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Bang! Bang! Bang!

The first round of gunshots hasn't yet resounded when the second set of explosions already occurred.

Cliff, however, moved forward.

With precise maneuvering, he ducked into a low position. Suddenly, his movements halted as he shifted his body to evade three bullets that were crossing his path.

The first two came from the first shot which divided into three parts. The second was from the second.

The large bullet was about twice as long and had a slightly bigger size than the rest. But it was eye-catching because of its reddish hue and the fact that it was moving slowly that it was noticeable with the naked eye.

Gardo Dalisay was a powerful name in Pangea. He was a soldier, mercenary and a bounty hunter. Several notorious names had fallen under his guns and he had a five-streak success of wiping out a few organizations in the Underworld.

But this was the first time that the random adjustment, detailed manipulation, and precise execution failed him.

The bullets shot through empty air and even the corresponding explosions blasted nothing.

Cliff's sprint was fast. In the next second, he was already a foot away from Gardo.

Gardo immediately retreated as several powerful magnets pulled him backward causing him to fly swiftly. But even his retreat was a step too late as Cliff managed to deliver a resounding punch on the extended forearm of Gardo.

POW!

Gardo's right arm was fractured at the powerful hook that Cliff delivered. The gun in his arm was thrown off far away.

As Gardo was flying back thanks to the mysterious magnet, he used his other arm to shoot several rounds.

Cliff did not underestimate Gardo but wouldn't use his life-saving technique just yet.

Cliff immediately moved the direction where he knew Gardo wouldn't have considered in his calculation.

Velocity and strength allowed Cliff to perform advanced parkour moves as he moves sideward and started to scale the walls rising high up to the third floor of the nearby building.

Cliff jumped towards the direction where the gun was thrown off to.

Barely two seconds had passed when all of these took place. Cliff took the gun and aimed back at the paled expression of Gardo.

Without saying anything, Gardo motioned to reach for the gun and a powerful magnetic pull was calling the gun back to its rightful owner.

Cliff smashed his foot on the pavement and bore a small hole from the impact. Using it as a foothold, Cliff held on to the gun as a powerful pulling force tried to yank the gun off Cliff's grasps.

Gardo's expression was stunned at the sight.

"I need backup." In all of his career, this was one of Gardo's most embarrassing statements.

"Small-Time Drug Dealers! Get ready to clash!" Cliff ordered as he spoke through a supposed device on his right arm.

Gardo had a solemn expression and quickly took out another tucked somewhere in his back.

Cliff spared no seconds as he sprinted to attack.

"Price! Attack him from behind, now!" Cliff ordered.

Gardo proved his expertise as he wasted no seconds in immediately used the magnetic device to pull him. He jumped and flew to the sky as if something was carrying him. But alas, he was too skilled as an expert. His reaction failed him for as he turned to shoot at the enemy from behind, he found no one.

Cliff had recalled the annoying trick that Lowengren used on him. Cliff copied what Lowengren said, his movements, his tone and even the very words he spoke.

Gardo's reaction was yet another text-book perfection. Instead of shuffling or changing his aim, he used his current path to escape and stepped on the walls of the building as he was turning and kicked on it.

With it, he was launched higher to the sky and aimed his gun to attack Cliff.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Using the only gun, he carried, Gardo shot several attacks as he landed on the building.

To his surprise, Cliff had evaded all attacks easily and was even able to easily react to where he landed.

Cliff's parkour was quick and was even flashy. It was as if he was showing off his parkour skills.

Indeed, this was the case. Cliff had learned parkour by watching videos of other experts, and one particular flashy influencer, who was famous for her extremely attractive and provocative expressions during her runs was Cliff's basis. In fact, behind Cliff's mask, was a flurry of emotions that would lead a one to consider just what exactly Cliff ate for breakfast.

Cliff's approach suddenly became arrogant and maniacal as he stood proudly in front of Gardo with a strange laugh.

Cliff held out an odd red and white ball.

"I win. Voltorb, use Flash!"

A soft, muffled bang was heard as a powerful bright light flashed around them.

No longer was this the normal Pangean Everbright. This was a military flash grenade that also utilized Meryl's cells. Through a thorough study of how Lynd's cells transform into Meryl's, the scientist under the Mad Scientist Lennox was able to harness a miniature light. Lennox used his own ability to recreate the strange power and though he was far from fully comprehending and could only transform his finger to that energy for less than a split second, it was enough for him to create a miniature version of it.

