The Link, Delfino Beach - November 16, 2035
🎵: Miami Nights 1984 - Accelerated
Let's go to the- BANG! BANG! The sounds of gunfire rage relentlessly at the Delfino Beach exit off the Link. Many innocent beachgoers try to get away on the westbound side. Sol watches from his position, seeing the mafiosos exchange fire with the police pinned down on the Link. They've built a makeshift wall that is difficult to advance past.
The police continue to push more cars west towards the mainland. Unfortunately, this effort puts them in harm's way and injures a good few. Sol can hardly do anything from there, so he brainstorms a way to close the distance.
"The two buildings aren't too tall, so ascending them should be a piece of cake." He eyes the banner hanging between both. "Perfect! Getting across will be just as easy. Now, how to get in…"
From above, the bridge connects the buildings with high-tension wires, but that would be walking straight into a hail of heat. Straight through, he could work alongside the police to even the odds, but there are two glaring issues there… Ending up in the exact predicament and a less-than-ideal response from the coppers. Best try below!
Sol looks over the edge and a fun sight meets him there. The Delfino Yacht & Sail Club stands in the shadow of the bridge on the south side. Boats of many shapes and sizes are docked there, but what catches his eye is the sailboats. Sol chuckles before he backflips over the edge, catching a railing directly below. He swings onto the maintenance walkway underneath just as he intended.
"I swear you're going me a damn heart attack.", Rain commented.
"Welcome to the club.", Solar responded.
He crosses underneath the bridge until he reaches the exit platform to descend toward the sailboats. In his peripheral view as he traverses the masts, a group of Canelli goons are armed with rocket launchers and explosive munitions with the express intent of ambushing the police from the right flank. Their first shots aren't so successful clearly due to inexperience. Without quit, they're just about to ready another launch when a blue glow cuts them off.
"It's that glowing kid that hit our boys at Link-N! Waste 'im, Tony!"
"Oh, so you've heard of me!"
Tony fires a rocket directly at Sol, but like the shots veering off-target before, this one flies past the latter's head without him needing to move. Everyone looked at the former like he had a massive "dumbass" written on his face.
"Ooh, that means it's my move.", Sol says gleefully.
Sol plummets to the ground with another Hammer Slam, directly in the center of the group. They're all thrown off their feet just like their "boys at Link-N". Collectively, they misfire shots into the air, alerting both the police and mafiosos exchanging fire on the eastbound side.
"Shit! It's that kid! He's coming for us. Get movin' and take 'im out."
The Canelli concentrate their fire on the young hero below while the police take advantage and move to clear the building. Sol rushes out of sight to avoid being hit. Inside the building, a collection of luxurious beach condos, the Canelli goons rush down closer to the ground floor to stop him dead in his tracks. Emphasis on dead.
They spread out across the rooms to catch him quickly. One brave goon peers over a balcony facing over the site of the rocket shot. He points his Jimmy gun over, hoping to catch the pesky kid in his crosshairs. A hand grabs the barrel of the weapon and pulls the man nearly over the ledge before pushing him back. Sol climbs up and hits his poor opponent with a stiff light bolt to the face. Another goon who was just nearby, runs in and unloads his drum magazine.
Sol moves into cover quicker on instinct, "Hey, Rain. Want to go to the arcade?"
"Sol, you're being shot at and you're thinking about games?"
"Yeah, I thought you might be up for 'Time Crisis'!"
"Ohh, I see what you mean."
Sol waits behind cover until "CLICK!" before emerging with two light bolts for the goon's troubles. He proceeds forward, maintaining his firing stance for aiming light bolts, his left arm extended forward with that hand tilted at an angle while his right arm remains close just inches from his chest.
Cover… shoot... Cover… shoot. He clears out the building promptly just like the famous on rails arcade shooter. At the stairwell, he discovers the police moving upward, which spells both good and bad news for him. He continues upward towards the banner until he reaches the penthouse where a group is overheard waiting to ambush him.
"Only one way in… put your foot on the pedal, Rain!" Sol called with a smile.
Rain stands up and cocks back his arm, "ACTION!!"
Sol easily pulls the door off of its hinges, unleashing a flurry of gunfire. He makes a gesture of pulling the pin of a grenade while creating a UV Bomb in his hand. He then blindly tosses it much to the confusion of all inside. The explosion of blue illuminates out the door as multiple grunts spell out a successful breach.
