One week earlier…
Signus emerged out of the matter transponder, proudly posing and showing off to the non-existent crowd he was expecting to welcome him on Earth.
"That's right! I, the great knight Signus, have returned, and I'll be saving you plebians from the horrible criminal Hyperriox! Hold the applause, please." Signus exclaimed with the most pompous pronunciation he could, and his words didn't fall on deaf ears as literally neither of the 2 other people in the room applauded him. Leo just stared at him, unamused, and George coughed.
"What the fuck is this? Where's the welcoming committee!?" Signus complained.
"Where's the other one?" Leo asked, dismissing Signus' complaints entirely.
"The other one? That's what you remember us as?" Signus questioned in annoyance.
"Yes." Leo deadpanned.
"Alright, I've had enough of this disrespect! Time to comb this dirtball for Riox. Don't even bother contacting me unless Geowar and the hammer guy come back, yeah?" Signus ordered, and took off, smashing through the large door in the process, while mumbling to himself about the lack of a 'welcome committee'
Leo shook his head in disappointment, and without a word took his leave, headed for the upper floors to continue his work, leaving George to his lonesome.
The young engineer skitted away to his laboratory nearby, where he opened the compartment in the Grand Database that contained the control panel discus in charge of Holo-Bud, and quickly got to work. He tapped away at the small screen, and before him soon appeared Holo-Bud, or rather the runaway Starborne criminal Hyperriox, with a distinct blue hue to him.
"Okay, here's hoping this works out as planned…" He anxiously told himself, before issuing the machine man's next command; "Initiate secondary directive."
"Okay Doctor, understood!" Holo-Bud said with his cheery voice, and then blasted off through the still unhinged door into the city. A single drop of sweat trickled down his temple as he watched his creating fly off.
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Two days was all it took for the machine-man to make headlines in local papers. "Superpowered criminal spree shocks capital city." Read the newspapers, and naturally, the police and the government were on high alert as soon as it started, not truly knowing the source of the danger came from within. More alert than most was Nick Godsmyrn, who had all but quarantined Jess and Renee, much to the dismay of the latter, but with the approval of their father.
Naturally, on the prowl was also the Noir Assassin, having put Tony Tuscan in prison by then. He and "Riox" crossed metaphorical swords on more than a few occasions, with the mysterious villain somehow vanishing when he was about to be defeated, or before he could end any lives, just to reappear the next day.
The most monumental was of their scuffles on the evening of the third day of the spree, where he was causing a ruckus in downtown Sowei City, right in the middle of the market street.
"Give it up, Riox! This time, I swear I won't let you get away!" Jon announced as he landed on a bench right next to Holo-Riox, who was shaking a random bystander.
Holo-Riox noticed his fiercest adversary, and tossed the civilian aside, preparing to fight. He locked his eyes on Jon and blasted off, the crackling of electricity following his movements as he materialised a knife, and swung at the Noir Assassin.
Jon easily blocked attack and disarmed the hologram, but it didn't really matter since he could generate an infinite number of knives. The artificial combatant flew up top to gather some distance from his opponent, and began hurling knife after knife at him, all of which Jon blocked by spinning his blade in his hand.
Following that, as Holo-Riox hovered in midair and continued hurling knives, Jon used his grapple gun to latch onto a lamp post, then ran up a building, and using centrifugal force hurled himself at the levitating foe, ready to cut him down.
This valiant attempt was cut short itself, thanks to the arrival of a third party.
"MAKE WAY FOR JET EAGLE!" The eagle in question screamed as he blasted onto the scene, punching "Riox" directly on the cheek and knocking him to the ground. Jon landed safely on his two feet, and looked up to see Jet Eagle waving to a non-existent crowd.
"Really, you again? How many times do I need to tell you, I'm the hero of- ow!" Jon tried to complain, but Holo-Riox tackled him to the ground and began aggressively clawing at his face, only being kept at bay by Jon putting out his arms and blocking him with the Night's Edge.