The light this flash-bang generated was shorter than the prolonged burning brightness of the Pangea Everbright, but it had the capabilities of bypassing more technologies than though possible. Also, there was a unique trait of Meryl's brightness. It was not only something difficult to see. The phenomenon of light and heat was now different from Meryl especially after the battle in China.

Directly being exposed to this light would hurt the eyes causing it to feel a burning pain.

"AHHH!" Gardo had reacted accordingly and retreated but he kept his eyes open.

"My eyes!" Another pained scream echoed and several other screams also followed.

On the nearby building, a man rubbed his eyes in pain at the bright light. They had been staring at the ongoing battle in the sky between Harker and the Hero of Helion's Tragedy. The battle nearby was loud, explosive and extremely eye-catching. 

In the middle of the battle, Lander suddenly shot out a powerful bright light that blinded everyone. The moment everyone managed to recover, the Exoskeleton that the Hero of Helion's Tragedy rode was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened? Where did that man go?!" The man recovered but continued to shout as a way to relieve the agony from his pained eyes. The flash of light was so quick that it surprised many and even gave a few quite a scare.

"Where did that robot go?" A young boy asked.

"I think he retreated." The man could only shake his head regretfully.

Almost instantly, there were loud shouts, curses, and even joyous claims of victory that erupted on the floor of where they were. Everyone was discussing the battle. Many admired Harker's skills in that battle as he stood victorious in fending off an Exoskeleton pilot of great renowned. Others were sad that the battle had ended so quickly.

Who would have thought that not over twenty meters from where this crowd discussed the events that occurred, the agents of the Dalisay family were just slowly recovering from their blindness?

"My eyes! It stings!" A woman cursed as she kept rubbing her eyes.

"Gardo!" Another man cried out as he ran towards the area where Gardo was standing near the enemy.

He did his best and ran towards the roof.

"Jane! Where are they?!" He called out to his comrade on the other roof.

"I lost them too! The flashbang really did a number on my eyes!" The lady on the nearby roof was readied with a custom-made weapon. Gardo was leading Cliff towards the roof so that his fellow agent could shoot him. But when Cliff rose to the roof, the woman could not fire as Gardo was still in the way. And the next second that there was a clear shot, the flashbang got her.

"Where are they?" He shouted on the comm device.

"Who? Focus on the battle! Is Gardo alright?" The voice on the other end asked immediately.

"Focus on the battle? Gardo's missing! Where is he? Can't you find his ping?"

"Missing? How could he be missing?!" The voice became angrier.

"There was a powerful flash bang that blinded us! The moment we recovered, Gardo and the assassin was gone!"

"What? You guys were looking at that battle in the sky?! Idiots! Gardo had asked for help! Since when has that ever happened?!"

"What are you talking about? What battle in the sky? The assassin used powerful flash-bang! It was so strong that it nearly burned our eyeballs!"

"What?! He had flashbang too? Did they use it together? What's going on?"

"Where is Gardo?!" The man shouted to the comm device again.

"Give me a sec!" The voice replied in a panic.

"What the? No! Impossible! The ping is gone!"

"How is that possible?!"

Another agent finally reached the top of the roof. 

"Damn it! My comm-device is not working! What happened? Did that assassin used some tech-disrupting weapon?"

"Brent can't find Gardo!" The man who was on the roof impatiently summarized the problem.

"What?! Where did they go?!"

"Brent! You better tell me something!" The man shouted again!"

"I can't find him! It must have been because of Harker and that Exoskeleton's battle!"

"What does that have to do with Gardo?!"

"Everything! The moment you got blinded by that assassins flashbang, the Hero of Helion's Tragedy was in the brink of defeat that it used a powerful bright explosion to escape! Along with his escape was the usage of Enigmatic Magnetic Pulse! All my techs are acting weird! This whole area is distorted and my scans can't pick up anything!"

"What?!" The man was shocked. 

"You'll have to move quickly!" The voice on the other line repeated.

"Military Announcement. Martial law is in place. Anyone detected to be equipped with technologies above MD Level 3 will be detained for questioning. An attack has just been made to a general and is an act of war. We are asking all citizens to comply. For those who devices above MD Level 3, please prepare your proofs, digital or otherwise for your possession of these devices. Rest assured, the military will be as prompt as it can." A citywide alert sounded out.

"Martial law?!"