Still walking through in his stance, Sol scans around to find all the knocked-out goons. Just outside is the banner connected between this and the building across the Link. Without hesitation, he vaults over the ledge and shimmies along the high-tension wire.
"Boss, ya see that!"
"Yeah, it's that kid! He got our guys, LET'S GET HIM!!"
The goons on the upper floor turn their fire towards Sol, taking two hits to the left arm and shoulder. Although he said this would be easy, it painfully turned into the opposite. Another shot strikes the wire, creating a vulnerability and in turn, an opportunity.
The police squad made it to the penthouse where they intervened with suppressing fire. Sol regains his grip on the banner, considering his options. Using the vulnerability in the wire is a very risky one, but it's worth a shot. The trajectory should be able to get him at a decent height into the building. Between the roaring crossfire, he takes aim himself.
"Tally ho…" he nervously said before shooting a bolt. "AHHHHHHHH!!"
Sol screams as he swings across, much to the surprise of both parties watching him. Like a wrecking ball, he plummets downward with the arc leading straight into the building at what feels like terminal velocity. He screams louder before releasing his grip to crash into the third-floor window.
Baffled, the leader of the mafiosos calls out, "Okay, then. Take 'im out… if he's not dead already."
The police squad sergeant in turn calls out, "Westbound team! You better move quickly before that kid gets himself killed."
"Sarge, didn't Stardust mention a suspect running around in a glowing blue jacket?"
"Yeah… and so did Quartz. I think I know what will happen. On me!"
Sol slowly pushes himself back up to his feet after that nasty spill. Thankfully, he didn't suffer any major injuries, but a few new cuts from the glass add some annoying little stings. Not to mention, landing on his front aggravates the sore pain from Steel Fist's gauntlet striking him directly in the torso.
Rain tries to give him a little pick-me-up, "Uhhh, RELOAD!"
Sol stumbles into the hallway still feeling a bit rough. He chuckles in response to Rain's arcade reference upon also hearing the Mafiosos come down after him yet again.
"Sol, are you okay? You took a nasty bump just now. Try to avoid fighting while you heal up.", Solar urged.
Sol responds in his usual headstrong manner, "Just say it."
Solar sighs in disbelief, "Action!"
Instead of his usual stance, Sol improvises with finger guns to shoot light bolts just for the fun of it. He pushes forward, taking each down with quick precision before each goon could even pull their trigger. Solar just notes to himself that he shouldn't count the boy out unless he cripples himself.
Leaving a trail of defeated goons behind him, Sol turns the corner towards the nearest staircase where the Westbound police squad files out of the elevator. After they meet eye to eye, he heeds Master Solar's warnings again and free runs up the staircase to get as they call for him to stop.
"You've done enough to assist them, Sol. Get out of there before you get arrested! Remember what you're at Delfino for.", Master Solar urged.
Sol still feels in the zone beating down all these criminals, but he understands his master is right. This was fun, but time to wrap it up. He makes it to the penthouse of this building where he's met with what remains of the mafiosos along with their leader, who was aching to gun the kid down.
"EAT LEAD, YA LITTLE BRAT!" he said as he raised his weapon to shoot.
Sol swiftly lobs a small UV Bomb directly at him, sticking to the muzzle of the Jimmy gun. As soon as the trigger is pulled, the orb detonates on the unsuspecting goons. Most of them are knocked out and off their feet as usual, but the leader was sent flying out of the nearby window. Sol lunges out and catches him in midair before kicking him through another window only two stories below. The sounds of the police squad breaching and arresting the goons signifies that his work is done.
 Free running across the light poles and signs, Sol gets to ground level just off the Link's ramps. The exit ramp leads to a roundabout that circles back around to the entrance. Multiple exit streets connect to the circle leading off to the many populous areas of Delfino Beach such as the residences of Lazuli Estates. In the center, a small park resides parallel to the large hospital just across to the south. A statue of a man stands tall at its core with a plaque reading:
Sonny Carlo
September 23, 1962 - June 1, 2017
"Life is a beach, don't lose yourself to the tide."
"Sonny… Carlo?" Sol read curiously. "Never heard of this guy. Master, who's Sonny Carlo?"
Solar reminisces, "Carlo… He was a great man. We only met a handful of times, both of which were because of your grandfather. Rich, but always helped out the city when he could. Before he passed, he poured a lot of money into law enforcement and medical science."