"Hero of "ow"? Well, you'd better get back there." Jet mocked before blasting directly into Holo-Riox's side, hurling him into a nearby wall.
"Truth, justice and the Sowei way, long live the revolution, yada yada… What else was it that Kane told me to say? Something about 'command 66'? Whatever that was." Jet rambled on, rolling his eyes as he spat out all the lines he was contractually bound to spout, averting his gaze from Holo-Riox just long enough so he could tackle him, grabbing his waist and bringing him down.
Jon reacted speedily, latching onto Jet's legs with his grapple gun and dragging him aside, releasing him from the hologram's grip, and making him fall face first on the ground.
"Just stay out of the way, Eagle." Jon warned him before continuing his fight with the mechanical doppelgänger. Holo-Riox himself though, seemed a little different, as his attacks became less calculated than before and more random.
With speeds unmatched from before, "Riox" lunged at Jon, hitting him all over the body again and again. Jon blocked a few of the uncoordinated strikes, but he could only avoid so many. In the meantime, The Eagle had gotten back up, and has begun shooting at the two of them with a shotgun he was carrying, missing repeatedly and destroying a bunch of windows that were nearby instead.
Holo-Riox jumped forward and kicked him in the jaw, knocking him down. Then, standing right over him, took the shotgun out of his hands and twisted it into an unusable shape. Jet Eagle scowled, and activated his jetpack, moving himself backwards and way from Holo-Riox, before taking to the skies again, and rushing to attack his opponent.
Jon, meanwhile was attempting to sneak up on him preparing to cut him down with one slash of his mighty blade, but the machine noticed him, and flew away, making Jet Eagle connect with Jon instead.
"Stop getting in the way, bro!" Jet Eagle exclaimed, getting all up in Jon's face.
"Me? You're the idiot who-" Jon went to antagonise him, but instead pushed his blade forward, right next to Jet Eagle's neck, and pierced right through Holo-Riox's eye, as he was attempting to sneak up on the avian avenger. Following that, what should have been a corpse vanished into thin air.
Jon resheathed the Night's Edge as Jet Eagle started waffling about how "he almost died" or something.
"You're the one who brought up that "command 66"! It all went wrong the moment you said it!" Jon reminded his situational ally, who just pouted and declared he was "outta there!", and as he turned around let out a pathetic wail and fell on his behind when he noticed Signus had appeared behind him.
"Nice going, Eagle, getting snuck up on by a 3-meter-tall armoured knight." Jon mocked, the absurdness of the fact a 3-meter-tall armoured knight was suddenly there evading him.
Signus ignored the bickering vigilantes as he intently stared at where 'Riox''s corpse should have landed.
"That wasn't Riox." He let out in the end, as Jon and Jet Eagle confusedly stared at him.
"What? Then who the hell did we fight?" Jet Eagle questioned.
"I haven't the slightest clue. It wasn't Riox though. Too quiet… Not enough of a douche." Signus muttered, to himself more than anything.
"Mr. Eagle here would know all about being a douche." Jon didn't even bother hiding his disdain for his fellow vigilante.
"Fuck you, Noir Assassin! I'm outta here, fo' real this time!" He exclaimed, and blasted off again.
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Naturally, though, the news of this 'Riox' did not remain contained to the capital. A little over 1000 nautical miles away from mainland Soweiland, over in the city of Tobruk, in Sowei Libya, a certain runaway was relaxing on the beach, reading the new edition of the newspaper.
"Oh look, I'm on the news! Oh, and what a beautiful crime spree I've committed! Hey, wait- WHAT!?" Hyperriox, the real Hyperriox exclaimed, shooting out of his lawn chair, that fell over behind him onto the sand.
Riox read the article again, more carefully, his face becoming more contorted as he read along. After he was done, he crumpled up the paper and angrily sapped it with lighting in his palm, setting it on fire.
