"Everybody freeze!"
With those words, everyone stood still.
Some, like Stacya, Long, and the Firebreathers, froze out of fear of Amazo's power.
Others, like Max and Bolt, froze out of curiosity at what he might do next.
But one of them didn't freeze.
And that one was Blaze.
The second he took a step, Amazo charged his attack. He conjured up a stack of playing cards made of heated plasma and launched them in all directions.
Stacya pulled out her spear and blocked one.
Max easily swept five aside.
Blaze, with his senses enhanced by the armor, quickly dodged the card heading for him and deflected every single card heading for his allies.
Bolt chuckled in amazement.
"Seems my armor works like a charm, doesn't it, boy?"
Blaze merely stared at the Doctor. No one knew that behind the mask, he was smiling like a gleeful child. He had never felt so alive, never felt so fast, never felt so powerful.
"What are you doing, sir?" Stacya shouted at Amazo. "Why are you attacking us? We are all supers here."
Amazo quickly glared at her and conjured another card.
"Is this fucking fish actually talking to me? You think cuz your friends bailed you out last time you just get to spew your babble at me? Go to hell!" he spat and threw the card at her.
It flew so fast she barely had time to even react.
However, Max did.
He grabbed the card before it could reach her, causing Stacya to jolt in shock.
"Red?"
"She's right, you know," Max said to Amazo with his usual cocky grin. "We're allies here. Save those cards of yours for the actual bad guys."
Amazo scoffed and turned back to the Firebreathers. He'd deal with those two later.
The moment he turned, however, Blaze was already a few inches from him. Amazo conjured up a shield made from the same plasma as the cards and blocked Blaze's incoming punch.
The force was still mighty enough to push him several meters back.
"Damn!" he shouted in genuine awe. "Don't remember the last time I was hit like that by one of you Dragon Clan fucks."
"Savor that moment, old man. More are sure to come," Blaze said, getting his battle stance ready.
"That voice... wait... I remember you! You're Dao D's kid! He had like four of you. The one that multiplies, the one that flies, the girl, and..."
"Me," Blaze finished, conjuring flames on his arms as he got ready to attack.
"Yeah. The boring one."
Blaze flinched.
"You were barely worth my time before, but this is just hilarious. Pairing up with some washed-up mad scientist for a power boost? Oh, how the mighty Dragons have fallen!"
"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you!"
"Oh my, I'm so scared!" Amazo said in a childish tone. "You're no threat, kid. You're just an overconfident disappointment in a shitty piece of armor. You think your dad would be happy to see you like this?"
Blaze charged at Amazo again, but this time he was ready. He dodged Blaze's flame-covered fist and made a gauntlet to cover his own. Then, he unloaded a powerful set of punches on Blaze. All Blaze could do at that point was block them with special shields he made from his flames.
"Face it, kid. You're nothing without that suit. I would've already had you by now if you weren't hiding inside it."
"Shut up."
"Ironic how the Dragon Clan, which prided itself on its martial prowess and magic, ended up having its successor resorting to fancy tech and gizmos just to compete."
"Shut up!" Blaze shouted, letting out a blast of magic flame that sent Amazo flying.
The attack barely damaged him, though, as he was fast enough to cover himself in an energy shield to block the damage. He then turned the shield into another stack of cards.
Just as Blaze was recovering, Amazo threw the cards at him. Unlike the first set, which were meant to just slice through their targets, these ones exploded.
The explosion didn't do much to Blaze, thanks to the insane durability his suit granted him. They did, however, create a smoke screen thick enough for Amazo to use.
In a flash, he appeared from the smoke, wielding a blade made of plasma. Whether it was instinct or the suit that got him to dodge, Blaze didn't know, as he barely saw the attack coming.
But he tried not to think about it, because if it was the suit, he wouldn't be able to keep going.
Amazo was right. Dao D prided himself on his strength and his magic, and he wanted his sons to do the same. Wyvern did, and that's what led to their schism. Blaze wanted to lead the Clan to a new age and accept change, while Wyvern believed following Dao D's ways was best.