Sol now remembers seeing this Carlo guy's name on the hospital and the nearby…
"FREEZE! Hands where I can see them!" ordered an officer, interrupting his thoughts.
The police sergeant approaches behind him, "Been busy tonight, gained quite the rep among the precincts… Lots of talking and mafiosos sleeping."
 Sol raises his hands, awaiting an opportunity to create his escape, "Are you gonna arrest me?"
"No… you saved my men's asses as well as many others. All I want to know is why a kid like you is out here fighting a bunch of hoodlums and wise guys."
Sol drops the idea of escape and answers truthfully, "Because I have the power to and it's right."
"The law doesn't think so… but see, I'm not too worried about that right now." The sergeant motions his officer to stand down. "You can turn around, we're cool… That's not all, is it? You're connected to the Canelli, somehow."
"They're working on something big at the Azure Falcon. I have to go stop them!"
"Okay, then let's work together. You help me cover my guys and we'll push to the Falcon."
Sol nods and introduces himself to the officers. The sergeant doesn't see the need for the sake of plausible deniability, but nonetheless, introduces himself as well. His eyes trained on the statue of Carlo, he reveals his name as Sgt. Jorgy Carlo, Sonny's nephew. He gives Sol a quick bit of family history, Sonny was previously indebted to the Cannelli family, but he decided to give away his fortune to the city instead of paying some criminals. Naturally, they didn't take kindly to that and sent a hitman to take care of him.
Sgt. Carlo vowed to take down the Canelli but knew that doing it on a violent warpath would only do more harm than good. He would be the arm of the law and take them all down the right way. However, Sol's here now and while he may give the mafiosos the lawless beating they deserve, he seems to have enough restraint… from what he can see.
"You're going to be the weapon that I, the arm of the law, will use to strike down the Canelli once and for all. Are you ready, Calientos?"
"Let's kick some guido ass!"
"You heard him, LET'S MOVE OUT!!" Carlo called out to his men. He turns to Sol, "We'll catch up at the convention center."
Carlo's squad rallies at the roundabout and heads North. Sol gladly freeruns up an adjacent street straight into the heart of the midnight waterfront. Delfino Beach is commonly characterized by the phrase, "We live where you vacation!" and rightfully so. Millions of tourists travel here every year to experience the serene oceanic town and its many colorful locales.
Luminata City is the brightest city in the world, but Delfino throws practically every color into that mix. The neon lights compliment the already flashy architecture much like the lines of Sol's jacket. The streets would typically be occupied by the catalysts to the never ending party, but the Canelli have seen to it that the festivities were put to an end.
Alas, there is a party going on as Sol makes it just outside the Sonny Day Convention Center… though, not a friendly one. The Canelli maintain a power position with the upper floor, pinning down the police at the park out front.
"Calientos, we'll keep drawing their fire! You get in there and take them down!" called Sgt. Carlo.
Sol gets an easy in through the nearby parking garage. He busts through the glass ceiling with a hammer slam.
"Sorry, I'm late. I'm a guest speaker for Convict Con.", he joked.
He cuts through the curved hall that is the concourse. The police down below are relieved to see their troubles go away progressively as Sol works his magic. Sgt. Carlo is glad to see that his trust in the boy is working out well. He pushes a unit to secure the convention center while another sets a perimeter around it. His squad, on the other hand, moves on to the next area.
"Calientos, we'll cut through the Deco Market to push through to the Azure Falcon. Feel free to join us when you're done up there."
Sol continues through the large hall full of mafiosos. The Deco Market actually serves more relevance to his journey as one of the shrines is located there. Hopefully, Carlo is okay with a quick detour. At the north end of the hall, he leaps out the window to proceed to the next spot, knowing the cops will handle the rest. Also hopefully, the building owners won't mind some broken glass.
The Deco Market holds the significance of epitomizing the aesthetic of Delfino. It focuses on the Art Deco style of the 1920s, maintaining the great history that Luminata City has. It's no surprise that the Canelli are holding out in this spot along with their previous hangouts.
Sol nearly links up with the squad on the street, but Carlo urges him to remain above with the mafiosos holding onto their height advantage. The buildings on the long stretch aren't very tall which allows him to hit from above and below as needed. Carlo's squad continues putting suppressive fire on the goons with Sol's safety being more on the line this time.
