I'll be giving the credit to SriGraecus for the idea of doing this, thx man!
Spoiler (Click to Show)
The crowd roared in approval. The closest audience members screaming for Levi to finish the fight.
He did…
Feinting a blow to the abdomen, his opponent blocked, and Levi followed up with a sweeping right hook. The punch connecting to the face. His foe staggered, and he brought the left fist, having previously feinted, into a strong uppercut.
The blow struck the opponent’s jaw and launched him into the air. Falling hard onto the mat, the referee blew the whistle, proclaiming Levi the winner and holding his arm up in the stereotypical victory pose.
The victor let out a long breath and ripped his hand away from the ref, walking over to the loser on the mat.
A medic knelt beside him, looking over the damage dealt.
“Holy shit kid. You really did a number on him…” He stated.
“Yeah? So what? You’re a medic, help him out.” Levi rebuttled.
“I will, just help me get him to my office.” Doc said quietly.
“Why do I have to help?” He demanded, his tone turning angry.
“Well. Who beat the ever-living hell out this guy?” The doc raised an eyebrow, looking over.
Levi sighed, “Fine, I’ll carry him…”
***
Kicking the door open, Levi threw the unconscious young man onto the medical bed as Doc ran around the office.
“I don’t have everything I need right now to help. So I’ll be back in a little bit, keep an eye on him for me alright kid?”
“You’re the boss, Doc.” Levi replied, slightly sarcastic.
Leaving with a small grunt of words sounding like “stupid kids”, Levi walked up beside the bed, sitting down next to the unconscious form of his defeated foe.
“You did give me a good fight man.” Levi whispered to himself.
Slowly nodding, he put a hand over the man’s face. Extending his index finger and tapping the forehead. Smoke drifted off his finger and onto the man’s skin, seemingly sinking in.
A few seconds passed, then the man gasped, eyes fluttering open as he sat up.
He looked around the room, his gaze eventually locking on Levi.
“Did I… Win?” Was his first question.
Levi laughed, “No. I’m afraid I knocked you unconscious. So that explains why you’re suddenly in this medical office.”
“Oh. Well, congrats I guess?” The man said, laying back down with a slight frown.
Levi bit his tongue, “Hey, I still don’t know your name, mind telling me?”
“Riley. Riley Sanders…” He extended his hand, and Levi shook it, the man’s grip surprisingly strong.
“Quite the grip you got there Riley. You lift or something?” He asked, shaking his hand in slight pain.
“Nope, meta.” He replied, flexing his fingers.
Levi raised an eyebrow, “You telling me you’re a metahuman?”
“Well, I’m not exactly 100% unadulterated squishy human,” He held up his hand, flexing the fingers. “-I have prosthetic implants.”
“Oh really?” Levi asked, gripping Riley’s arm, poking his wrist.
“Uh-huh, my right arm isn’t even my original, it’s synthetic…” Taking his free hand, he balled it into a fist and tapped on his right arm like a knock on a door. A metallic ring resonating out.
“Whoa. What else do you have?” Levi questioned, sitting back.
“Mechanical right eye-” Riley’s left eye flashed red, scanning over him, “-And my entire skeleton is lined with advanced prosthetics made of the same stuff my arm is, a carbon fiber titanium alloy.”
“That’s why you seemed to hit so much harder in the fight. I thought at first were cheating…” Levi replied, sheepishly smirking and scratching his head.
Riley smiled, “I didn’t really have a choice when I got these. I unintentionally signed up for it.”
Tilting his head, Levi held a curious look, “How so?”
His metahuman in arms glanced over, spying him suspiciously, “Promise not to tell anyone?”
Levi nodded, performing the “cross my heart” gesture.
Nodding, Riley continued, “I work for the CIA. In a special operations unit near the center of the entire organization. We were all specially trained to do things the military or anybody else couldn’t.”
Riley sighed, seeming to choke on his words. Pain wracking each syllable. “Eventually they talked to us about a project to improve our overall physical abilities. Recognizing it as another stereotypical super soldier attempt, I refused. They insisted, but still I refused.”
Levi held up a finger, a question arising. “So, how’d you get the implants if you didn’t partake in the program?”
Riley smacked him, “Shut up! I’m getting there!”
“Anyway, after I refused, they gave me one more assignment. The head of my group sent me alone, telling me to think about the project while on the mission.”
