"Come oooooon.." Rider mumbled to himself. "I know you're down there, dirty Farsiders.." He was in his usual spot, perched atop one of the city's many radio towers, with his eyes locked onto the flooded streets below. Although his particular tower wasn't the tallest in the city, it was the one at the center most point of it, which he had discovered, after countless hours of doing, well, whatever this was, gave him the best view of the city in each direction. He wore a sleek black body suit, with lines of thin purple lights streaking across the chest and sleeves, and small cushioned pads placed on the shoulders, knees, and knuckles. The outfit carried several accessories, all in which he'd designed and built himself - Glowing purple gauntlets strapped to his wrists, black tactical boots with built in gravity regulation modules, and a dark purple helmet with several small knobs and buttons on either side covering his head. A slim, lightweight screen had been sown directly into his left arm sleeve, which served as the motherboard for all of his bodysuit gadgets. The entire outfit was of his own design, which he held his head proudly at, and he'd had his father's tailors whip up a dozen of them for him. Secretly, of course.

The streets below were quiet, save for the regular everyday rush hour noise, which irked him in a very annoying way. He'd tracked the rag-tag group of Farsiders earlier that morning, and had used a mixture of lip-reading and enhanced sound detection technology built into his helmet to follow along with their conversation the best he could. He couldn't make out all the details, but it seemed like they were planning the typical Farsider not-so-grand heist plan: 

Bust the doors down of some rinky-dink mom and pop shop, demand the entirety of the shop's Kratonium supply, and clear out before the cops showed up and started trouble.

Rider had a plan of his own, of course. He definitely wasn't the cops - 

But he sure was trouble. 

An alarm sounded off down below, almost as if it had known Rider was waiting for it. His eyes darted through a few city blocks before locking onto a tall, glistening silver and blue building. He turned one of the knobs on the side of his helmet forward, and his sights zoomed in onto the building. The lights inside the building were strobing, alternating between a deep, bloody crimson and a heavenly piercing white. Rider smirked smugly. To his surprise, he'd been wrong about the group's plan. They hadn't targeted a local corner store or bakery like he'd suspected. No, instead, they chose a much more lucrative target - The Earthrise Central Kratonium Bank. 

"A confident bunch, are we?" Rider mumbled to himself. He tapped the screen on his left arm sleeve, which turned it on.

A library of function options appeared on the screen, each labeled with a different name, and he began quickly scrolling through them. He'd tried his best to make the suits UI as easy to navigate as possible in case he needed to jump into action quickly, but the more functions he implemented into the suit, the more time he had to spend sifting through them before he could actually launch them. He'd intended on implementing some preset shortcut tabs, but hadn't found the time to get around to it. Farsider raids had been increasing drastically within the past few cycles, and he had absolutely no intention of letting the cops of all people be the ones to take the criminals down. If there was one thing Rider hated just as much as he did Farsiders, it was those damn good for nothing, spotlight stealing, clumsy cops. 

After scrolling for what felt like a far too long ten or so seconds, his finger hovered over a function labeled as "BLITZ LAUNCH." He tapped the function, which then brought up a small green pop up simply labeled "Initiate." He tapped the pop up - 

And then he became the sky. 

Rider launched into the air, leaving a streak of glowing purple energy trailing behind him. Flames of deep purple plasma shot out from the palms of his gauntlets, and a faint violet glow hummed from the bottoms of his boots. He watched the radio tower shrink below him as he climbed higher above the city, and his smirk turned into a cheek ripping smile. He turned his body to the left and began flanking the eastern side of the city. This brought him around to the front side of the bank, which gave him a much better view of what was happening on the inside. He turned the dial of his helmet another notch forward, and his sight zoomed in again. Once he had a full view of the bank lobby, he stopped himself in mid air by sliding his finger across a small digital notch displayed on his wrist screen, which weakened the power of his gauntlet flames. This left him hovering over the city like an anchored boat floating on the seas of earth. If he un-zoomed his sights, he could actually see those from where he was now, just beyond the lunar surface. The bright, beautiful blue glow of Earth's oceans. In the past, he'd wondered if he could somehow rig his helmet to bypass its maximum sight range, and maybe actually catch a glimpse of a small ship on the water, or a plane soaring through the skies like he did. Although he found comfort in them, thoughts like those were for slow, uneventful days, and today was not one of those days. 

Today was a day for fighting Farsiders. 