Halfway across the eastern stretch, Sol sees the Art Deco mural painted on the street parallel to the market. It would be the spot where the shrine is said to be located, so it's worth checking out. Granted, the mafiosos are still an ever-present issue here.
"Uhh, Sarge, you're gonna hate me…", Sol awkwardly called out.
"Oh, boy. What is it?"
"There's something I have to go do just a block away."
"We're being shot at, Calientos! Can it wait?"
"Yeah, probably… It's just… the sooner the better, you know!"
"No, I do-" Carlo sighs, "Fine, go ahead. We should be able to keep pushing to the hotel. We'll meet you there if you're not long."
"Yes, sir!"
Sol rushes towards the mural as the police squad continues their fight. The mural keeps up the entire vibe, showing the colorful neon buildings of Delfino with the skyscrapers of Luminata City in the Art Deco style. "Luminata City" is written above the image while "Delfino Beach" is written below.
"Master, where's the shrine at?"
Master Solar reluctantly responds, "I don't know. You have to figure it out."
"What? But you gave me this map?"
"I didn't hide them. I only have the locations. You've been figuring this out so far."
"Right, okay. We can do this!"
Both Solar and Rain agree. They urge Sol to get a good view of the mural, so they can figure this out together. The most notable thing is the C, D, and B in both titles are painted red juxtaposed to the color scheme of the entire piece. The three take a close look amidst the raging gunfire in the background. These are all the first letters in each word. Yet, the L in Luminata isn't colored the same way.
"Wait a minute!", Sol thought. "B, C, D… There's an A at the end of Luminata."
"OH, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" yelled out all three.
Sol strikes each letter in alphabetical order which feels like a no brainer in hindsight. A sidewalk hatch opens up beside the parking garage, revealing a path beneath… a sewery slide.
"You've got to be kidding me… again!"
The reluctant hero slides down the secret pathway to find himself in a dark room. Directly in front of the landing spot, the Zone Shrine stands as it normally would but also decayed and covered in grime. Regardless, it reacts with the Specteract and opens the portal through the nearby garage door. All Sol can feel is glad that he doesn't need to jump through a pool of sewage for this.
————————————— Continued in Negative Chapter 9 ————————————
Delfino Beach - November 16, 2035
"CALIENTOS! ARE YOU THERE? CALIENTOS!!"
"Sgt. Carlo?" Sol quickly responds as he crosses back into the Positive Zone.
"GOODNESS, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, KID!" Carlo yelled, his surroundings blaring into Sol's earpiece. "You were on the money with the Azure Falcon! We're pinned down at the entrance, taking even more heavy fire!"
"Sorry about that! I'll be right there!"
"No! We'll stick to the same plan!" Carlo urged.
He turns Sol's attention to an eatery plaza just a short walk North of the Deco Market. There's a stairway leading up to a skybridge connecting to the hotel… an easy flank from the top just the like at the con center. Sol agrees and rushes east from the mural street.
The eatery is a square-shaped plaza with various restaurants lining each side and rows of tables in the center. Just as the sergeant mentioned, the stairway up to the hotel rises high on the east. For another direct entrance into the hotel, it's quite unusual that it isn't heavily guarded.
"It's quiet…", Rain said.
"Too quiet…", Solar calmly interjected.
Sol strolls over to the center, unhindered by the suspicious nature. He simply just darts his eyes around the area. As soon as his foot touches the floor at a stop, dozens of gunmen emerge high and low from all sides. Dozens of submachine gun barrels trained in his direction… They have him surrounded.
Sol only cracks a smile, "My type of quiet."
"I don't think your grenades will save you here. Teleport out of there!" Rain urged.
"UV Bombs… and I wasn't thinking of using them."
Solar realizes what he's likely thinking, "It's too risky, Sol. Even mine can break with enough pressure."
Sol thinks back on his lack of use of this technique in the battle with Steel Fist. It was something he knew should've used, but the latter was too quick on the offensive. There wasn't any telling if it could withstand the strength of the gauntlets. That doesn't matter now, he's sure its worth unveiling it now.
"WASTE 'IM!!"
The Canelli gunmen unload the entirety of their drum magazines onto the center. Within seconds, there is hardly anything visible aside from white smoke. They refuse to let up, not even worrying if their heat will hit their buddies. The firing stops when the last one empties their mag. A small few slowly walk over to the kid without a single doubt he isn't riddled with holes now.
