Exodus walked calmly toward the destroyed building, where rubble, concrete and dirt lay scattered upon the ground. He knew that there was every chance they moved locations for safety, but somehow he doubted that. He reached behind him, to where the blue mask hung, and dragged it over his head, which Nathaniel had never used. The blue mask only covered the top half of his face, leaving his mouth and chin completely visibly while also having slits for the eyes so that he could see. Thick yellow lines ran along the sides of the mask, the main front being blue with a large white H on the forehead. He slowed his footsteps, now being quiet as he snuck forth toward the large hole in the wall. Movement flashed in the entrance way, and now Exodus stood straight and sprinted forward, kicking up dust behind him. Tough turned towards the sound of running, but it was already too late.
Exodus grasped him firmly under the helmet, where his chin would be, turned and threw him outside. Tough rolled along the ground, got to his feet, and a foot collided with the side of his face. He crumbled, unconscious as Henry stood over him, now turning and walking to Exodus with Rachel beside him. "Alright, we just need Paradox and Destruction dealt with, then it's homerun," Exodus murmured, and the other two nodded. They all entered the building, being as quiet as possible as they crept along the corridors. Footsteps were coming from ahead, hurried and paced. Exodus grasped a rock from his feet, took aim, and threw it at the opposite corridor. The footsteps now broke into a run, and then disappeared. Paradox appeared in the other corridor, looking around for the source of the noise as Exodus crept up behind him. Paradox turned to head back and found himself face-to-face with Exodus. His mouth fell open in surprise.
Exodus grinned in return, and then shot a charged fist forward. It struck Paradox fully in the face, and as he stumbled back, a streak of red flashed across the room, grasping Paradox and hurtling him into the nearest wall. Rachel stood over her brother's unconscious body, turned to give a quick nod at Exodus, and then zoomed off. They waited only ten seconds before she returned, panting slightly but then murmuring, "He is downstairs, kneeling before several crystals. I think they're the Powers the others had before he killed them." Exodus nodded at this information, his mind processing the next step in their plan. A dark streak of red illuminated the room, and Rachel flew away, skidding across the floor as Henry turned, and he too was thrown away. It was Destruction, an ugly snarl upon his lips as he growled, "You!"
He threw his fist, and it smashed into the side of Exodus' face, making him stumble back into a wall as Destruction advanced, his fists raised and glowing a bright red. He plunged his fists forward again, and this time Exodus ducked, quickly skidding behind Destruction and raising his own fists. "You ready to end this?" hissed Destruction menacingly, and Exodus bowed his head in acceptance of the challenge. Destruction jumped up and kicked through the air, and Exodus raised his fist, blocking the attack as he also spun away. Destruction punched several times through the air, his fists red blurs as Exodus parried and blocked, his own fists glowing yellow as the two fought. Destruction landed a kick to Exodus' stomach, and he was pushed back, although this time managing to stay on his feet. Exodus ducked another swipe and delivered an uppercut to Destruction's stomach, making him stumble back.
"Come on then!" Destruction snarled, and Exodus advanced, throwing his right fist forth. Destruction dodged the attack, spinning and landing a hard kick to Exodus' side. Exodus winced, but kept tall, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet as he now sidestepped an attack and raising his leg into Destruction's gut. Destruction hissed as he ran forward yet again, swiping his fists and kicking hard. Exodus took another three hits, dodged a kick and then lashed out behind him, landing a kick to Destruction's face. Destruction looked more furious than Exodus had ever seen him as he once again advanced, parrying blows and swinging his arms. Exodus spat blood from his mouth, ducked another kick, turned to face Destruction's back, fully charged up his right arm and smashed it forward. Destruction arched his back, a gasp escaping his lips.