Suddenly, several exoskeletons with strange cameras and satellite dishes could be seen zooming around the areas.

"Tech detectors! Damn!" The man cursed.

"When was Pangea this rich?! Those techs! Those are probably British techs!" The man who just got up the roof complained.

"Those with techs exceeding MD Level 3, you have already been detected. Please head towards our Tech-detecting Exoskeletons and present all legal documents for ownership and legality of use for any devices, weapons or programs." The announcement continued.

"Efren… What do we do?"

The man called Efren could only clench his fist and bite his teeth.

"We have no choice. If we escape, the military will probably chase us. We'll have to pretend that we were sent for some mission. Since our ties with Harker isn't that bad they shouldn't suspect us."

"What about Gardo?"

"What choice do we have? The good news is; we can be sure he's alive. Why else did that assassin kidnap him?"

"What's going on? Why did that man take Gardo?" The lady on the other roof communicated via her comm device.

"We don't know. Let's just get this over with and make a report to headquarters!" Efren ordered.

Cliff had already been taken by several of Harker's soldiers.

Prior to the battle, Cliff was tasked to kidnap anyone of those who would attack them. They would coordinate their battle and the use of the flash-bangs almost simultaneously. Cliff's escape had long been planned. It was in an enclosed area where the few buildings near it were all bought out and had people working for Harker. The only ones that weren't in Harker's paycheck, were too busy looking at the exciting and explosive battle above.

And so, the battle between Cliff and Gardo was virtually unknown to many. And since Seeker expected more eyes to be secretly watching the battle despite their elaborate preparations, the usage of the flash-bangs and the sudden appearance of a pseudo-Australian EMP tech brought about by Lennox's own creation had ensured the success for this mission.

Cliff had copied Lowengren's battle once again and through his amazing memories and day-dreaming powers, he timed the usage of the bomb at the exact moment where all the people Cliff detected or saw would all be looking directly at him.

The moment the flash happened, Cliff delivered a jaw-shaking uppercut on Gardo and immediately escaped through a prepared secret entrance nearby. The two were immediately picked up and rode an unremarkable van prepared for their escape.

Blood continued to trickle down Cliff's clothes. Cliff's breathing was staggered. He even coughed up some blood.

"He managed to shoot you again?" Halley watched as the medics were giving Cliff his much needed medical attention.

Cliff could only nod his head. His face was pale. All over his body were shrapnels of the bullet. Since these bullets had Pangean Eradication techs, it was drilling inside him with searing pain. If Cliff hadn't mastered the necessary skill of blocking pain through his sessions with Seeker, he would have fainted from the pain.

"This guy's good." Cliff gave his assessment as he closed his eyes to rest.

"This is good too." Halley smiled as he looked at Cliff's body.

"I have to say… Seeker's training regime is impressive. You have the body and muscle build that would attract just about any woman. But combine this sheer, raw delightful appeal with pain, suffering and you can make any woman fall for you. No wonder Seeker asked me to bring you to her."

"Her?!" Cliff suddenly woke up and pushed away from the medics who blocked the view through the tainted window.

"Were headed back to the base?"

"Yes. You still have part two of your mission. We got the best warrior of the Dalisay clan. Now we want the True Inheritor of the Novelty-Blastoise clan." Halley nodded.

"It can't be! Seeker planned all this!" Cliff was shocked.

"Right. He intentionally made this battle difficult for you so to wound you to a near-death state. The more wounded you are, the better. Now that we completed this mission, we are now going to present it to her. A young man, whose body is chiseled with marble-smooth, rock hard abs, and is brimming with sweat and blood. Ugh… Even I wish I could have that!" Halley giggled.

"Seeker's quite old fashioned though. He wants to present you like some mighty warrior of old. He kept quipping about how the ladies dig macho, hot men. But add that machoness with a little pinch of sensitivity, vulnerability, and weakness, then you have a true heart-stopper."

"He's using my wounds as.... as... bait?"

"He's using your sweat, blood and weakened form to help you win her heart. This state you are in will draw both compassion from Charm while at the same time give her an excuse to see your real body. underneath that muscle-hiding suit, you always wear." Halley then motioned to have the medics check on Cliff again.

"Will this work? Will this help me capture her heart?" Cliff could not help but ask. A part of him was excited.

"I don't know… but if you were to ask me what would happen when heart-breaking compassion and heart-stopping attraction meet and overlap… I'd say the answer is love.." Halley smiled.

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