The white smoke fades away rather quickly paving the way for pink light to emerge behind it. To the absolute bewilderment of the mafiosos, Sol is still alive surrounded by a pink force field. It took a fair beating as it appears cracked like a dome of glass, but that matters considerably less next to the unscathed Sol. His jacket lines now glow the same color as the field, an effect of its use.
He chuckles confidently, "My turn."
The young hero deactivates the field and charges at his ground-level opponents while simultaneously nailing the ones above with blue light bolts and UV bombs. An unlucky goon is sent flying off the balcony toward the group below. Sol meets him in the air and kicks him down into the remaining goons like a bowling ball into a bunch of pins.
He smiles and rushes up the stairs, knowing that Carlo and the other officers need his help. Both Rain and Solar are incredibly impressed that this risk-filled act worked out so well.
"Hehe, always the sky bridges!" Sol confidently says to himself.
The Azure Falcon opens dead ahead on the other side of the bridge. He blasts the goons in his way arcade-style once again, but this time, he utilizes his own cover with the field. Down below, the officers bare witness to a bright pink blur barreling through their attackers above, quickly switching between one color and the other.
"Sir, is that the kid?"
"Huh, they never said he glowed pink as well.", Carlo observed.
The entry from the sky bridge ended up being a short walk through the hall to the large lobby. The entryway to the hotel spans a large area with the distance to the ceiling nearly spanning the entire height of the building. Each floor including the one he stands on has a clear view as well as the transparent elevator shafts. The Azure Falcon certainly lives up to the extravagant reputation it has built up over the last eighty years. However…
"These Canelii bozos are ruining such a beautiful hotel!" Sol yelled out. "Sgt. Carlo, heads up I'm cleaning this place up."
"Don't kill anyone, Calientos. You're on the hook if you do."
"Wouldn't dream of it, sir."
"Good! Get going, we will push up."
Sol goes weapons-free in the lobby of the hotel. He tries to avoid further damage to said beautiful hotel, but it isn't something that could always be helped, unfortunately. His presence takes the attention away from the mafiosos shooting out at the police, making their push inside much easier.
"WOAH! ANYONE HERE CALL HOUSEKEEPING?!" Sol joked.
With one light bolt to the face of the last goon, the lobby becomes quiet enough to hear the ambiance of the small waterfall inside. That's broken by the full squadron of police bursting through the hallway directly into Sol's handiwork. Most of the officers are astonished that this one kid took care of the entire lobby.
Carlo greets him again, "Great work, Calientos. Looks like we have them on the edge now." He instantly grows stern, "I don't see any hotel staff or guests. Any sign of 'em?"
"No… I didn't think about that.", Sol admitted. "B-but it's a big hotel. They could've taken them higher up."
"It's a possibility, or they forced them out. The Canelli don't really do hostages… Usually. My guys and I will secure the rest of the hotel and search for 'em." Carlo scans the entire lobby, "What about this 'big thing' they were working on?"
"Like I said, big hotel. We'll have to keep looking."
"Right, we have the building. You should head out to the pool area… maybe even the beach. Knowing these guido bastards, it's nothing good."
"Yes, sir!"
"Oh, and you might want to rinse yourself off out there… You stink."
Sol awkwardly smells himself, knowing that his recent trip to the Negative Zone made its mark.
The Azure Falcon's pool area was even more extravagant than the lobby. The pool itself was like a large lagoon, a popular spot for influencers and cosplayers to take their photos. A large cabana sits just across from it, a place where friends and family can eat and drink on vacation, but not somewhere a big weapon would be hidden. The pool sits below an upper deck that has jets connected to it, creating waterfalls. Sol searches for a moment but finds nothing around, so he walks down the wooden ramp to the connecting beach.
Delfino Beach is just a small piece of the Sapphire Coast, the Eastern end of the Luminata States. The waves of the sapphire-blue ocean meet the dark blue, almost black sand, coming together to give the coastline its character.
Sol takes a knee and grasps a handful of sand. Each dark blue grain falls through the cracks of his fingers to rejoin the rest. It had been months since the last beach day, just one more day since…
"HEADS UP!" called Luna.
Delfino Beach - June 2, 2035 [Flashback]
Another handful of sand smacks him on the side of the face. Luna laughs as Sol is knocked over by the sudden attack. She motions him over to join her and Rain in the water. He secretly grasps his handful as he gets back to her…
He chuckles wickedly, "Shouldn't have done that… you don't want to get sand in that pretty red hair."