With his sights locked onto the bank, Rider kicked his legs out behind him, which angled his body downward toward the ground. He slid the notch on his wrist all the way to the right, and thrusted his arms backwards. He shot down like a violent violet comet, set to completely eviscerate the entire midtown portion of the city upon landfall - Only Rider wouldn't actually land on the ground. Once he was fifteen feet above the ground, which he could measure perfectly thanks to the holographic altitude gauge in the corner of the inside of his helmet, he kicked his legs back underneath himself and balanced himself upward. He quickly slid the notch back to its lowest setting to prevent himself from shooting back up into the air, which left him hovering calmly. 

Looking through the main window, Rider spotted the group of Farsiders he'd been following earlier, now terrorizing the bank. There were four of them in total, that he knew from his mission earlier that day, but only three were visible from where he hovered. The three of them wore masks over their faces, and unfortunately for Rider, all of them were fully armed. He hadn't noticed the weapons earlier that day, but two out of the four had been lugging bags on their shoulders, so he assumed that's where they came from. It didn't seem like they had noticed him yet, so he took the time to analyze each of them individually. 

The first member, the one standing closest to the door seemingly on watch-duty, was a small, frail looking man. His mask was nothing more than a dirty cloth sack with 2 holes cut out for his eyes, and a string tied around the base of his neck to keep the thing snug. Contrary to his size, the door guard wielded the biggest weapon out of the group - A ridiculously large, thick black and silver sword. He held the blade out directly in front of his face, gripping it firmly with both hands. The side closest to his face was strong and blunt, with webs of cracks sprawling up and down the length of the weapon, while the edge of the blade was sharp and pristine. Blue energy oozed out from the sharp side of the blade, flowing upward like a steady flame. 

A Kratoblade? Rider thought to himself. Where the hell did these guys get their hands on a weapon like that? 

For all the incredible power the blade seemed to possess, the man holding it didn't seem very confident. He seemed timid and nervous, which gave Rider some peace of mind. A blade like that could do some serious damage in the proper hands, and judging by the shakiness of this man's, it didn't seem like it had been. Keep your distance from that one.. He noted, as his eyes moved on deeper into the bank. 

The other two members stood with their backs pressed up against each other at the center of the lobby. The one to Rider's left, the only woman of the group, stood firmly in front of a group of innocent bank goers, all lying down on the ground with their faces pressed up against the tile floor. She carried what looked like a simple Kratopump shotgun at waist level, and her mask depicted an image of a crying sun. Her partner, whose face was hidden by a crying Earth, stood about an inch or two taller than her, and held a pair of fierce looking Morningstars. Each of the spiked balls on the ends of the weapon's chain's glowed with a threatening red, which blended in perfectly with the alternating alarm strobe lights that continued to flicker. 

Rider frowned. He'd never seen a group of Farsiders equipped with fully infused Kratonium weapons like this before. Hell, he'd rarely seen military officers casually flaunting around this kind of fire power. Where did these guys find this stuff, and how had they managed to bring it into the city without him noticing earlier that morning? Kratonium Flow was strong, and would have easily leaked through the bags they were carrying with them into the city. "Dammit.." he grumbled. How had he missed them? Was he really that careless? How did they -

Rider barely had time to react as the ball of orange energy slammed into his chest. He felt his breath shoot out from his gut as the glowing orb rammed into him like an unforecasted gravity storm slamming into an unexpectant lunar suburb. It exploded on impact, sending him tumbling backward through the air and into the wall of the building across the street. 

"Dammit, Tek!" A deep, strong voice shouted from across the street as Rider bounced off the wall and hit the ground. His suit had managed to absorb most of the energy from the blast, but it couldn't nullify the pain, and it certainly couldn't replace the air in his lungs. Not good.

"What kinda lookout can't spot a damn flyin' purple cop five feet in front of 'em!?" The voice came again, closer than it had been a moment ago. Rider groaned as he wrapped one arm around his stomach and tried to push himself up to his knee with the other. Propping himself up, he managed to lift his head enough to get his eyes set back on the bank. They were greeted by the sight of a behemoth of a man, standing firmly in front of the bank's main entryway. This man, who Rider had assumed was the leader of the group during his early morning surveillance, stood like a tank. He was fully armored in a thick, glowing, military grade mechanical Kratonium combat suit. Orange energy engulfed his body, shooting every which way in chaotic, sharp spikes. A large cylinder shaped cannon was attached to the end of one of his arms where his hand should have been, and his face bore a chin-to-forehead diamond shaped scar instead of a mask. Not good not good not good not good. 

The man began to walk across the street, each stomp of his boot cracking the concrete underneath. Rider could feel the impact of each step shake the ground as he got closer and closer. "I.. n.. not.." Rider grunted, forcing himself up to his feet. "I'm not a cop." He spat. His voice was weak, and his knees almost buckled as the words came out, but he managed to balance himself into a somewhat reasonable battle stance. He took a quick glance down at his wrist and found what he feared most - Cracks. The screen seemed to still be functioning, but he could barely make out the words or symbols it was showing. "Not good." He mumbled. 