"That dipshit, Geowar has gotta be behind this. Well I won't stand for it! I'm going to Soweiland, right this second, and I'm beating the tar out of him!" Riox announced, even though nobody was around to hear him, and even if there was anyone, they probably wouldn't care.
Riox snapped his fingers and a glowing green square spiral appeared before him, that he headed through, coming out in open waters. A quick glance around and Riox spotted a small island with an Italian flag waving on it, which was all he needed to figure out in which direction to head next.
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Hyperriox stepped foot on Sowei soil exactly 3 days after the incident involving Jet Eagle. He landed on top of the Sowei City Community Centre, an elevated spot, perfect to scout for where that scoundrel Geowar or his doppelgänger were hiding. Riox was lucky, and arrived at a very opportune moment, perfect timing to witness Holo-Riox launch his next attack on the nearby Sowei City Museum.
Riox grinned, and then blasted off towards the direction of the museum, smashed through one of the windows and entered to see Holo-Riox trashing the place all while a nutjob with a rocket launcher, whom Riox hoped was the museum curator, was trying to blast him to kingdom come.
"Okay, you need to go buddy." Riox commented, and spawned a portal beneath the curator's feet and dropped him safely outside, before turning to his imitator, ready to fight.
"I finally found you, faker. Get read for an ass-whooping!" Riox declared, and then charged and shot a thunderbolt at Holo-Riox. Holo-Riox sapped out of the way and countered with a few throwing knives of his own, that Riox blocked with his actual knife, before reaching for a close ranged combo of munches and kicks, most of which landed, sans the last hook, that Holo-Riox ducked under, and then punched Riox in the stomach, before kicking him into a glass display holding a bunch of old coins.
Riox grabbed a handful of the coins, charged them up with electricity and hurled them at his evil twin, on whom they exploded on. After that, he portalled behind his target and kicked him in the back of the neck, before stomping on his back, pinning him down.
Holo-Riox was every bit as cunning and unrelenting as the real one however, but unlike the real one, he had a few less restrictions, namely, the tangibility of his body. The hologram phased through Riox's pinning leg and rolled to the side, before grabbing him by the leg and slamming him on the ground as well.
Riox leaped up and took a fighting stance, as his doppelganger did the same, ready to continue their fight, but before they could, someone kicked in the wooden door, and in entered Detective McCord, and the Noir Assassin.
"Alright, everyone stand down!" McCord shouted, pointing his pistol at one of the Rioxes (Rioxi?).
"What in the world? Did he undergo mitosis!?" Jon questioned, bewildered by the apparent existence of two Rioxes, as he pointed the edge of his blade at the second Riox.
"Oh look! The cops! Listen, I'm the real Hyperriox, I'm just trying to clear my name here. I've been framed you see." Riox pleaded his case to the detective and the vigilante.
"Oh, have you? And how do we know you're the real Riox?" McCord asked. Riox made a face irradiating annoyance.
"Are you fucking with me? How green are you!? He's fucking see-through! Obviously I'm the real one!" He exclaimed. McCord shrugged, conceding it was a valid point. "Are you gonna help me out or not?"
"Alright man, just take it easy." Jon reassured him, but then suddenly, Holo-Riox launched himself at Jon, pushing him through the window of the museum and into the street outside. Riox went wide-eyed and followed them outside, as McCord remained inside and took out his transponder to call for backup.
In the meantime, over in the Sowei City Castle, Signus was lounging in the meeting room, drinking a nice cup of tea, somehow without removing his helmet. Leo was in his company, attempting to go through some paperwork in peace.
Suddenly, Signus' nose scrunched up, and his eyes squinted like a hunter sensing his prays.
"He's here." Signus whispered. Leo barely had the time to ask him what he was talking about, before Signus jumped out of his chair, smashed thrugh the meeting room wall and into the lobby, then leaped out of the castle window and onto the large field below, searching for Riox.