She chuckles back, challenging him, "You can try."
Luna runs across the beach with Sol hot on her trail. The neon art deco buildings of the infamous Big Blue Drive colorfully light the dark beach up around them. The latter is significantly faster than the former, allowing him to easily catch up and tackle her into the sand. Both laugh as they chaotically roll to an eventual stop.
"Ugh, you actually got sand in my hair, you utter bellend.", she said sarcastically.
"Aw, what a shame.", Sol responds, mimicking her accent.
Luna chuckles, "You should probably get off me. People might get the wrong idea." She cheekily winks at him, "Step-bro…"
Sol immediately leaps to his feet in embarrassment but doesn't forget to help her up. They're both unaware of the rapidly incoming pouncing noises in the sand.
"WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!!"
Rain tackles them both to the sand, causing them all to land on their backs laughing happily.
[Present Day]
🎵: Absolute Valentine - Bad News
Sol wakes from his trip down memory lane to the sound of a rocket rapidly approaching. He braces and quickly blocks it with a field. The culprit turns out to be just a mile off the coast, but it isn't something that neither he, Rain, or even Solar expected to find. A large machine rose out of the ocean… in the shape of a… whale?
"Battle mech", Sol whispered to himself, remembering the strange vehicle he saw in the Negative Zone. "That was shaped like a scorpion! Tin Fist was right… They were working on something big alright."
"I don't believe it. How did they manage to get something like this out here?" Solar questioned himself.
Sol rises to the occasion, walking directly into the water and accepting this great challenge. The whale shoots another missile at him, which he swiftly dodges. He moves quickly through the water until the only way forward is to swim. A torpedo is fired to try and stop him in his place, but the slower speed is less likely to guarantee a hit. He dived down and quickly swam up, flying out over the surface like a fish in a river.
In the air, Sol rains down as many light bolts as he can before he falls back. Each bolt strikes the mech and bounces off, doing zero damage. He quietly pouts as he descends. From the water, he launches a few UV Bombs at it, thinking that the extra shock will surely do some serious damage. Once again, it shrugs off the attacks like they're nothing and proceeds to charge straight at him with speed, unlike a whale. He frantically swims away from it until his feet touch the sand below, allowing him to leap out of the way. The unstoppable momentum of the whale leads it to crash hard into the shore.
"Sol, look at that. It beached itself like a real whale.", Rain pointed out.
Sol smiles at the astute observation, "Life's a beach!" He builds momentum of his own and springboards off of the mech, "DON'T LOSE YOURSELF TO THE TI-"
He lands with a Hammer Slam, but still, it does hardly any damage. Sol continues laying in hard punches, but nothing seems to be working. The whale reverses its thrusters and makes its escape from its sandy prison, knocking the young hero off.
Sol groans in frustration, "That's some armor this thing has. Master?"
"Remember, try to take away the details from your experiences. It has powerful armor, but… it has unstoppable momentum.", Solar noted.
"…until it hit the sand! Rain, an immovable object should be able to penetrate the armor, right?"
"You don't mean yourself? That's super risky! But yes, it should wrap around the object like a car at full speed.", Rain responded.
Sol chuckles, "Not necessarily me…"
He goes back on the offensive, raining down attacks. The pilot doesn't want to aim missiles at themself, so they opt to push him off with another charge. Sol counted on this, however. He kicks off, landing directly in front on the shallow end. He digs his feet into the sand and hold his arms out as if he was ready to give the incoming mech a hug.
"You have some kind of deathwish, kid!" the pilot said inside the cockpit. "Ain't that swell for me." He pushes forward on the thrusters.
In a matter of seconds, the whale is just a foot away from crushing Sol where he stands. That is, until the pink force field makes its unwelcome appearance, stopping the rampaging mech where it stands. The armor caves in, obliterating the middle to bottom of the entire thing. Its functionality is completely shot like a totaled car and all that's left is the pilot inside.
Yet another Canelli mafioso crawls out of the cockpit near the top and falls into the shallow water. Sol grabs and drags him to dry land.
"Well, that was quite the fight you gave me. Too bad not even that could've stopped me.", he gloated.
"Agh! What the hell are you, kid? I didn't believe it when they said a kid was barrelling through us. Then you showed up, shooting these things out of your hands and blowing up this… big pink bubble thing."