"HA!" The man barked. "Not a cop? With gear like that? Thats a load'a crater crap! I know military grade K when I see it, and that shiny little outfit 'a yours reeks of it!" He took another step forward and rested his cannon arm on his free hand. 

"That's funny," Rider said with a smirk, his lungs finally filling back up with air. "I could say the same thing about you. Where did your colorful little group get all those weapons anyway? The Farside doesn't have any Military Artillery shops anywhere last time I checked, and we certainly don't give 'em out for free over here in Earthri-"

"Shut up, dammit!" The man hissed as he threw his arm-cannon out in front of his chest. A dark, burning orange orb of energy began to form inside the barrel of the weapon, and the Flow that surrounded the man spiked to an entirely new level. "You Earthrisers really think you're so great, don't ya!?" The man shouted. "Think your lives are worth more than us! Think you're better than us 'cuz you live in fancy, shiny Earth Scrapers while we suffer down in those craters our whole lives!? Well we're sick of it! We ain't gonna take it any longer!" 

Rider huffed. It wasn't typical for Farsiders to monologue during his weekly face offs against them, but it also wasn't typical for a group to be this powerful and organized either. He considered it a stroke of luck, and took the opportunity to set his focus back on his wrist. Although the screen was essentially ruined, it wasn't completely shot. Beneath the cracks and chunks of missing glass, he was able to make out a small hint of the digital launch dial. From what he could assume, the suit's system had crashed after absorbing the energy from the cannon, and then reset itself back to the function it was previously set on. All Rider had to do was swipe. 

And so, with a swift swipe of his wrist, Rider slid the notch all the way to the right, initiating the Blitz Launch. 

And nothing happened. 

"-Well this is where it ends!" The Diamond faced man continued. "The time for Farsiders to reclaim the power of this godforsaken space rock has come, and it looks like you'll be the first one to fall to my power! Say goodbye to your fancy little suit, you're as good as crater food now!" 

The blast shot out from the cannon like a missile. His suit had failed him, and Rider had no time to even think about what to do next. The orange ball of death hurled toward him at speeds he'd never even thought possible for a Kratonium weapon, and he was completely defenseless. Without thinking, he closed his eyes and let his instincts take over. His body dropped to the floor and he landed in a push-up position. The cannon blast shot directly above him, missing him by mere inches, and slammed into the building wall directly behind him. The explosion ripped a crater-sized hole in the side of the building, revealing the insides of a run down, abandoned office space. Rider jumped back onto his feet, quickly whipping his body around to assess the damage. He let out an exaggerated sigh of relief when his eyes hadn't found any people inside the building, and quickly turned back around towards the Farsider. As he stood assessing the situation, a familiar feeling began to come over him. 

It had been just over four Earth Years now since his ability manifested. He'd woken up one morning to what his father called "The First Glimpse." His body glowed with a faint violet light, and everything he did seemed to be quicker, stronger, and easier. The most significant change, however, were his eyes. Well, one of them, at least. When he closed his left eye, everything was normal. People moved at their normal pace, the colors of objects all stayed in place, but when he opened that left eye and closed his right..

The entire world around him changed. Everything in his line of sight, animate or inanimate, object, animal, or person, had a before image, a present image, and an after image. If he stood and stared at a lonesome cup placed on a table, all three of its images would show the cup in its stationary position. Before to the left, present in the middle, and after to the right. However, if he stared at something more mobile, let's say, a beefed-up Farsider charging toward him aiming a super powered canon directly at his face, he could see where that Farsider was coming from, where he currently was, but most importantly, where he was going.

He rarely needed to use The Sight during his altercations with the Farsiders. He honestly preferred not to if he didn't need to, due to the amount of energy it burnt, but he was extremely thankful for it today. To his surprise, his attacker hadn't actually been planning on using the cannon again. Not this time, at least. Using his foresight, Rider watched the charging man's after image make a clean directional cut once he was in direct reach of Rider's face. He intended on using the cannon as a distraction, shoving it's glowing barrel in Rider's face while reaching around with his free hand and delivering a rib shattering punch to his side. 

Rider leaped backward, his legs now powered by the Kratonium energy coursing through him, and then jerked himself to the side. He was quick, but the attacker had one big advantage that Rider completely lacked. 

"TEK!" The man screamed, holding his hand opened behind him. "THE SWORD!"