In a fortunate turn of events for Signus, the battle between the Rioxes and The Noir Assassin had taken an interesting turn, when Holo-Riox had bashed into Riox and taken him on a joyride through the city, smacking him against walls, lamp posts and police officers on the way, while the latter was shooting wild lightning everywhere. Jon had latched onto Holo-Riox's leg with the grapple gun, and was attempting to restrain him, but ended up just being pulled along.
Upon reaching the field to the right of the castle, Holo-Riox hurled Riox forward, making him crash against a nearby tree, before doing a full 180 and leaving, dragging Jon away with him.
Riox clutched his aching head and slowly got back, but before he could properly rejoin the battle against his holographic imitator, the loud clanging of metal armour sounded behind him, and he turned around to see Signus, standing tall, with his staff on one hand.
"Oh, what the fuck? You again?" Riox threw his hands up in the air in annoyance. "Where's Geowar!?"
"Geowar couldn't make it… So you got an upgrade!" Signus exclaimed.
"Oh, you're the upgrade? You're more of a downgrade man, all you do is punch and kick. Heck, you don't even know how to fly!" Riox began ranting about how weak Signus really was, but he really wasn't having it, so just as Riox was getting to the meat and bones of his ramblings, Signus smacked him across the face with his staff, which is the equivalent of being smacked across the face with a stop sign, and sent him flying, and then jumped up in the sky to follow after him.
Signus hit the air bound Riox with the staff a few more times, before delivering a blow from above that sent him barrelling down into the nearby forest. After he smashed through a few trees, Signus grabbed the bottom half of Riox's face with his gigantic hand, and used him as a battering ram as he ran through the forest, bringing down a bunch of trees.
Eventually he stumbled upon a pond, which he repeatedly dunked Riox in like a priest doing a baptism, until Riox finally regained his bearings and jabbed a finger in the slit in Signus' helmet, blasting his eyes with a jolt of electricity.
Riox took flight and bashed his shoulder into Signus' stomach, pushing him out of the forest, before summoning a few storm clouds up above, and calling down lightning to strike Signus by aggressively pointing his index finger at the giant knight.
"Ha-ha! Two of you couldn't hope to defeat me last time, what made you think you could take me alone!?" Riox laughed as he continued bringing down the thunder.
Signus' armour protected him from most harm, so once he could, he jumped up and tackled Riox to the ground, punching him in the face as gravity pulled the both of them down. Before they could collide on the ground, Signus pushed him away, and spun around to land on his feet, and then swung his staff like a baseball bat, sending Riox away into the air, where he crashed against one of the spires atop the towers adjacent to the castle, breaking off a chunk of bricks and making him spin out as he fell to the middle of Sowei City.
Signus laned a few meters next to Riox following a big leap, where he grabbed him by the torso and lifted him up.
"I've been waiting for this, training day and night for years…" Signus lamented.
"It's only been a year, bro." Riox said, and flicked his wrist, and his kinfe flew ot of his pocked and stabbed right through the metal armor. Before it could get too deep though, Signus hurled Riox forward, making him go througha few buildings, and through Holo-Riox, who was still engaged with Jon, where the holographic man finally dematerialised before being destroyed.
Riox landed in the middle of the central square, right beneath the bronze statue of Tom, which he removed from it's stand and began using as a melee weapon against Signus.
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Meanwhile, in the castle, Renee was still locked up in her room, but she was beginning to grow wary of the destruction going on outside. While she couldn't see the battle itself, a few bricks from the spire Riox crashed against did fall in front of her window, and she could tell things were not looking good.
"Nick, I'm coming out. I need to see what's going on out there!" She declared. Nick told her to stay in there, obviously, so she gracefully kicked the door off its hinges and ran out.
"Renee, stop! You are royalty, you don't have the luxury to put yourself in danger!" Nick exclaimed, with his raspy voice.
"These are my people in danger which is why I need to be out there!" Renee responded, the two of them going down the stairs to the lobby.
"But, your father…" Nick tried to say, and grabbed onto Renee's arm.
"Do you ever think for yourself!? Leave me alone!" Renee shouted, and pushed him aside, and came out of the castle, quickly going down the stairs onto the plateau right outside.