"Oh, that? That technique, I like to call the Solar Field."
Master Solar couldn't help cracking a smile at hearing that.
"Now, that whale battle mech. It looks just like another I saw in the Negative Zone. You got that from the Noirata Empire, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I guess. My uncle is the don… he deals with those guys."
"I know that. Why?!"
"I don't know! I-" The pilot hesitates at the sight of Sol making a light bolt in his hand, "I-I d-don't know! But I can tell you where we have another mech."
"ANOTHER MECH?!" Sol, Solar, and Rain all questioned.
"Yeah, my brotha is a capo like me. He's in charge of another one over at the Stadium."
"Champion Stadium? You guido morons are just picking the best spots, aren't you? Guess that's where I'm headed."
"Is that so?" Sgt. Carlo and a few officers approach the beach. "I see you found that "big thing" you were looking for." Carlo pointed out before turning to the capo on the ground. "Toni Canelli, family beach boy… Should've known you were behind this."
"Screw you, Carlo! I bet it stings that this kid took me down, not you."
"Ehh, I'll live."
"Unlike ya uncle.", Toni said, stopping everyone dead in their tracks.
Carlo just laughs and looks him dead in the eyes, "I'm sure YOUR uncle is going to be thrilled you just willingly told this kid what you know. And knowing what your people do to rats… tsk tsk tsk"
Sol interjects, "Well, Sarge. This is where I take my leave."
"Understood. It was a pleasure, Sol Calientos. You're good at what you do.", Carlo said. "Oh, and before you go, I'll put in a good word for you with Sunrise Gardens…"
"Thank you, sir. Good luck!"
"You as well. Whatever these bastards are planning, we will stop it together."
————————————— Negative Chapter 9 ————————————
MR. TURQUOISE SKY
Noirata City, Noirata Empire - November 16, 2035
🎵: Mega Drive - Maniac
It seems that he had spoken too soon. Sol enters what turns out to be a sewer. The floor below is no longer solid concrete, but a metallic grate separating him from a bottomless pit. Directly across, a nasty stream of water flows down from an upper level through the grate. The smell is utterly unbearable and yet, a light beacon graces the archway towards the incline.
"OH, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!" Sol yelled out yet again, this time alone.
Through the grossest path he's taken so far, Sol crawls his way to the top. Multiple light beacons pass overhead safe from the water. The smell is atypical of sewer water, however. It's much worse. As though something had died in it.
"Whoever set up this whole path to the gem…", Sol thought in his struggle. "YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!"
Mercifully, he reaches the end of the climb where he touches something other than sewer water. This upper level is dimly lit, but there's no mistaking exactly what it is… a body. Sol jumps back in shock, realizing that this is why the water has a pungent smell. He catches his bearings and checks it. The deceased seems to resemble a young man, much like himself.
"How did you end up like this, bud?"
Sadly, it's immediately evident with a heat wound to the skull. What's also evident is his body is liquifying, meaning he's been dead for about a month. Unable to carry the body, Sol moves onward to the objective. He follows the path to the outside where he isn't plagued by the smells of the sewer. Granted, he practically absorbed much of it.
He's no longer in the colorful beach town of Delfino. Now, he's faced with a dark, gloomy shipyard. The ships around don't have that extravagant feel that the liners have in Port Luminata. Sol wonders if what they import and export is just as sinister as they. No matter the case, the next set of beacons leads him to the right toward a fortress-like structure of shipping containers.
What he hadn't anticipated is that the path had no cover for him to sneak through. A small squad of Noiratan soldiers are posted just beside the trail along with their vehicles. They aren't on alert, but simply conversing. Although, without any other means for Sol to pass, that's about to change.
The young hero makes a run for it with all he can, still struggling with a severe lack of energy. The squad of soldiers notices him and immediately gives chase.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!"
Sol continues to push himself to avoid getting caught, but unfortunately, one manages to catch up. The soldier attempts to restrain him, but Sol musters just enough strength to flip him off his body. The other two take that and decide to shoot him. Like two sledgehammers to the back, the shots strike him hard in the back. He can't seem to catch a break with guns at the moment.
Regardless, he forces himself to keep running towards his goal. The heat keeps flying past as fortunately, the soldiers are missing their shots. Taking no more chances, Sol leaps into an opening in the shipping containers. The soldiers help their fallen ally to his feet before continuing to chase their colorful intruder.