Exodus didn't waste anymore time. He reached forward, grasped Destruction by the back of the neck, turned and bodily tossed him across the room. Destruction was lifted from his feet as he spun through the air, and he hit the wall on the other side, which was filled with destroyed metal and spikes from the first contact battle between Nathaniel and Catastrophe. Blood burst from Destruction's chest and arms as he was impaled to the wall, only a small sound escaping him. Exodus had not meant to kill Destruction so brutally, yet here he was, standing over Destruction's body that was run through with rusted metal and spikes. Rachel and Henry had been watching from the doorway, getting out the way of the battle, and now stared in both shock and pity. "I am sorry it had to come to this," Exodus murmured, kneeling down, reaching forward and gently closing Destruction's eyelids.
Exodus stood, turned away from the body, and headed out the room, flanked on either side by Rachel and Henry. "You two go ahead," Exodus said as they began running, and the other two nodded, sprinting ahead of him as they raced toward the stairs.
***
Catastrophe was kneeling before the crystals by the time they arrived. One was a bright orange colour, one a deep grey and one a bright yellow. The Power of Flame, Tech and Hope. All he needed now were Speed, Hardening and Rage. He looked up at the sound of footsteps, expecting one of his allies. Instead, a foot smashed against his face, sending him to his feet and staggered back, his fists now glowing brightly. Someone zoomed to his side, grasped him firmly and plunged him against the wall, an enemy now on his other side and hardening, both of them keeping him in place as someone in a familiar suit came into his line of sight. "You're dead," he snarled when he saw Nathaniel, and Nathaniel chuckled, reaching to the mask on his head and pulling it off. It was not Nathaniel at all. It was Exodus.
Catastrophe's eyes widened as Exodus stood before him, and then his face grew into a smile. "You are too late. I am half-way to my goal. I have taken everything from you!" If Catastrophe was trying to get a reaction from Exodus, he got one which surprised him. "No, you have not," Exodus said simply, and Catastrophe's eyes narrowed. "I have taken your brother! The only one who has protected you as you cowered in battle!" he cried, yet once again, Exodus shook his head. "My brother is alive. He lives in me. Through me. I wear his suit because I have embraced the loss of him, and from that I now draw remnants of his Power." Catastrophe looked as though he had been shocked, his eyes narrow yet his mouth hanging open in shock. "You're all fools," he murmured, and Exodus sighed, "It is over."
Catastrophe shook his head, his eyes flashing red as his entire body glowed with the Power of Rage. He threw out his arms, throwing Henry and Rachel away as he stood, now glaring at Exodus. Tough charged into the room and tackled Henry to the ground, the two of them rolling and snarling as Paradox zoomed into the room. Rachel saw him, turned and zoomed away, a red streak in her wake as Paradox followed as a black streak, the two of them racing along the walls of the room as Catastrophe and Exodus ran to greet one another. Exodus' arms glowed brightly as he threw his fists forward. Catastrophe blocked the multiple blows, took a small step back and threw his own charged fists forward. Exodus was ready for it. He used his forearms to block and parry the attacks as he moved backward, his arms blurs in the air.
Catastrophe jumped into the air and smashed his knee against Exodus' chest, forcing him to move back and recover as Catastrophe advanced. Exodus dodged a punch, pivoted and collided his fist with Catastrophe's face, then quickly uppercutting Catastrophe in the stomach with his left fist. Catastrophe winced, the blows heavily impacting his body as he moved forward. He struck his left fist forward, and Exodus moved to the right, the fist passing beside his face. Catastrophe, however, had wanted this, because now he swung his fist to the left, backhanding Exodus across the face and forcing him to the side, where he coughed in pain. Catastrophe spun, kicking him hard in the side before delivering a barrage of powerful smashes to Exodus' chest. Exodus dodged one way, then the other, but now Catastrophe was several steps ahead of him, blocking the attacks as though he were merely swatting a fly away.
Exodus took another few step away and felt his back hit the wall. He was cornered. Catastrophe landed a firm blow across Exodus' face, and then did the same to the other side. Exodus was stunned, and Catastrophe took the opportunity to reach his left hand towards his throat. Exodus raised his right fist and gripped onto Catastrophe's left, panting but doing his best to prevent any further attacks. Catastrophe snarled, and he seemed to glow even brighter, the red burning as his body swelled. Exodus' eyes widened as Catastrophe now referred to the form that he had used to kill Nathaniel. The hand enclosed around Exodus' fist was crushing, and then Catastrophe leant down, picking Exodus from the ground as though he were a ragdoll, and then he was thrown across the room and into the wall. Exodus coughed and groaned in pain as he tried getting to his feet.