Leo was there, trying to locate where Riox and Signus had gotten off to, as well as George, who was looking rather worried as he stared at the destroyed chunk of Sowei City.
Just before Renee could ask what was going on, Riox crashed right in-between them, making a crater in the marble pavement. His eyes darted around and fell of Renee, under whom he made a portal bringing her to him, just as Signus reached them as well.
Riox, clearly anxious and sweating, placed one hand over her mouth and the other on the side of her head, and shouted;
"Everyone, shut the fuck up, and stop! Take one more goddamn step and I swear on the fucking heavens I'll blow her brains out- do not test me!" An unhinged grin took over Riox's face.
Renee could tell he was not bluffing. A small jolt of electricity escaped his fingers and grazed the side of her face. The people around her could do nothing but stare and worry, as she was almost completely in the mercy of the wanted criminal Hyperriox.
Her heartbeat grew faster as Riox continued spouting random threats and then.
Stop.
Renee suddenly felt a burst of unimaginable power overcoming her, as her entire body and clothes transformed into an assortment of violet and dark purple colours, as a harmless, shadowy flame engulfed her. She took a large step back, phasing through Riox.
When she was behind him, she grabbed him by the waist, lifted him above her and slammed him down behind her with strength unlike anything she'd ever had before.
And then, everything returned to normal, as her natural colours came back, and she fainted on the spot, collapsing face-down on the marble.
Seeing the opportunity, Nick rushed to attack the dazed Riox, stabbing with his spear through the runaway Starborne's right eye. Riox let out a horrifying screech as blood gushed out of the wound on his eye, before losing consciousness as well.
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Current time.
"Ah, so you awakened your powers! That's beautiful news!" Geowar exclaimed, trying to not come off as insensitive.
"That's not the point, asshole! That Riox almost killed me, thanks to you, this fucker --she pointed at George-- and your robot! I -- no -- we trust you, and you go behind our backs to lure a deranged superpowered criminal right into out doorstep!?" Renee shouted.
"Listen, I know this sounds bad, but I was expecting my replacement and the robot to be more than enough to deal with him before we got to that point! I'm not sure what happened--" Geowar tried to explain himself.
"Save it! You will bring me that Holo-Bud upstairs immediately and I'll have it locked up somewhere nobody can ever find it again, got it!?" Renee ordered.
"Y-you can't d-do that! Th-that's a marvel in engineering!" George objected, but Renee gave him a completely unhinged glare, making him pipe down. "Y-yes your highness."
"But where did you keep Riox?" Geowar asked before Renee left.
"He's in the maximum-security cells, next to Gaspar. Nick is the only one with the key." Renee clarified, then turned around and asked Nick to take her upstairs.
"Nothing to concern myself about, huh?" Nick asked rhetorically, and took Renee back upstairs. A short silence followed between George and Geowar.
"Uh, we'd better get it upstairs, then." Geowar broke the silence. Geroge nodded, and the two headed into the laboratory. Geroge took a glance at his table where the base should have been, only to find nothing.
"What the hell?!" He let out. "It's gone!?"
"What did you say?" Geowar asked.
"It's gone! Holo-bud is gone!" George repeated.
"How can it be gone?" Geowar questioned.
"I don't know!" George wailed.
The two of them scoured the laboratory, ad then the entire basement, but Holo-Bud was nowhere to be seen. They did, however, neglect to search one spot.
Riox stared through the tiny window in his cell's door, bored out of his mind. Now half blind, his field of vision was rather limited, but even he couldn't miss the apparent materialisation of himself right outside his cell. He quickly got up and looked to the side, and saw a faint blue glow coming out of the cell next door.
His dark reflection stared at the cell next door, no doubt speaking to the occupant, and after a few seconds, it left.
He couldn't tell what his cellmate told the hologram, as the cells were soundproof, but one thing was evident; Holo-Riox was in the possession of the dark prince, Tomas Gaspar!