Chapter 8 - Fist of the Vengeful Sun

Construction Site near The Link, Luminata City - November 15, 2035

🎵: Irving Force - Overlord

"And here I thought I was witness to a ghost, but my eyes aren't deceiving me.", told the Gray Man. "There was no realm of possibility for any normal person to survive what I did to you.

Sol rolls back to his feet, "Too bad… for you, that I was never a normal person."

"Clearly. Doesn't matter, however, you only bought yourself an extra beating and I will make sure you're dead this time."

"You will TRY."

The Gray Man immediately unleashes a shockwave to throw Sol off his feet just as he did all those months ago. The latter holds his ground, resisting the intense pressure with his arms. He's strong, but the power of those gauntlets is no joke.

The Gray Man smiles, "I'm impressed. You really are special, kid. Should've known that back then, but whatever."

He takes another high leap, bringing the house down with his next attack. "Those Canelli sods were nothing, but a bunch of prissy little grunts. How will you FARE AGAINST A NOIRATAN CAPTAIN?!!"

Sol pushes off the shockwave to leap out of the way. The Captain impacts the ground with such velocity that he winds up accidentally lodging his gauntlet into the ground. The former takes advantage of this mistake with a stiff right knee to the face of the latter. He follows up with a few punches for good measure.

"Oh, come on, Cap'n! You can do better than that. Why not give me your name instead?" he said before hitting him with another punch. "Or better yet, give me something better… Where is Luna?!"

Following another hit from Sol, the Captain retaliates with a hard shot from his untrapped gauntlet. The young man blocks it with both arms as a preemptive defense — a big mistake. The tenacious captain yanks his trapped gauntlet out of the ground and adds extra pressure to his attack. Sol realizes that he's relying too much on his strength to tank the shock from the gauntlets.

"I HAVE TO USE-" His guard is broken much to his shock, ironically enough.

"Hehe! I'm only formally a Captain of the Noirata Empire, but you will know me as… Steel Fist!!"

Steel Fist strikes his opponent directly in the midsection, launching him back. Sol's body bounces multiple times before crashing into the building under construction. After a minute of waiting for retaliation, SF strolls into the site looking to finish the job.

He scans the area, very much aware that there's a chance Sol survived the hit. The point of impact seemed to be a toolbox in the center of the building. Nothing, but tools everywhere…

"Come on, boy. I know you're here somewhere.", SF called out as he scanned around. "Don't tell me you ran this time. I thought you wanted to know about your little girlfriend!" A sound from above startles him for a moment, "Thought so. You're still here…"

A UV Bomb flies down from above, landing in SF's hand. However, he's never seen this before. BOOM! The orb explodes in hand, staggering him back.

Directly above, Sol brings the hammer down right behind SF with a slam, creating a shockwave similar to the latter's own. SF is sent flying upwards where he clutches a beam.

Sol laughs, "Steel Fist? I'll give that one to you… I couldn't have come up with a lamer name for you if I tried."

Steel Fist's overconfidence turns to rage and he launches multiple shockwaves at his opponent. They are dodged, damaging all the beams in their wake. His relentless spamming causes each wave to get progressively weaker.

Sol gets caught in and sent back by a weaker shockwave. He clings to the nearest beam and climbs up the structure. SF ascends as well, lunging at the kid with murderous intent. He buries his gauntlet into the floor beneath them, making it much likelier to collapse. Sol uses the angry captain as a spring to ascend to the top level.

Steel Fist launches himself upward through the opening in the floor above, trying to intercept. Sol remains one step ahead of this as he makes the interception, kicking the captain back down to the shabby second floor. A heavy creaking sound emerges from said floor as SF tries to get a grip.

"HEY, TIN FIST!! Time to say good night again!!" Sol yelled as he dived back downward.

He rains down another Hammer Slam directly on SF himself, breaking straight through the floor and crashing down to ground level. The technique created enough shock to cause a great portion to structure to collapse on top of them. All seems to be over as both men are now buried under the debris when suddenly, an arm emerges wrapped in a distinct blue long sleeve.

Sol emerges from under the rubble a little shaken. "Ugh, may have overdid that one a bit.", he admitted.

Solar chimes in, "You think? Check up on him, will you."

"Roger that! Alright, Tin Man, time to get up for sch-" Sol is caught off-guard by SF's gauntlet bursting out of the rubble and grabbing him by the head. "UGH!!"

The Noiratan captain rises with a crazed smile on his face, "Now, where do I smash your skull over and over until there's nothing left but bloody paste?" He laughs as Sol blindly punches and fires bolts while struggling to breathe, "On second thought, maybe I can just squeeze until 'POP!'"

Sol screams in agony as he feels the intense pressure from the gauntlet weighing on his skull. Rain panics and looks to advise him on how to get out of this, but surprisingly, Solar shuts him down.

"Just watch.", he said calmly.

Sol clutches onto the gauntlet, wrapping both hands on each finger. Hardly able to breathe, he pushes back against the pressure to save his cranium from utter disaster. SF's demeanor transforms from a devious smile to bitter bafflement. He couldn't fathom how strong this kid truly was. It begins to set in as Sol progressively pushes the gauntlet further from his face.

SNAP!!

"AGHHH!!" screamed Steel Fist… as his fingers were broken. "You LITTLE!"

"One gauntlet down… one more to go!" Sol thought. "He's not going to do that again, so I have to lure him in."

"AHHH, WHY WON'T YOU DIE!!"

Sol laughs internally, "This'll be cake."

Steel Fist rushes once again, blinded by rage. Sol flashes a bright light in his eyes, literally blinding him for the moment. He still goes for a punch, which is exactly what his opponent was counting on. Inches away from a support beam, Sol sidesteps SF's remaining gauntlet into a spin kick that sends it colliding into the beam.

