Ironhide towers over me as I check behind me, seeing Miss Claire. I see three different heroes near her. One shooting icicles at her, another who had a small burst of speed increase, and lastly, Cain again.
I can't instant copy Cain again. But I wonder if I can use my instant copy and save the power until I actually use it physically? I use my instant copy, but don't use the powers quite yet to test my limits. At the same time, Ironhide swings at me. It connects and sends me flying out of the parking garage. One of the heroes jumps up to try to attack me as I'm airborne. I make a portal behind me and grab the hero, reappearing in the parking garage.
I slam the hero down and pierce his head with two tendrils before throwing him off the parking garage. I then turn my attention to Ironhide. Reading his twitches with precognition.
To conserve energy, I must incorporate principles from Mr. Eun-ji's duel with Miss Claire when he first taught me about softening my vision—minimal dodging movements. When Ironhide's fist slightly clenches, I turn my body to the side and step slightly to the left, narrowly avoiding the imperceivable hit.
Powered individuals can reach physicalities beyond what a normal human can. I've never seen Miss Claire go all out, nor have I seen any Ranker go all out. But I bet it'd be a fight I couldn't see.
Continuing to dodge his attacks with minimal movements. I search for an opportunity to counterattack. I see his arm twitch, I duck down and deliver a back kick. Then I summon two tendrils and wrap them around his legs.
He breaks free almost instantly, but I expected that. I just didn't want him to have enough time to avoid this.
I kick him in the chin before having two tendrils slap his face from both sides. When I land, I make a portal in front of me and 6 portals behind Ironhide. I punch through it. Maybe if I keep using this move, I should name it.
But after all of those punches land, I then charge up a large tendril; however, when I launch it, Ironhide dodges it, and in less than a second, he is right back in front of me.
I can't use precognition in time before he hits me; he sends me flying back into a car. The impact of my landing on the car dents the car, causing one side to crash into the other.
When Ironhide is in front of me again, I manage to switch into my defensive mode in time. When his hit connects, it doesn't knock me back, and it doesn't hurt as much.
"From now on. I'll go all out." Ironhide says. In an instant, I feel five punches connect with me. I reach my hand out and attempt to activate the icicle power. As I see a glimpse of Ironhide triple-layering iron on his fist. I manage to launch the icicles.
So I can store powers that I instant copy!
The icicles pierce Ironhides' uncovered left arm. Causing him to stagger. I stand up and use the burst of speed power to blitz him. In the next five seconds, I land sixty-seven blows on him.
I feel myself growing tired. Parts of me are growing numb. I've overextended. But I see Ironhides' defenses waning. His starting to go all out physically after already taking all of that damage from me is draining him more. He's on as much of a clock as I am.
I will push through.
I decide to instant copy the burst of speed power again. As Ironhide recovers and starts blitzing me. I can't even see him anymore. My eyes can't keep up. He lands a few blows on me before I activate it while double coating both of my fists with iron. In the five seconds that I have the upgraded speed, I manage to keep up with Ironhide. However, my eyes aren't adjusted. In our clash, I miss many attacks I make. But the ones I hit, hit hard.
When it wears off. Ironhide is also getting tired. He is going the same speed he was before when I first had to consistently use precognition.
I am using precognition and reading his twitches, and I'm able to minimally dodge him again.
After a few minutes of exchanges, Ironhide pauses. To prepare, I look back over to see if there are any more powers I can copy from the heroes that Miss Claire is fighting. I see one of them create a clone behind Miss Claire and then take its place, making the clone disappear. I instant copy it and store it. When I turn back, Ironhide has no iron left on him, aside from on his fist.
He took all of his iron coating off and stacked it on his fist?!
He swings at me, and I narrowly avoid it, but the shockwave causes the floors above us in the parking garage to collapse. Now, Miss Claire and her fight are completely out of view.
I hear a loud whirring and whapping noise coming from above me. I look up and see the source of it: a helicopter with a camera crew.
Was Ironhide and I's fight getting broadcast the entire time? Ironhide swings at me again with the same fist. It seems he's completely given up on defense and is going full into offense. He knows he can't keep fighting at a proper pace for too much longer.
It is about time for me to switch back to offensive mode, but I don't want to. I will finish this fight in defensive mode.
I copy Ironhide's move. I move all of my iron coating onto my fist. It is fairly heavy; my fist hits the ground because I can't keep it upright. Ironhide rushes at me, and in response, I jump up and muster all of my strength to swing at him.
Ironhide sidesteps and turns around, and hits me square in the abdomen. I feel a few of my ribs snap. I cough up blood inside my mask. The shockwave from the punch kicked up dust. And Ironhide rushes in again and hits me square on again. I go flying back against some rubble. Coughing up more blood. I struggle to stand, staggering a bit before fully standing back up. I walk towards Ironhide as he approaches me, too. I raise my fist as he raises his in return.