But was he willing to go this far? Relying on a piece of technology to give himself the edge? This was what the Dragon Clan amounted to? Following the whims of an old fool willing to manipulate them into killing each other for trivial nonsense?
As Blaze kept dodging Amazo's strikes, he took a brief look at the smiling Dr. Bolt. The maniac was probably proud his suit was keeping up so well. Blaze wanted to stop the fight and just kill that fool there and then.
To keep these thoughts at bay, he looked at his men. They had taken a vow of silence since they joined the gang in exchange for learning magic, as it dealt in equivalent exchange. For those not proficient in it, they had to sacrifice something of great value to them for that proficiency.
And that was their voices.
He had never heard them speak or even express their opinions ever since they joined the Clan. He didn't even know how they felt about him using this tech.
Were they dishonored? Disgusted? Discouraged?
He didn't know, and he might have never known if Long hadn't spoken up.
She cheered.
She was the most skeptical of his plans.
Of aligning with Bolt.
And she cheered.
"Come on, Blaze! We've come too far for you to give up now! Who gives a shit about honor?! Those are dying terms Dao used to keep us in line! They don't matter! Only victory matters!" she shouted, cheering him on.
As she spoke, their subordinates ignited their arms and sent fireballs into the air. Some made gestures reminiscent of dragons and lizards and the like.
Blaze smiled.
Whether what he did was honorable didn't matter. Not to them. And certainly not to him.
Not anymore.
"Aw. Seems your men are fine with your lazy ass relying on that suit. Do you feel the same way?" Amazo said mockingly as he kept slashing at Blaze.
Blaze then jumped far enough to completely avoid Amazo's reach. Just as Amazo took a step to chase him down, Blaze raised his hand.
"I don't care. These traditions, fighting styles, and limitations hold us back. They prevent us from reaching our true potential," Blaze said, holding a small button on the side of his neck where his chip should be.
"What are you doing?" Amazo asked.
Max raised a brow.
"What's he doing?" Stacya asked him.
"It seems..."
"If we're stuck in the past, we will never reach the future," Blaze said, loud enough to interrupt Max. "I see that now. I held back the full power of this armor. Whether it was instinctively or out of sheer will, I don't know. But I'm letting go. I won't let my own insecurity define me or this Clan! From henceforth, the Dragon Clan is reborn!"
Blaze tapped the chip and his body lit up in a cloak of blue flames. His suit's red design was replaced by a bright blue, and the Dragon shone with a blindingly bright gold. The power pouring into him was so great even Amazo could feel it.
He had to stop himself from feeling impressed.
Amazo charged Blaze once again with his blades. Blaze just stood still and watched him.
"Blaze! Look out!" Long shouted, but Bolt raised his arm, drawing her attention.
"I didn't even know one could suppress the power of my armor like that. Your brother is one of a kind."
Amazo, just a few inches from him, raised his blades to strike. Blaze, with just his forearm, blocked the strikes and even broke the blades, letting out a powerful explosion that sent Amazo flying back.
"If his previous performance was him holding back..."
Amazo got up and cursed. He flew into the air and created a giant ball of plasma, much larger and hotter than anything he had made before. It was so large, in fact, that it nearly swallowed the whole building.
It was so hot Max had to cover Stacya to protect her from the heat. Long and her men made flame shields to keep the excess heat at bay.
"Then you have no need to worry."
Bolt did nothing but smile as he stared at the miniature sun above him.
"As you can see..."
Amazo fired the sun, only for Blaze to send a small ball of fire at it. The ball moved with enough force that it cut right through the sun and pierced Amazo through his chest. In an instant, the sun vanished as he dropped to the floor.
"This battle was already won."
"No way," Long said as she and her men cleared the flame shields.
"Yes way, my dear," Bolt said mockingly. "This is the power of the armor I've bestowed onto you. Well, not entirely, since that power is proportional to that of the user."
"So you're saying..."
"Yes. Your brother has truly unleashed its full potential."
Blaze walked over to Amazo as he lay on the ground, holding his wound. He smiled under his Dragon-shaped helmet, which he removed to display that smile.
"Max... we need to save him," Stacya whispered to Max and started sinking into the ground.
