
— "Oh, stop giving me the hero lecture and kill me once and for all if you really want to do it".
— "..." — Punch Boy had nothing to say and just moved the fire cross away from Dark Destructor's neck — [Darn it, I was just supposed to scare him, but he's making me lose my sanity!].
— "Hmph, that's what I thought, a pathetic hero like you doesn't have the courage to put an end to his fears".
— "...Shut..." — said Punch Boy, with his head down.
— "No matter how hard you try, you will never get rid of me if you don't put your morals aside".
— "Shut up" — said Punch Boy, clenching his fists.
— [Oh no, Johny's aura is growing exponentially, I must calm him down before it happens again] — said the Guardian Angel in his mind — "Joh- Eh, Punch Boy, don't pay attention to him, just he's trying to piss you off".
— "Even on that tragic day, you weren't even able to stop me due to caring too much about that useless individual, you couldn't even save him! Hahah! What a good for not-".
— "I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" — Punch Boy shouted enraged, swinging his fire cross at Dark Destructor without thinking, with the intention of killing him. But just before the fire cross hit, Dark Destructor let out a smile, as the Guardian Angel had released Dark Destructor to stop Punch Boy's attack. Punch Boy realized what had just happened. [Ah... It can't be, I lost control of my anger again... Why is this happening to me?]. At that, Dark Destructor took advantage of Punch Boy's carelessness and shot him with a fire bullet in the stomach, then grabbed him by the neck with his tail. The Guardian Angel tried to stop him, but some demons stopped him, grabbing his arms.
— "Wow, did you really try to finish me off!?" — said Dark Destructor — "I must say that for the first time you have impressed me, I never thought you would be capable of something like that".
— "Argh, that... that wasn't my... intention..." — Punch Boy said with difficulty to breath, spitting blood and trying to force himself to remove Dark Destructor's tail from his neck.
— "Oh, please, don't try to hide it, if it hadn't been for that ghost I wouldn't be alive right now. It's a shame it didn't happen, I would have liked to see how you regretted what you had done, but oh well..." — Dark Destructor began to squeeze Punch Boy's neck little by little — "I guess it's like they say, everything good has an end, and this may, not so dear friend better known as an enemy, is your end"
— "Ugh! Stop... stop now..." — Punch Boy said with the little oxygen passing through his mouth. Just as he was about to pass out, someone came up and punched Dark Destructor in the right cheek, causing him to drop Punch Boy and fly a few meters. Punch Boy fell to the ground, gasping for breath and coughing at the same time. When he caught his breath, he looked up and was surprised to see that One Hand had returned to the place. The Guardian Angel took advantage of the distraction to get rid of the demons and eliminate them by bumping their heads against each other.
— "You... came back... but why?" — asked Punch Boy.
— "Do not flatter yourself, I just came back to take revenge on that bastard for hurting Crazy Wand" — One Hand said, who seemed to have recovered from his tiredness.
— "Johny, ¿estás bien? (Johnny, are you okay?)" — asked the Guardian Angel.
— "Si, estoy bien, mi herida solo me duele un poco (Yeah, I'm fine, my wound just hurts a little)" — answered Punch Boy.
— "...Who the hell are you talking to?" — asked One Hand confused.
— "Ah, sorry, I was only talking to the Guardian Angel" — answered Punch Boy.
— "The what now?".
— "Oh right, it's an angel that only me and the guy you sent flying can see".
— "...Are you schizophrenic or what-?" — One Hand asked just before Dark Destructor landed a strong punch to his stomach, followed by a spinning kick to the head. This made One Hand fly a few meters in straight lines, but he managed to regain his balance and in a blink of an eye he appeared behind Dark Destructor, but he already knew that trick, so he elbowed back, but One Hand intercepted it with his left hand. Using his right arm, he launched a blow at Dark Destructor's back, breaking a couple of bones in his spine.
— "Ugh, son of a-!" — Dark Destructor said with a gesture of pain. He proceeded to stomp on One Hand's right foot, followed by an elbow attack to his stomach, this time connecting with the target. With One Hand helpless, Dark Destructor took the opportunity to grab him by the neck with his right hand so he could stick his demonic tail into his chest. One Hand managed to intercept the tail just before it pierced him and proceeded to kick Dark Destructor with both legs to get him away.
— "Tch, you're so annoying…" — Dark Destructor said, a bit tired.
— "The feeling is mutual" — answered One Hand, with difficulty breathing.
— "I must say you are quite competent, too bad you didn't see my surprise attack coming from behind".
— "What-" — One Hand turned back, attentive to that surprise attack that Dark Destructor said, but it turns out that it was a trap and Dark Destructor stuck his tail into One Hand's chest.
— "NO!" — Punch Boy shouted when he saw what had just happened. But One Hand didn't seem to mind, he even smiled.
— "What!?" — Dark Destructor said in amusement. When he said that, One Hand completely vanished, not letting out any blood. [Damn it, he was a f*cking clone!].
— "What… you weren't… expecting that… right?" — said One Hand, who was hiding so as not to be detected by Dark Destructor — "It's a shame that… I can't fight… for the moment. My energy… is not yet… at 100%…".
— "Argh, get out of wherever you are, you coward!" — said Dark Destructor, who seemed to be annoyed.
— "Are you deaf? I am recovering... my energy after... after creating... that clone. I am not… stupid as to fight without…energy".
— "And then what's the point of sending a single clone to finish me off if you're not going to show up later to finish the job?".
— "To gain time".
— "Huh-" — Dark Destructor turned around to notice that something was shining behind him...
End of Chapter Three