House of Cards

Rewind

Lucio’s eyes strained the moment he saw his underlings struggle to fair off against Rain which added to the stain on his name which made him even furious. ‘Impossible! How can my capable underlings lose to someone nameless as him?!’ he thought to himself as he stare at his boys dropping like flies.

               *WHAM!* *PLOP!*

               The last of his disposable underling fell down with the last of his trusted comrade standing beside him waiting for his order. “That’s impossible- all of them are capable fighters and have unique and useful special abilities and yet they still got defeated.” One of his trusted comrade said as she pulls off her mask. “I know right, taking down three or two is understandable but all ten of them got beaten?” one of them added as they stare in awe at Rain’s physical ability.

               “Wow- he took them all down without even using his ability once!” one of the spectators from the other sides exclaimed after seeing Rain take down a person with special ability without using his own ability. Lucio can no longer take his defeat even by sending his underlings and still got defeated, he signaled the two students behind him to attack Rain. The instant he signaled, the girl immediately appeared beside Rain already throwing a swift kick towards Rain who immediately reacted and defended against the brutal kick that hit his arms.

               *PAK!*

               “Ho- so you can see through my attack as well?” the girl praised as she appeared again in front of Lucio who was grinning slyly. ‘Super speed huh? That’s some troublesome ability.’ Rain whispered to himself after seeing her ability first hand. Rain’s eye widened after seeing the person next to Lucio extending his hand towards him as he felt a shadow right above him and then instinctively moved out of the way as he leaped backward when all of the sudden a huge rock fell on the place where he used to stand.

               *BOOOGS!*

               “He saw through that too- that guy has inhuman reflexes. Is he even considered human?” he asked with a doubtful tone as he even wonder if they should mess with a person like Rain. “I don’t think we should be messing with people without complete information about.” He added as he almost surrendered knowing that he blew his only chance of defeating Rain. ‘Now that he knows my ability- I might be the first one he would eliminate.’ He thought as he felt his heart beating faster. ‘I’m getting a bad feeling about this.’

               ‘A summoning ability huh? Is it limited to rocks?’ Rain thought to himself after seeing the other one’s ability. Without any time to waste, the duo made they coordinated attacks to defeat Rain in an instant. The girl appeared near Rain and forced him to move in a place where his friend have already planned to drop huge boulders before disappearing again and it continued for a few tries after Rain got the hang of their plan. When half of the area was almost covered in boulders Rain made a counter attack starting with the girl that moves really fast. As per their combo, she appeared again with a kick at full swing so that there will be no delay and hit Rain immediately after appearing. ‘Let’s see if you can dodge this time. Gotcha~’ she thought to herself after seeing that her kick will definitely land on Rain’s face as what she saw on the slow moving world that she is in, victory was already in her hands when all of the sudden she saw a round house kick going straight to her face. ‘Huh?!’ she exclaim in fear and awe after seeing a kick that even she cannot dodge. ‘So that was it huh? After image- to think that someone is even more fast than me exist in this world- her thoughts got interrupted as her face met Rain’s shoe and made a painful sound as she gets slammed on the boulder that her comrade just summoned.

               “WHAPACK!*

               Blood flowed from her mouth and nose as she lose consciousness leaving Lucio and his last comrade shocked in fear after seeing her drop down in a contest of speed. The other students are also left speechless after seeing what they deemed as the fastest student in the entire Olympus flew away like a sack full of sand. “Hey Lucio, I don’t think we should continue doing this anymore. Even Arya got bested in speed- how am I supposed to deal with him if he can take down even Arya?” his last comrade said with a fearful tone as he backs off a little from Rain who was staring at them indifferently.

               Unable to take the shame anymore, Lucio decided to step in and made his last comrade drag the others to safety which he accomplished easily since Rain did not bother to look at him dragging out his comrades. “Woah! Lucio is stepping in? Will that guy be able to handle Lucio?” one of the onlookers cried after seeing Lucio walking towards Rain.

               “I will be taking you on personally since none of my underlings seem to have any more will to fight you.” He said as he takes off his uniform and anything valuable in his body. “Is that so- I hope your underlings’ sacrifices are worth it otherwise they were just making a fool of themselves.” Rain replied as he takes a stance. Without any hesitation Lucio charged towards Rain who was waiting for him to make a move, Lucio threw a punch which Rain immediately dodged and made a counter attack.

