1 Fall Of The Number One
This is a world where humans have always had astonishing magical abilities. Abilities which can not be explained by scientific means even after being studied for hundreds, no thousands of years.
With these great abilities came those who used it for their own selfish benefit. Those titled as powered criminals or villains caused chaos wherever they roamed. Through stealing, murder or absolute destruction. But of course, when there are villains, there are heroes of justice to counter them and bring forth justice. Heroes who protect the light in the darkness.
Heroes dedicated and risked their lives to protect those who could not protect themselves. However, the villains were not the only ones who had to be watched in such a society.
*****
Knock Knock
"One second."
Knock Knock
"One second."
Knock Kno...
"Geez, who is it? Oh, hello there Petra. What's brought to you to our humble abode today?" asked a tall, and extremely muscular man with long black hair, a short beard and a welcoming smile. This man was named Ray Atlas.
Ray Atlas was known as the strongest pro hero currently in service. His ability granted him immeasurable strength and endurance.
This was classified as an enhancer type ability as it enhanced his physical body through strength, speed, or endurance.
Other forms include elemental types such as control on fire, water, earth, air, and special types like space, time, healing, summon, and a few others. Besides healing and summon, the other special types were very rare.
He could throw a boulder miles away and even stop a train with his bare hands. There have been rumors of his strength far surpassing what has been shown to the public but none of it has been confirmed by the hero association.
Ray used his last name, Atlas as his hero name in connection to the titan Atlas. He was the number one hero in the country and the turning point in the war against crime.
Countless villains were stopped at the hands of Ray, and thousands of citizens have been saved by him. He did not let the fame go to his head and after 20 years decided to start a family and put more time into being with friends and family.
Petra was also a well known hero but was not even in the top ten in terms of ranking.
Petra's ability which allowed her to harden her body was an enhancer type as it did more than just enhance her body but also also allowed her to turn her hands into different structures to form weapons when hardened
"I was just patrolling the area and thought I would stop by" Petra replied with a slight smile. Her black hair reached down to her waist in the back and the front was cut into bangs right above her glistening blue eyes. She had a rather voluptuous body and a smile that would make any man's heart skip a beat.
"Is Kara home as well?" Petra asked as she looked around from the door way.
"Hey there Cleo" a voice resounded from within the home.
This voice belonged to Kara Atlas. The wife to Ray and fellow pro hero "Shift". Kara's ability was a special type classified as a space type which allowed her to shift or teleport short distances but after years of practice and experience, she has evolved her ability to teleport nearly a hundred times with less than a second of rest between each shift.
Kara had a body that could rival Petra's but had short black hair and dark brown eyes. Her smile too struck a man's heart with hundreds of cupid's arrows.
"Hey Kara" Petra who was apparently named Cleo replied as she walked in and gave a hug to Kara. "It's been a while, how was the closed training.
"The same old shifting back and forth as quick as I can and as much as I can. As for Ray, I'm pretty sure he has reached his limits." replied Kara whose smile was now replaced with a frown.
"Ah, I see. What about the kids? Are they here?"
"Rylie is currently at Grand Justice Academy and Kai is currently at a friends house, his first day is next week." Kara replied.
"Ah I see. What luck those two seem to have as they will live to see another day." Cleo whispered while diverting her gaze to the floor below. A small grin on her face.
"Grgh."
This did not go unnoticed by Ray's trained ears as he turned to look at the two from his spot a few feet away. However, what he saw was beyond anything that he could possibly imagine.
Turning around, the first thing Ray noticed was the hardened right arm of Cleo penetrating through his wife's chest. Blood dripping from the rock like fingers sticking out the back end while more blood flowed from the open mouth of Kara.
"Kara!" he yelled as he dashed towards his injured wife and the one responsible, Petra.
Bang
Before Ray could reach his wife he was sent crashing into a nearby wall. The impact was like that of a train crashing into his body.
Dust from the impact filled the room blocking Ray's vision but not his inhuman hearing. His hearing however was drowned out by the loud heartbeat from within his own chest.
"I've waited years for this." roared a deep voice with a bit of a Russian accent and a trace of anger.
"Alexei? What are you doing here?" Ray yelled back as he recognized the familiar voice which belonged to Alexei Valkov aka pro hero Alexei. Yes, another hero who preferred to use their real name.
Alexei was an enhancer type who's ability not only made him extremely strong but also changed his body to what it currently looked like. Without his ability active, Alexei was barely over the average height and had a slim figure.
"It is finally time to move ahead with our plans and we must take you out for the plan to work o great number one. Blame your own success for your wife's death." Alexei yelled before charging towards Ray with speed that should not be possible with his seven foot tall, bear like frame.
Ray charged forward as well as he prepared a punch aimed towards the jaw of Alexei unsure of what exactly he meant by "the plan."
Bang Bang Bang
The two massive monsters of men exchanged blows, not only causing damage to each other but also their surroundings. The house began to collapse as the walls broke apart and the roof began to crumble due to the sheer force of the attacks. Craters formed below the feet of the two men filled by sweat and blood.
The two men hit each other in the head or chest and occasionally would land a blow on each other's fist. Alexei had a big grin on his face while Ray was less composed due to the thoughts running wild through his head.
"Kara. Is she okay? Is she fine? Is she dead? No, she is strong. I have to help her."
With each thought, ray's punches became faster, stronger, overwhelming compared to those of Alexei who was being pushed back.
After another few seconds of blows, the once even exchange was now one sided as Alexei was lowered to a knee.
"This is for Kara" Ray yelled as he clasped his hands together before slamming them down with a great force towards the skull of Alexei.
This blow was the last straw for the two story house which finally collapsed completely as the ground beneath vibrated violently shaking the entire neighborhood, no the entire city. The ground broke apart for miles in every direction and a sudden wind from the attack blew debris far and wide.
Alexei laid on the ground covered in blood but still was still conscious.
"Ha, haha, hahahahah" Alexei began to laugh as he noticed the tears running down the face of the so called strongest hero Atlas.
Ray was worried about his wife and prepared to search for her even with his worried inner voice screaming "she's dead, she's dead." but after hearing the maniacal laugh from Alexei, Ray prepared a final blow. He cared not about keeping Alexei alive for answers but preferred to finish him off now.
"Grggh" groaned Ray as a sharp pain was felt through his now bare chest as his shirt was ripped apart in the fight.
Looking down, Ray could see a sharp rock like sword penetrating his chest covered in blood. This rock like sword was the hardened arm of none other than Petra who was watching the fight from a somewhat safe distance away.
"Forgot about little old me did ya big guy." Petra whispered before retracting her arm. "Give up, your wife is already long gone."
Ray did not fall but stood tall, tears once again began to race down his face as the realization of the situation hit him like a truck. Blood continued to flow from his mouth as he felt his strength slowly fading away.
"Kara, Kara" he whispered repeatedly to himself.
Bang
A loud explosion sound was produced as Ray's body was sent flying, creating a crater where he landed a few feet away. In the spot he stood before was a badly injured Alexi who used the last of his energy for the final hit.
"Alexei number one" he whispered before falling forward unconscious.
Thud
"Men" whispered Petra as she stared down at the unconscious or probably dead body of her ally whose body was back to it's original size.
In her hand was a black phone with the carving of a skull surrounded by flames on the back.
"Guess I better call the Silent Specter and report in."