"Keep an eye out. He's hurt… he couldn't have gotten far!" They search the surrounding area.
Sol wisely moved to higher ground as he took a breather from his injuries. The soldiers have the immediate area locked down but the layout of the structure gives ample opportunity for evasion. He is well aware of the bruising he'll have from this point on and he leaps to his feet.
"Max effort!", he mutters before continuing.
The fortress of shipping containers turns out to be more than meets the eye from the outside. It is almost a small town in scope. The amount of occupants grows in size as Sol's presence is radioed in. Fortunately… or unfortunately, depending on who's asked, some of the containers have been knocked out of place, creating extra paths for him to sneak past the patrols. The glaring downside is the beacons are mostly buried underneath the destruction.
With what is visible to him, Sol linearly proceeds through the container fortress. The maze-like path reaches its endpoint at the entrance to a warehouse.
"Safe to say, the gem's probably here… right?"
Through the large doors of the warehouse, he is confronted by a puzzling display of architecture. Much of the ground inside is just a body of water, a fact that makes it so strange. This warehouse seems a bit too inland to have this steady stream. There must be some sort of underground channel to the ocean. Suspended in the air are two sizable boats, again very confusing. There isn't any exit for the boats to sail outward. The one remaining object is an old pulley just a short swim away, connected to the harness for the boats. It's the only thing in reach, so the young hero treks across the stream.
"Ah, quite the challenge! Well played…", Sol calls out to the creator. "… asshole."
He swims across to the pulley, even with the struggles that his power drain brings. He climbs aboard and gives it a swift pull with Superhuman strength. The sound of heavy machinery moving echoes throughout the empty warehouse. Almost immediately, the water level begins to drain until four hidden pillars surface. The boats take a dive as the counterweights to four buckets slowly suspend over said pillars. Sol sees this puzzle clear as day…
"Those buckets must be filled with water… Water that has to go into those pillars, BUT… I have to make my way up to the buckets and manually pour them." Sol laughs, "This is a platforming challenge… just what I like."
He looks around to see what he has to work and there isn't much. The water level is low and the boats only allow for so much reach, but it wouldn't be much of a challenge otherwise. He's able to improvise a route from the boat to his right and broken parts of the wall, which lead to the first bucket. It weighs more than he does, so it will be almost impossible to pour… ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.
Sol grabs onto a bar directly below and swings back and forth. His weight and momentum can angle the suspended bucket enough to pour it into the vent at the top of the pillar.
"Mission accomplished…" He takes a look towards the other buckets and sighs, "Four more to go."
Sol works out the warehouse's architecture to successfully swing-pour the remaining buckets to complete the puzzle. Immediately, the mechanism sounds off again, lowering the water level to the absolute lowest point. A turbine is revealed underneath a grate. The four pillars combine their water pressure to push the turbine, causing the actual goal to be revealed.
A wall above begins to expand outward, something that Sol did not expect in the slightest. The boats both elevate to form a path directly to the opened wall. He climbs up to see what had happened and he could not believe it. The wall formed a sky bridge to the stack of shipping containers across from the warehouse.
He was blown away by this sight as puzzles past have done little to alter the location's architecture like this. The sounds of soldiers closing in after the noise make it clear that there's no more time to waste. Sol rushes across the sky bridge as quickly as he can. Passing the majority of the bridge, a familiar roar freezes him where he stands. The horrifying sound seems far away, which grants just a bit of solace…
"MOVE! MOOOVE!" Sol urges himself, hoping that the beast doesn't decide to make its way over.
The bridge ends at a complete dead-end of shipping containers… and yet, the Specterract flashes. He immediately pulls open the container centered in the frame of the structure. Deep inside, the gem, glowing a shiny light blue into the darkness, sits unbothered among the cargo.
"Turquoise…", Sol muttered as he clutched it. "You're mine"
A few soldiers breach the windows of the sky bridge immediately after he says that. They all point their weapons at him, ready to finally stop the intruder. He cheekily smiles before raising the gem up and teleporting back to the sewer right in front of the Zone shrine. He places the gem in the Specterract and wipes some sweat off his forehead.
As he activates the portal, he looks back towards the running water. He has no comments about the water now, knowing why it's so filthy.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you, friend. If the Empire was responsible… I got you."