               *BAM!*

               ‘I felt that- he really is strong as Garet said but thanks to that he will not have it easy.’ Lucio grinned as he caress the part where he was hit. “Is that all you can do?” he tried to taunt Rain and make his punches even harder and then another punch landed on his chest that sent him rolling on the ground. ‘Freaking guy- does taunt do not work on a guy like him? Attacks felt the same and yet this one is even painful than earlier.’ He clench his fist in pain as he stands up from the ground.

               “I guess that guy doesn’t know how Lucio’s special ability work right? He is throwing in some powerful punches without knowing that those punches will have a great impact in Lucio’s counter later on.” One student beside Tim said as he felt a little worried about the outcome of this fight.

               ‘Lucio’s special ability is a little tricky since your powerful blows can be used against you later and that is what you should be looking out Rain.” I thought as my eyes squinted at the difference in power as of the moment. ‘Lucio’s fake attacks keep coming and Rain’s counter attack also keeps coming which is slowly making Lucio stronger without Rain’s knowledge. ‘Lucio keeps taking in so many punches and yet he still did not release it? What is he waiting for?’ I thought to myself as I try to think of the things that Lucio might have in mind.

               ‘This is not a fight, he is deliberately taking my attacks- is it something related to his special ability? I have landed so many attacks and yet he has still to show his ability.’ I thought as I distance myself from Lucio as I assess the overall damage that I have done to him. ‘Just as I thought- he really is taking my attacks deliberately- does he have an accumulation ability? I have seen some from the past generations from my classmates which multiplies the power they have accumulated in so many ways, is he waiting for the timing to use it?’ I asked myself as I stare at his face with blooming with happiness. “So is that all you’ve got?” he still continue to taunt me after seeing that it does not affect me at all.

               “Hmmm- I guess there is nothing else to do here since you do not seem to have the appetite for this fight.” I said as I left my fighting stance. ‘My chance!’ I can see the expression in his face as he charged towards me. ‘He really is waiting for me to let down my guard.’ I concluded after seeing him move differently from before. “Have a taste of your own medicine!” he shouted as his body suddenly changed in color, I guess this is what happens when he uses his ability. Lucio threw a heavy punch towards me, fast enough to make the air whistle as it travels through the air.

               *WHHHT!*

               ‘I never thought that I would be doing this again- how long has it been? Ah- right, thirty two years.’ I thought to myself as I saw Lucio’s figure got replaced by someone I know from the past, Robert Bradley. Lucio missed his attack and with the speed of sound I wrapped my left arm around his neck while grabbing his right hand and slowly move it the opposite side to eliminate any thoughts of resistance from him but due to the power that he accumulated within his body he tried to yank his arm back to the proper position so I decided to step on his knee forcing him to fall on his knee making him losing focus on his arm.

               *CREAK!*

               ‘What the hell?! How can he restrain me even after using my special ability?! I thought his ability has something to do that produces fire and yet he can take me on without an ability to gain super strength.’ Lucio grit his teeth in pain as he maintains the strength in his arm to prevent it from bending the other way. The students who are filming the fight dropped their phones after seeing Lucio got easily countered and is struggling to get out of Rain’s hands. Unable to hold out much longer, Lucio tapped Rain’s arms with his left hand giving him the sign that he surrenders so Rain lets go of Lucio who instantly fell on the ground, shocked of what happened.

               ‘How can this be? He defeated me without using his own ability.’ I thought to myself as my sweat slides on my skin and my heart felt like bursting after the thought of losing my right arm from a person who did not even bother using his ability when fighting me. Unable to accept my defeat I raise my head and saw Rain walking back to grab his bag from the girls. My heart filled with rage and anger that I did not even notice that I was throwing my fists towards him while shouting, “Die!” I felt a sudden chill on the air as I approached him when all of the sudden he extended his arm towards me then the sky immediately darkened and that is when I realized that his ability is not something that I was able to handle in the first place.

               *CRACKLE!* CRACKLE!* *KSSSHK!*

               “Try storing this attack.” I said as lightning struck Lucio down with a single strike as his body immediately fell on the ground like an empty vessel.

               *THUD!*

               My phone then ring the moment the fight was concluded, and the caller was from someone important so I have no choice but to answer the call and all of the sudden Van and the other staff came running to where we are as the spectators are left with their jaws dropped in shock.