The structure the two have been fighting in was damaged enough by SF's spamming of shockwaves… and this was the final blow. The entire thing came down on top of both, putting this little dispute to rest.

Feet away from the wrecked structure, a pick-up truck pulls into the construction site. The door opens and out steps Seth, safe and unscathed from the ambush he was saved from. He rushes over to the destruction zone, bummed that he missed some kind of crazy conflict.

"HOLY SHIT!!" he yelled as he saw something extraordinary.

Sol stands centered among the debris, holding up the steel beams that would have crushed him had he been a normal person. Hearing Seth, he turns to him with a triumphant smile. He turns his attention to an even greater sight, SF is pinned down by steel beams weighing on the intact gauntlet. Intact no more, however.

"I told you…", Sol said as he dropped the heavy beams behind him. "Kidnapping my best friend wouldn't be good for your health. Doesn't matter how long it took to get here, you're broken and I stand as tall as ever. Now…"

"AGHHH!!" yelled Steel Fist as Sol pressed his foot against the previously broken gauntlet.

"WHERE. IS. LUNA?"

"You little rat bastard, you. You think you're a man. You're lucky I'm pinned here because when I'm free, I- AGHHHH!!"

"I asked you a question." Sol presses harder on the gauntlet.

"Easy, Sol.", Solar advises. "You've beaten him, but again, remember not to go too far."

"Yes, sir."

"AGH!! COMMANDER, WHERE ARE YOU? KILL THIS WANKER AND GET ME OUTTA HERE!!" Steel Fist desperately yells into his earpiece.

"Oh, good! I want your superiors to hear this." He places a hand on the beams weighing on the other gauntlet. "I'm not going to ask again." He pushes down to add extra pressure and a little bit of his own medicine mixed in.

"AGH, OKAY!! I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS FOR SURE. My people made a deal with the Canelli for protection in exchange for their service. One of the first things was to retrieve the girl. You see, your friend is not who you knew she was. She's a VIP, but I'd rather not spoil the surprise. You think you're so strong, kid? Do what you'd like with this information. For the past few months, she has been directly in the custody… of our great and powerful leader, the Noir Emperor.

"The Noir Emperor.", both Sol and Solar silently repeat to themselves.

Master Solar thinks about his warnings regarding this man earlier in the day, "....considering he took over the former Noirata Kingdom practically overnight, he's not to be messed with." He knows that this man is truly formidable. Knowing Luna is in his clutches creates far more turmoil for the wise master as this could mean she may never be brought back safely.

Sol is not hindered by such fears. His pride grew immensely by his decisive victory over Steel Fist, a man he couldn't even land a hit on just five months prior. He likes the idea of rising to the challenge this Noir Emperor poses. After all, Rain was right. He is building this man up to be a sort of dark supervillain.

Steel Fist eyes this naive ambition and chuckles, "What? You think YOU can defeat the Noir Emperor?" He laughs, "This isn't some kind of comic book. You're no 'Silver Sarge'. You can beat all the grunts that they throw at you… You can even beat me, but if the Emperor gets his hands on you… By his name, you'll wish you died on top of that car all those months ago."

"We'll see about that."

Solar warns, "No, Sol, he's right. You're not ready to face the Noir Emperor."

Sol is shocked to hear these words coming from his master. This was the same man who professed his utmost confidence in him just earlier that day. He HAD warned him, but it was only speculation-based. Now that they have evidence of Luna being a captive of the Emperor, he should be heading straight for him. That goes without mentioning, his show of skill in this battle.

Rain reinforces this mindset, "Sol, there's much more to worry about. The Canelli are confirmed to be working with the Noirata Empire. With their campaign around Luminata City, it would probably help to deal with them for the time being.

Sol nods reluctantly, "Gather more leads and work my way up, got it!" He turns to SF as Seth walks up beside him, "The Canelli. They're making more moves around the city. What do you know?"

SF laughs, "You have this moron with you? This is who's on your side in your fight against us?" He turns to Seth, "I thought you ended up in a trash compactor. Damn, weirdo heh heh."

Sol presses on the beams again, "Answer the question, Tin Fist!"

"AGH!! Okay, okay!! The Canelli are running an op at the beach!"

"Delfino? Where exactly?"

"The Azure Falcon Hotel. Those guidos sure love their historic sites. They're working on something big for us around there. Good luck with that."

Seth pumps himself up, "We'll bust up those mafiosos and whatever you're planning."

Steel Fist bursts into loud laughter, "YOU? Don't make me laugh! Him, he can fight at least."

"Can I shoot him?" Seth asked Sol as he lifted the gun he carried.

"No…" Sol turns his attention to Master Solar and Rain, "Looks like I'm taking a trip to the beach. What should I do with our friend?"

"Leave him… Get moving to the Azure Falcon!" ordered Master Solar. "Whatever they're working on for the Noiratans could be hazardous to the city."

"And go on without buddy boy… He's gonna be in way over his head.", Rain advised regarding Seth.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Sol turns to Seth, "Let's go." He then turns to Steel Fist, "Later, Tin Fist! Be a good boy where you're headed."

Steel Fist yells in protest as the two continue to walk off. No one's coming to his rescue. Unlike five months prior, Sol walks away the victor, being far stronger while Seth is not in a dumpster, being trash no more. As the two board the latter's truck and drive off, another dark figure watches from the top of one of Link-N Square's towering hotels.

The hooded figure, who was also present during the kidnapping, stands menacingly in their armored duds. Their silver cloak blows freely in the wind. Nothing to say, only just eyes trained on a new target.