He and I both know that this next clash will be the last one.
I jump up and swing down toward him. He swings up at me and misses me, but the force of it knocks my mask off. He's about to swing again, but his eyes widen and he stops in his tracks.
"R-Ray?..." He stammers out.
I don't hesitate, and I swing forward anyway. Nailing him right in the stomach, collapsing a part of it. A permanent dent. Dust explodes, probably obscuring the view of the helicopter cameras. Ironhide coughs up blood and collapses against a nearby piece of rubble, sitting up.
What the hell did I just do?!
I run over and kneel beside him. "Ironhide!" I shout.
"You're alive…" He says breathily.
"I am. Ironhide… T-That day, in the park…" I start to say before he lifts his hand to cut me off.
"Y-You don't… Need… to apologize… I am the one who failed you…" He stammers out with a chuckle.
"No! You didn't! I… I…" I can't even finish my own sentence while tears fall from my eyes.
Ironhide reaches up and wipes my tears away. "No… I think in retrospect, I'm glad Claire took you in… I never had the courage to. The courage required to take you in considering your… p-past." He says before coughing up blood.
"Your anger towards me… towards the upper echelon of hero society… I don't blame you for it… We all failed you…" He continues.
"You've grown strong, Ray… You're strong…" Ironhide says.
"I can't even keep it together… I'm still so weak." I reply.
"You beat me. And I'm s-sure… That you'll grow stronger…" He says.
"Y-You never took me seriously until you were already worn down and hurt! I also would've lost if it weren't for Miss Claire's help. This was all luck!" I shout.
"No… You're strong. Far stronger than I am… I was deluded, thinking that I could change things from the inside. I… I became their p-puppet. I never could oppose Paragon… Strength means nothing without mental fortitude…" He says, his voice growing weaker.
"I'm sorry! I'm s-so sorry!" I break down into tears, and I can't stop my sobs from coming out. I continue to repeat apologies. Over and over and over again.
Ironhide interrupts me by pulling me close. "You're okay, Ray… I'm not mad. I honestly think… I think I had this coming for a long while. I just hope that wherever I end up… I hope that Sandra can forgive me." Ironhide says, rubbing my back to comfort me.
"Things all click into place when you reach near the end. Life has a funny way of doing that…" He says before following up with, "Claire did a good job with you… Can I give you a selfish request?..."
I can't bring myself to respond. I just nod.
"Punch Paragon in the face for me. Ok?..." He chuckles, trying to make me feel better with a quarter-serious, mostly joking request.
"I-Ironhide," I choke out, barely containing my sobs.
"Ray. I'm… so… proud of you. I'm glad… I got to know… that you're okay…" Ironhide says, pushing me away slightly. He grabs my mask, which was nearby, and puts it back on my face before going limp.
I put my finger to his neck…
His pulse is gone.
Chameleon… No. I killed Ironhide. I tried to push my rage, my hatred, and my sins all onto Chameleon. But no. Chameleon's rage is Ray's. Chameleon's hatred is Ray's. And his sins… are all mine to bear too.
I'm a monster… I killed a good person… But why?... Why does a part of me feel satisfied? Why? Why?!
I slowly stand up as the dust clears. I spot the helicopter still hovering over the collapsed parking garage. I make a portal below me, and I make the other end inside the helicopter. The camera crew, the reporter, and even the pilot all recoil at my appearance. One of the cameramen gave me a look of fear.
"Ironhide is dead," I state.
The reporter, a slightly chubby middle-aged woman with a bob cut, wearing a suit and tie. Walks over to me and says into her microphone. "We have the villain himself, the 'Chameleon'. Right here with us," she stammers out, trying to gather the courage to ask me her next question, "I-Is there any statement you'd like to give?"
I take the mic away from her and begin to speak. "This is a message to my next main target. It might be days. It might be weeks. It might be months or even years. But I promise you, one day I will climb all the way up, and I will kill you…"
"Paragon." I finish, before handing the mic back to the reporter and hopping off the helicopter, making a portal below me and reappearing on the city streets. I see almost a thousand corpses, and in the middle of the bloodbath is Miss Claire, who is currently stretching.
Miss Claire excitedly runs up to me and takes off her mask, "Chameleon! You're okay! So, you won?" She says with a wolfish grin, ruffling my hair.
I can't bring myself to speak. This is my first real victory; I should be happy. But why?... Why do I feel so nauseous? Why do I feel a sick sense of satisfaction? Why… Why does a part of me feel good?...
I finally managed to spit out some words:
"Yeah. I did…"