Dammit. Rider though, jogging in place to keep his energy up. "Forgot about your buddies for a second there! Hey, don't ya think this match is unfair enough already, Diamond Face? Do you really need to-"

"RISSA! KIN! Grab the stash and get out here!" The man bellowed. The scrawny swordsman arrived almost instantly and stopped next to his leader. "You sure 'bout dis' boss?" He huffed. The man had run no more than 10 feet with the giant sword and was already completely out of breath. He handed it over to the leader, who grabbed it easily with one hand. Bad news for Rider. 

"Of course I'm sure, now back up." The leader grumbled. "Uh, but boss, y'see, I'm completely unarmed widdout da sword, and da cops are bound ta' show up any minute now wit dat big hole in da wall across da-"

"I SAID BACK UP!" The leader screamed. He held the sword outward toward Rider, who watched in genuine awe, and let out a horrific battle cry. The blue Flow from the sword combined with the orange Flow from the man's armor created a burst of energy that seemed to rival the sun itself. The street beneath the man erupted in cracks, and the blast of heat that shot out from the man caused Rider to collapse down onto his knee. 

It also caused The Sight to go completely haywire, forcing Rider to close his left eye.

The flames from the building behind him began to rise, engulfing the entire city block into a thick, black smoke. Rider heard screams in the distance as the people from the bank began running away. He coughed as the smoke grew thicker and began seeping into his mask.

Really, really not good.

The group of Farsiders had finally regrouped themselves, all standing behind their leader, who seemed to have condensed his Flow to a subtle yet strong blue and orange hum. Rider watched as the woman, who's mask had been removed sometime between the initial attack and now, handed two large bags to the former door guard. She leaned over and said something to him, which Rider couldn't hear. The man nodded, took each bag in one hand, and then bent down. Looking down, Rider saw the man flip two switches, each on one side of his boots. The boots began to glow dark green, and before Rider could even blink, the man launched into the air.

Rider hadn't noticed the boots before. 

"Dammit!" Rider shouted at the group. "What kinda job is this!? Who are you guys!? Where did you get all those weapons, and who the hell are you working for!?" The three of them walked toward him, slowly, completely unbothered by the surrounding chaos. He pushed up on his knee to stand up, but was immediately met with a Morningstar to the head. The blow cracked his helmet and sent him tumbling back down to the ground. He groaned in pain, rolling onto his stomach and trying to push himself back up. 

"Alright!" He yelled out in a panic. "You got what you came for! Just go!" 

The group stood still, staring at him.

"Look at all this! Look what you did! Are you happy with yourselves? This is chaos!"

The leader of the group took a step forward and reached his sword out toward Rider. He leveled the tip of the blade directly underneath Rider's chin, and then tilted it upward, forcing Rider to meet him eye to eye. Rider knew the man couldn't see his face through the tint of his helmet, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this man, this crater dwelling demon, could see him. Really see him. "It's about time Earthrise began to experience the chaos of The Farside." The man grunted. 

The man handed the sword to the woman, who seemed much more confident holding it than the flying door guard had before. His Flow diminished significantly, but it made no difference to Rider now.

This man was a monster.

"Your suit." The man said bluntly. 

"My.. what?" Rider groaned from the ground. The pain from the cannon shot earlier was beginning to creep back into his gut, and his head was ringing from the Morningstar blow. 

"Your suit." The man ordered again. "It's Kratonium powered, correct?" 

"I.. Obviously, yeah." Rider swallowed. 

"Take it off. Give it to me."

"What?" Rider hissed. He cracked his left eye open as he pushed his arm into the ground, trying once more to get up and moving. The Sight was a great ally, but it didn't help much when two attacks were coming from two different directions. The Morningstar slammed into his forearm as he threw it up attempting to block it, while the blunt end of the Kratoblade smashed into the side of his head, completely shattering the side of his helmet. Sirens rang in the distance as his vision became a blur of whites and pinks and blues and blacks. 

"Not worth it.. mrrmrrmrr.. leave him.. mrrmrrmrr.. are comin', we gotta mrrmrrmrr.. Fine. Grab on.."

Rider laid on the ground, helpless, weak, and completely defeated. His vision swam in and out of consciousness, grasping for any inkling of light to latch onto. Between pain filled blinks, the inkling came in the form of a giant orange beam of energy shooting upward into the air, dragging a faint blue tail behind it. Rider watched the orb rise into the air, like a second sun rising on a calm, peaceful earth. After everything he'd just gone through, he finally allowed those thoughts to flood his mind. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pictured himself floating endlessly through the oceans out there. He let his body, writhing in pain, sink into the concrete, wishing it were a wave coming to drift him away. The sirens grew closer, and although his pain didn't fade, his consciousness eventually did.