"What? Isn't this his fight? And besides, he's an asshole. He called you slurs."
"He's still a life worth saving and I'm gonna save it. Now come on."
"You... this is what you want, huh? Do it!" Amazo shouted, spitting blood.
"Gladly. I'll make sure to mail your head to the Super Society if you don't mind," Blaze retorted, forming a blade made of blue flames on his arm.
"Fuck... you..."
Blaze sent the blade hurtling towards the dying super, only for Amazo to sink into the ground beneath their feet.
"What?!" Blaze shouted right before turning to see the cause.
Stacya.
She had swum into the ground and retrieved Amazo, all while Blaze was none the wiser.
"Red! We need to get out of here and alert Milten!" she said, swimming away with an injured Amazo on her back. He tried to resist, but his body weakened by the second.
"No time for this. Firebreathers! Catch her!" Blaze ordered, and they obeyed.
The men swarmed Stacya and started throwing fireballs across her path. Luckily, she dodged them all with quick ease.
"Well?" Bolt said plainly, looking at Long.
"What?"
"Aren't you going to stop her? Or do you need a suit for that too?"
Long shrugged and used her flames to form a giant spear twice the length of a normal man. She then pounced on Stacya, who was quick to notice and draw her spear.
"Let us go! You don't want this!" Stacya shouted as she got closer.
"You're leaving with our prey! We can't have that, can we?"
The two clashed evenly for a moment, but Stacya, realizing she didn't have time to waste, charged her spear with electricity and sent it through Long's body.
Long screamed like a dying lamb and was sent flying into the nearest wall.
However, just as Stacya turned around to make her getaway, she stopped.
Right in front of her was Blaze, charging up a blue-flamed punch.
"I believe this cat-and-mouse game is over."
She raised her spear to block but realized it wouldn't work. Even her instincts knew he was far above her league.
She blocked anyway, as there was no other option.
Then he appeared.
So fast she nearly didn't see him coming, Max appeared in between the both of them.
"You?" Blaze said, his fist stopping for a few seconds.
"Yeah. Me. You owe me a match, right?"
Blaze smiled and sent his fist flying at him instead.
Max quickly moved his chest out of its way and charged his fist with red energy. Blaze didn't even notice it hit him.
By the time he did, he was already on the ceiling.
Max had given Blaze the worst uppercut of his life. If Blaze wasn't wearing that suit, he'd be dead.
The suit took him from literal fodder to a level beyond an All-Star, and somehow this Red Shadow guy was beyond even that?
Who the hell was this guy?
Sadly, he couldn't find out, as his consciousness was fading.
"You owe me for that," Max said, holding Stacya by the shoulder. "I could've had a really good fight with him, but you had me go all out."
"It isn't my fault you're a battle-hungry fool," Stacya said, causing Max to regretfully smirk.
He then held her by the waist and prepared to use his super speed to escape, only for his eyes to meet those of Bolt.
"Oh? Don't worry about me. You can go," Bolt said with the kind voice of a simple old man. If Max didn't have Simon's mind-reading abilities passively combing through Bolt's subconscious, he wouldn't have believed it.
While he couldn't read minds directly, he could detect lies and the intentions of people, especially bloodlust.
Bolt showed none of that. He was fully prepared to let them go.
Why?
Was it because he couldn't stop them?
For some inexplicable reason, the thought instantly left Max's mind even faster than it came. He looked at Bolt again and he was still smiling his sheepish smile, without a care in the world. Max looked around and saw the Firebreathers getting ready to chase him and Stacya down.
And he looked at Stacya. She was grabbing his arm and asking him to get them out of there.
Max looked at Bolt for the third time, and now, the answer was clear. The way he stood, the smile...
He was toying with them.
Max quickly left the building with his super speed, Stacya in hand. Amazo nearly fell off her back if it weren't for her enhanced Atlantean grip.
"What happened? You were fully willing to fight that guy back there."
"How did you..."
"I saw it in your eyes. Why did you change your mind?"
"It would've been useless."
"What? Why?"
"I was gonna lose."
To be continued...