Exalibar cracked his knuckles, the sound like snapping twigs in the sudden quiet of the street. "So, what's the plan for these guys?" Sky rolled his shoulders, "non-lethal. Obviously." "Well, yeah. But how injured are we talking?"
"Enough so he can attend school tomorrow," Sky clarified, his eyes narrowing on the approaching cars. "But for his men... let's just leave them breathing."
The roar of engines shattered the peace as four black SUVs swerved into their street. Before the tires even stopped screeching, the brothers were moving. A sunroof flew open and Sean emerged, a swirling orb of orange hellfire already coalescing in his palm. He hurled it with a roar.
Exalibar didn't dodge so much as he vanished from the spot, the fireball exploding against the asphalt where he'd stood. He reappeared in the air above the lead SUV, descending like a hammer. His fist slammed into the hood with a deafening crunch of rending metal. The front of the vehicle compressed instantly, the force flipping car in a screeching cartwheel of shattered glass and torn steel.
Sean launched himself from the sunroof as the car flipped, landing in a crouch. "SELF-MANA USER!" he spat, the slur dripping with contempt. "How pathetic!"
He began summoning another fireball, but a blur closed the distance. Sky's spin kick connected with his stomach with a sickening thud. The air left Sean's lungs in a choked gasp as he was lifted off his feet and launched backward like a ragdoll. He smashed into a brick wall ten meters away, slumping to the ground, consciousness flickering.
When his vision returned, the sight made him question if the kick had actually connected with his head. All four of his SUVs were now a single, grotesque sculpture of crushed metal, piled on top of each other in the middle of the street.
Four brand new Lexus GX 550's... wallahi, I am finished.
He turned his head, and a fresh wave of horror washed over him. His men all twelve of them were laid out in a neat, unconscious row on the sidewalk. Sky was casually dragging the last one by his collar, dropping him into place with a finality that was more terrifying than any brutality.
Sky put his hands on his hips, turning to his brother. "How often do we have to do this exact thing until you get tired of it?"
Exalibar was busy taking a picture of the carnage with his phone. "Until they learn not to mess with us. We know how to fight. They should know this by now. We only chose not to be among the ranks of heroes."
"I was actually thinking of joining," Sky mused. "Jane thinks it would be nice to try and make a change in the world."
Exalibar, without even looking, sidestepped a groaning goon who tried to rise and delivered a precise chop to his neck, knocking him out again. "Yeah, makes sense you would do that for a girl."
"Like you wouldn't do the exact same if your best friend Aisha asked…."
"She already did. Several times, actually. You'd think by now she'd give up…."
Sean pushed himself to his feet, his mind reeling. How can they talk about heroics so casually while participating in such vile acts of villainy?
"Well, look who finally woke up," Sky said, almost bored. "The girlfriend stealer…"
"You don't deserve a woman like her, Sky!" Sean snarled, pride wounded deeper than his body.
"Oh yeah? And you do? With your hot-headed attitude and false confidence?" Sky asked, a single eyebrow raised.
Sean was left utterly dumbfounded, his rage having no purchase on Sky's cool logic.
"Yeah, I thought so," Sky finished. "Now leave. Before I do something I will regret."
The twins turned their backs and began walking away, the ultimate dismissal. But Sean, humiliated and bitter, felt his last shred of reason snap. He tore through his mana reserves, his body glowing with violent, unchecked power. The air itself sizzled as he gathered a fireball massive enough to level a small building, its heat warping the light around it.
Sky sensed the surge of energy a split-second before the blast. "Down!" he yelled, shoving Exalibar hard to the side. They both hit the pavement as a torrent of raw flame screamed over their heads, tearing a molten trench through the street. It missed their mansion but found another target—Exalibar's prized black cruiser, parked neatly in the driveway. The vehicle vaporized in a deafening WHOOMF, leaving behind a expanding fireball and the twisted skeleton of its frame.
Exalibar stared at the burning wreckage, his face a mask of cold, utter fury. "MY CRUISER!!!!"
Before Sky could stop him, Exalibar moved. He wasn't a blur; he was a force of nature. One moment he was on the ground, the next he had Sean by the collar, lifting him off his feet.
"Do you have a death wish or something?" Exalibar's voice was a low, dangerous growl, his eyes burning with a bright blue light that had nothing to do with mana. "DID HE NOT ASK YOU NOT TO DO SOMETHING WE WOULD REGRET??"
He drove his fist into Sean's stomach. The impact wet and final. Sean crumpled, gasping, his feet scraping the ground as Exalibar held him upright.
Exalibar's free hand was clenched so tightly his nails drew blood from his own palm. "You are lucky I am not in a terrible mood, or this would have gone much worse…. Much worse." He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper that was more terrifying than any shout. "But don't allow yourself the comfort of thinking you are leaving without any penitence."
"Brother…" Sky warned, stepping closer.
"In exchange for my car which I will be paying for out of my own pocket, by the way allow me to teach you a lesson on mana," Exalibar said, his tone shifting to a horrifically calm, lecturing drone. He lifted Sean by one arm, the joint screaming in protest. "An education you won't get in class. Mana is the energy we use to manipulate physics, but it's so much more. You just need to know how to use it."
He twisted Sean's wrist. A sickening SNAP echoed down the street, followed by Sean's choked scream.
"For example, my brother over there is a speedster. His body uses mana automatically. Can you believe that?" Exalibar asked conversationally, before whipping his leg out in a vicious kick to Sean's hip. The crack of the femoral head fracturing was unmistakable. Sean howled. "His body uses mana to boost his cognitive functions, metabolism, perception, reflexes and the likes. It also lowers his inertia allowing him to accelerate faster, removes a lot of friction and deals with a lot of force. Can you believe his body does that all on it's own without his active input. Like you fire types, your body automatically know how to manipulate mana and use that energy to make fire. It's in your genetic code"Unlike me. All my abilities are thought of. I have to know what I want. Any miscalculation..." Exalibar punctuated the sentence with another brutal punch to the gut, "...and BAM. Injury."
He let Sean drop to the ground, a broken, whimpering heap. "Anyway, that's enough for today's lesson. Now, what did we learn?"
Sean spat blood, his body trembling. "D-d-don't... don't try to t-take people's g-girlfriends."
Exalibar's open-handed slap rang out like a gunshot. "NO, DIPSHIT!" he roared, all pretence of calm gone. "DON'T BLOW UP PEOPLE'S CARS! I don't give a damn about my brother's girl, but that car was BRAND NEW, man!"
"All this... is over a replaceable car?" Sean whimpered, staring up at the monster he'd unleashed. "How evil are you?"
"I am not evil," Exalibar said, his voice dropping back to that deadly calm. "But I doubt there is anyone who likes getting their property destroyed."
"This isn't over…" Sean gasped, defiance flickering in his pain-glazed eyes. "I will make you pay, I swear."
As Exalibar raised his hand, mana crackling around his fist, a familiar voice cut through the tension, sweet yet stern.
"Okay, that's enough, Exalibar. Let him go."
Exalibar froze. He knew that voice. He turned his head slowly.
There she was. Hair a fiery orange that put the dying embers of his car to shame, and eyes like sharp-cut emeralds that saw right through him.
Aisha.