“At first, I still initially refused, saying I would get the job done and then headed out.”
“The mission was in the Middle East, with me being sent to support some ground troops trying to invade a hostile territory. We all underestimated the enemy’s firepower though, and before I knew what was happening, a mortar had blown my right arm away and destroyed my left eye. I got dragged back to America in bloody mess real quick...”
“So you took the offer on that program then?” Levi asked, staying quiet.
Riley nodded, then sat up, scootching back up against the wall.
“Yep. The program’s director not only assured me that I could make a complete recovery, but he also guaranteed me a new arm. How could I deny that?” He said with a shrug.
Levi nodded, his cheeks curling into a slight smile. “I would’ve done the same.”
Riley pointed a finger at him, “I told you my name, but did you tell me yours?”
Levi recoiled in shock, “Can’t believe I forgot!” He extended his hand again, “Levi Strider, making your acquaintance.”
Riley nodded with respect, “Levi huh? I got a question for you.”
He nodded, letting the CIA operative continue. “If you’re aware of the term metahuman, that either means you get around a bit, or you are one…”
Levi eyes drifted to his boots, avoiding eye contact.
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t turn you in even if you were, so you can be honest.”
Levi grunted then looked back up, “I can… Heal fast… Like that Hugh Jackman guy…” He started, scratching his temple. “I can also turn into and control smoke.”
“And how did that come about and happen to you?” He asked, flexing his jaw.
“It’s a long story, might take a while to explain…” Levi replied, his eyes tired.
Riley grinned, “I got time.”
Levi nodded, “I’ll treat you to lunch after the doc gets back and treats you, alright? I’ll tell you then…”
The CIA smiled wide, “Alright…”
[/spoiler]
Spoiler (Click to Show)
The Doc looked over Riley’s vitals, saying he hadn’t suffered too much internal damage, just quite a bit of bruising on his abdomen and face. He seemed to have strained his right shoulder a lot, so the Doc patched it up and put it in a sling.
“There you go, guy, try not to move that arm too much and you should be better within a couple hours.” He said, patting Riley’s other shoulder.
“Thank’s Doc.” He replied, standing up from the bed. The Doctor smiled, then looked over.
“No problem, and you-” He said, pointing at Levi, “Don’t go beating up too many people you hear?” he smiled, opening the door for the two of them.
Riley walked out first, followed by Levi, the door slamming behind him.
“I don’t think he likes me…” He said, smiling at Riley.
They began walking out of the arena.
“Well you did make him have to do his job.” He replied, “Nobody likes doing their job, if they do, that’s a hobby, not a job.”
“True. Now, let’s go get lunch, whatcha you like?”
“Would you be offended if I said Burgers?”
“Nah, I like Junk food as much as the next guy.”
Riley smiled, wincing a little as he adjusted his arm in the sling. “Good, let’s go, we can ride in my ‘67.”
“Your car? What is it? Mustang?”
As he said it, they both emerged into the afternoon sun and Riley immediately headed to the left. Walking towards a slick looking hot-rod.
“Ah… Camaro…” Levi whispered to himself. He tugged his shirt down over his belt and walked to car.
*****
As they sat at the table, Riley slowly but surely eating his two cheeseburgers and Levi utterly devouring his triple, the CIA set his drink down and sat back.
The Merc, noticing he had stopped, looked up at him. “What is it?”
“I’m waiting for you to start your story.”
“Ah, yeah, I should probably explain the abilities first. How I got them can be explained later.”
“Good idea. So, what gives you that monstrous appetite?” He questioned, just as Levi snarfed down the last bit of his burger.
“Healing factor. For whatever reason I got a really high metabolism that burns off calories faster than fire burns wood.” Levi replied, looking dejectedly at his now empty plate. He sighed and picked up his drink, slowly sipping the soda.
“Cool, what else?”
“Typho and Chronokinesis.”
“Smoke and Time control?” Riley asked.
“The smoke more so than time. Smoke I can use practically indefinitely, projectiles, weapons, cover, et cetera. While time I can slow down, stop, or even bring my past self to the present to increase my speed and strength.” Levi explained.
“Hmm, and I thought I was special because I had an extra endoskeleton.”
“Nah, that sounds pretty cool. But anyway, I’ll get into the backstory and all that Jazz.”