He looked up, and saw Henry flipping behind Tough, hands around his neck. "Try hardening against this," Henry hissed, and then he snapped both hands to the side. Tough hit the ground once again, although this time he did not breathe, his neck snapped. Henry turned, and saw Catastrophe standing nearby, towering over him and snarling. "Henry, no!" Exodus screamed from the ground, but it was too late. Henry jumped high, raising a fist to attack Catastrophe. Catastrophe raised his own fist and plunged it forward. There was a bright flash of green, and when the dust settled, Henry lay on the ground, which had cracked beneath him, his helmet smashed and dented. He did not move. Exodus did not want to believe it. Could not believe it. Henry was dead. There was a red flash, and Rachel appeared out the corner of Exodus' eyes, spinning Paradox through the air.
Paradox spun to the base of a nearby wall, cracking the whole bottom of it. He looked up at the already damaged wall, and his eyes widened as he saw it tipping forward. Exodus watched in amazement as the wall came crashing down, crushing Paradox to death in seconds. Rachel spun to race toward Exodus, but as Exodus watched, a red beam of light cut through the air, and Rachel hit the ground, apparently unconscious. Exodus felt anger stabbing at his insides as he stood from the ground and began powering up his arm. Catastrophe turned to him, and Exodus jumped high into the air, followed by a brilliant flash of light.
***
Exodus landed not on concrete as he expected, but on pale, shimmering water. He looked around. It was the Angel's Lake, where he had seen his brother appear before him. But how was he here? He was not dead, he knew that. He felt his heart still beating fast in his chest. "Back again so soon?" Exodus whirled, finding Nathaniel before him with a sympathetic smile on his face. "I don't…understand," Exodus said weakly, looking down at his hands and then up at Nathaniel again. "It seems you have accidentally tapped into the Power of Hope itself. It gives you unlimited Power to finish an opponent off…but then it is too much for your body to handle. At this point there is no going back," Nathaniel explained, a sad look on his face as he knelt down and grabbed a fistful of water.
He slowly rose again, and the water turned into a pulsing yellow light that throbbed in Nathaniel's hand. "Are you ready, brother?" Nathaniel asked softly, and for a moment, Exodus was in too much shock. He did not know what to do. Very slowly, he nodded, and Nathaniel held the ball of light out to Exodus. "Good luck, little brother," Nathaniel murmured as Exodus stretched out his hand and firmly grasped the yellow ball.
***
Exodus snapped his eyes open as he raced toward Catastrophe, who raised his own right fist, which was glowing a bright red. Catastrophe was going to his full power, just as Exodus was doing. They both threw their fists at one another, and the blinding flash of light sent them both hurtling backward. Exodus smashed into a wall and crumpled. He was panting, but how? He should be dead. He looked up and saw something that made his heart sink. Catastrophe had attached the crystals to his belt, except it was now accompanied by three others. A bright green one, which had belonged to Henry. A bright red one, which must have belonged to Catastrophe himself, and a bright yellow one. Exodus'. "One more now that he is dead," Catastrophe whispered, then reached forward, grabbing Rachel's unconscious form, dragging her over his shoulder and then limping from the room.
Exodus tried standing yet he lacked the strength to do so. He had no idea how, but Catastrophe must have extracted his Power in the few seconds he had been exposed, and in the process taken his own. "Get up," an urging voice said, and Exodus sat up, looking around. No one was there, yet the voice repeated, "Get up!" Exodus sighed. He knew that it was Nathaniel's voice, although how he was saying this, he did not know. It took ten minutes, but Exodus slowly regained his strength, managing to stand and lean against the wall. Catastrophe had Rachel, and Exodus knew exactly where he was taking her. To the Angel's Lake.