The Mall

Amily's POV

The mall was shut down, Engine managed to evacuate every civilian inside. He managed to do so while I made my way there. I got to the main parking lot to see it filled with police vehicles. Seems that they responded way quicker than I expected.

As I walked towards the entrance of the mall, one of the officers ran up to me.

"Miss Amily!" He said frantically, "It's been too quiet for too long! I fear DeadWire has been defeated."

I looked at him. It was not too crazy to believe such a thing, after all, Manti-Gore is an S-Class criminal. A High-Rank hero may find a very difficult time handling him. I hope that DeadWire isn't hurt too badly, or worse, dead.

"What of Mujin and Paperbag's goons?" I asked him

He shook his head, "We haven't seen anyone leave the building asides from the evacuated." He said, "And Engine said he searched every corner to find nobody else. We don't know where they could be."

I nodded, "Okay." I said, "Don't worry, I'll head inside and apprehend Manti-Gore."

I then quickly made my way inside the mall, ignoring any other calls the police made.

As I ran towards the main lobby, I heard a loud crash. I turned to my left to see a figure being hurled through a glass window. I noticed it was a man as he hit a stone bench hard enough to break it.

"Arghh!!" he shouted out in pain a

He was a young Korean man who had died his hair blonde. He wore a black jumpsuit with blue lightning bolt designs. I recognized him as Deadwire, Livewatt's brother. He was a Hero of Purgatory and a strong Electrokinetic.

I rushed to his aid, "Are you alright?!" I asked as I reached him and crouched down, "Deadwire, I am here, do not worry."

I widened my eyes to see his face completely bruised and bloodied. He had a massive gash on his forehead above his right eye. I then noticed his right sleeve was tattered and saw his arm was broken, the bone coming out of the skin. To think that he had suffered such injuries.

He opened his eye and looked up at me, "A-Amily...." He managed, "I am sorry...He's too strong for me to handle...I tried my best..."

I patted his shoulder, "It's okay." I assured him, "You did well, Deadwire. I will take things from here."

I then pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed for Cyberknight.

"Yes?" I heard his static voice

"Send for medical aid inside the Mall, Cyberknight. Deadwire is seriously injured." I said, "And tell Taejoon that Mujin may still be inside the building, hiding. Either that or he managed to escape through a secret exit."

"I doubt that is possible, I have the blueprints of the building right in front of me. There is no way they have a secret exit." He said, "I will send for a team to retrieve Deadwire, where is the enemy?"

I felt a presence behind me. I narrowed my eyes and stood up.

"I am about to engage," I said simply before hanging up

I turned around to see a massive beast of a man walking through the broken window of a candy store. He stood almost 7 feet tall and had long black hair that reached his shoulders. A face with nothing but sharp features and a couple of scars on it. His eyes were those of a lion's, fierce and filled with a hunger for something. He had a bag of what I assumed was candy in one hand while he tossed said candy in his mouth with his other.

He then slowly stopped a couple of meters away as he chewed. He only looked at me without saying a word. His eyes merely scanned me.

This man was a superhuman so I couldn't normally tell the amount of ki he has to gauge his strength. But one thing was for sure, He was strong. I didn't need to sense ki to tell. He just gave that aura, one of pure strength.

From what I heard of him, he is a mercenary with years of experience in fighting Heroes. He has even clashed with Typhoon in the past. So I know he is no pushover.

He stopped chewing and spat out a piece of candy and tossed the bag to the floor by his side.

He scowled at me, "And who the hell are you supposed to be?" He said in a deep and raspy voice, "What is a little girl doing in front of someone such as myself?"

Without warning, I instantly lunged at him to hit him with a Tornado Kick. I felt my kick hitting him hard, sending him flying.

As I landed, I saw him crash against a wall, almost shattering it. He fell to the floor with a thud and almost immediately stood back up.

I merely scowled at this. This was going to be tough.

I noticed that there was a bit of blood dripping from his mouth, so I did some damage.

"What the hell?" He said wiping the blood off, "You are strong, despite your appearance..."

I then readied a stance, "Prepare yourself." I said, "You are facing one of the Ten Guardians, Amily."

He raised an eyebrow, "A Guardian? You?" He said, "So not a chump like that lightning boy laying there? Well, in that case..."

His face suddenly started to shift. I saw as a man's face turned into that resembling more of a lion. I saw fangs replacing teeth and his hair turn into a massive mane. He also raised his arms as they too started to change. From the skin of a human to the scales of what I assume was a crocodile. Then I saw something appear behind him, It looked like a massive serpent coming from his behind.

"What? a serpent for a tail?" I said aloud

He smirked, "Heh." He said, "I am Manti-Gore, puny Guardian. I can shift my body parts to those of animals. It can greatly affect my physical abilities."

So that is how he was able to withstand my kick so easily. Seems to me he is not to be underestimated.

He showed me his hands as large claws protruded from his fingers.

"Well, little girl." He said,

"How long will you last?"