Riley sat back, relaxing a bit as he raised his second burger to his mouth, biting into it softly and chewing slowly.
Levi opened his mouth to begin, the story rolling off his tongue, his memories of the day it happened fresh in his mind…
*****
Clouds gathered over the horizon as Levi heaved the basket of laundry from the backyard to the back of the house, where the washer resided.
His sister, Chloe Strider, stood by the washer, turning Levi’s socks right-side out and pairing them up.
She was quite a bit younger than her brother, him being sixteen and her twelve. She finished the socks as he set the laundry down and looked up at him, her blue eyes staring into his. His own blue irises looking with melancholy down at her.
“What, Chlo?” He asked, folding a t-shirt and throwing it on the washer.
“Nothing, big brother. It’s just, mom’s been drinking again…” She replied, looking down.
“When did she ever stop?” Levi stated, clenching his fists. “If she had stopped drinking we wouldn’t be getting beaten every day.”
“I know, but, she seems to be getting through her depression.” Chloe started. She tried to continue, but Levi cut her off, raising his voice.
“Chloe! Do you think this…” He pointed to his freshly formed scar on his left cheek. “Is getting better? I don’t think going from using a belt to using a knife counts a ‘getting through’ her depression, it seems to be getting worse if I were to say so…”
“Sorry Bi-” She started,
But Levi cut her off again, waving the matter away, “Forget it Chlo, it’s fine…” He continued to fold clothes, but stopped dead when he heard sniffing. Looking over, tears were rolling off his sister's face, and he instantly felt responsible.
Kneeling down, he pulled her into a hug and tried to get her to stop crying. “Hey… Hey… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you- I’m sorry, Chlo…”
They stayed like that for a while, his sister’s sniffling slowly quieting as tears started to fall from Levi’s chin.
When they both had gotten a hold of themselves, the brother stood up and smiled down at her, she smiled as well…
The door to the interior of the house opening made Levi jump. Both of them turned to see their mother, a rather short, stocky woman walk into the laundry room, a bottle in one hand, as usual, and her leather belt in the other.
Stepping in between Chloe and her, Levi frowned, his protective instincts kicking in…
But in the end, he was left defenseless to being beaten...[/spoiler]
Spoiler (Click to Show)
Chloe walked into the room with a couple handfuls of bandages.
Her brother still couldn’t believe how close they were in age yet how far they were physically.
Chloe was short, for her age, with long brunette hair and a slim physique. You could almost always see her in her favorite combo of a pink t-shirt and a matching skirt.
Levi was more conserved. His hair was, and always had been long, shaggy and blonde.
His frame seemed frail, but was in fact quite well built. His legs had always been muscular, and he’d excelled at track and field. He usually wore his favorite long sleeve shirt and cargo pants, but the shirt was more like a cloak to him at that age, a bit too big.
The only trait they shared were their eyes. Bright, bright blue like the sky. A trait they supposedly inherited from their father, a tid-bit of info given to them by their mother before she started drinking.
“Here, Levi, let me put these on.” She said, motioning to the bandages. She pronounced the i in Levi like a y.
“Sis, my name’s Levi, it’s an i on the end, not a y.”
“Fine, Levi, let me put these on your back.” She replied, pronouncing it correctly that time.
The brother sighed and pulled his shirt off, exposing the still bleeding belt marks he had sustained only minutes earlier.
“You didn’t have to take the beating for me, brother.” Chloe started, putting some alcohol on a bandage and slapping it on the wound.
The sudden sting from the treatment made Levi wince. His sister continued preparing bandages and putting them on the wounds, his wincing continuing as well.
“I can take just as much punishment as you, if not less.” She finished, wrapping his back in athletic tape to make sure the bandages stayed in place.
The brother stood uneasily and put his shirt back on, turning to face Chloe.
“I know Chlo. But I’m your… Brother? Guardian? I’d rather get beaten than have you endure it…” Levi said, rubbing his back.
“I know mother isn’t exactly entirely… Stable, ever since dad left her, but-”
“Dad left on his own accord, his and mom’s marriage wasn’t going so well. You were probably too young to remember…”
“Yeah, I don’t remember. But Levi, I was saying… What do you wanna do? Attack our mother in self-defense?”
Levi turned and stared at his sister, guilt most likely showing on his