Slumdog Millionaire (Dusker)

And yet another adventure Miss Vexus found herself on. She was currently on a jet on her way to the city of Los Angeles. Digging through some information on a secure network she had created, Elena was bringing up information on an individual known as Tyler Wolfee. Not too stand out of a history. There were some records and old photographs of him in a orphanage. It did not say anything of him ever being adopted, nor any information on the boy's parents. So if it came down to it, there would be no need to hide his death. At the current moment it did not seem as if anyone would care. However, she would avoid that if at all possible. Retrieving the target object in a civil and dignified matter was her top priority.
Upon touchdown at LAX she quickly exited the iron bird and made her way to her travel arrangements. The large, bullet proof, Mercedes Sedan sat waiting curbside as an chauffeur opened the door and took her bags. She slid into the luxury vehicle without making eye contact with anyone around her, as if she was some hollywood celebrity. She had the get up, big sunglasses and large hat to conceal her face. Also Jeans, heels, and an oversized shirt that cost probably more than most people's mortgage payments. The car rolled off onto the highway as they started on headed to their location. Vexus opened up her laptop and began looking over her notes. More information had been added from her HQ by her General. His current address was then imputed into the vehicle's GPS and they were enroute.

Her target was the Kage Dokan. From what her researched showed her, he had obtained it as a parting gift from his master. It is a powerful sword, making nearly any wielder far more dangerous. Someone who has been trained with the sword itself would no doubt be quite the impressive opponent. Elena looked forward to seeing this boy's skill level with the sword, assuming any forceful action had to be taken in order to obtain the sword. It was rumored that another sword is on the list was created by the same individual, which may be a target for Vexus in the near future.
The closer they got to their location, the lower the standard of living seemed to become. Eventually the looks they were getting began to increase. Her General appeared in he passenger seat, she then placed her hands together and began to concentrate. After a few moments, she had split a clone off of her body that was now inhabiting the back seat with her. They pulled over and let out the driver, who was quickly secured a ride. Once she was safe in another vehicle  Vexus, the clone and her General set back on the road. Eventually the group turned down a street that honestly was not much of a street. Just a first road with some small, worn down homes lining the sides. They slowly made their way down, a multitude of people were looking out their windows. Some came out side of their homes, some were armed, others looked scared. No doubt that the individuals in the car would be assumed drug lords, or someone of importance that the people owe money to. It looked like the people in this small community stood together. There were people with bats and small fire arms following the car as it drove. They were ready to defend whoever they were coming for.

Eventually the car came to a stop. The people stood a distance from the car, letting it be known that there were ready to act, but for now just observing the situation. The General stepped from the vehicle first, at a powerful seven feet tall, Elena used him to establish a sense of power. He then opened the door for her and she stepped out, the ground crunching beneath her heels. She adjusted her hat to block the sun a little more. The General stood by the still running car as Vexus made her way up to the broken screen door. She knocked on the siding.
"Hellooooooo Any one home? We're looking for a Tyler Wolfee."
There wasn't much of a response at first.
"Tyler, dear, if you are home I would like to speak with you briefly. This is just a matter on an particular item that you are in possession of... We are unarmed."

The information she gathered said that he should be home around these hours. The local seemed to be getting impatient with them. But as much as she just wanted to level this entire trailer park and take what she came here for, she needed to go about this a little more responsibly than how she would have in the past.

Elena gave a warm grin when Tyler came to the door.
"Ah! Wonderful! Sorry this is so impromptu, I'm sure scheduling a meeting would have been far more professional."
She turned, looking behind her to see her general keeping an eye on the residents who seemed to be inching ever closer.

"So, now, I'll just skip straight to the point here." she said in a cheery, confident voice.
"I am on what some may call a scavenger hunt of sorts. And I have been tasked with the charge of retrieving this sword called The Kage Dokan. Whoever started this scavenger hunt is currently unknown, as are their purposes or desires for the items listed. Be though as it may, my research has led me to your door step, my friend..."

She took off her glasses, folded them and held in her hands. A sort of signal that she was talking seriously with the boy, but yet talking down to him in a manner as well.
"So I am simply here asking for the sword, and I shall be on my merry way. If you would like, we can go for a drive and discuss a deal? I can make a sizable donation, we can give everyone here new houses, new cars. Almost anything can be done here..."
"Madam..." said her body guard from behind.
She turned to see that the brave people of the community where only feet from her car. Whereas the vehicle is completely armored, she would prefer not to have to buff out any minor scratched from a baseball bat.

Elena let out a sign and rolled her eyes while putting her sunglasses back on.
"Well, as you can see here, I may not be entirely welcomed here. I am willing to negotiate, and though it is forward, I will not be leaving this humble abode until I've acquired what I came here for." She closed the sentence with a smile, tilting her had up a bit and adjusting her sunglasses a little.
Standing in front of the man's door like this, she was very open. She was not entirely prepared to defend herself. Elena does not know the man's skill level, for all she knows he could slice off her head before any of her guards have a chance to blink. But it was a tactic, a tactic to get someone to trust you. Even if it is just subconsciously. Being open and honest with people and not appearing hostile was key to a civil negotiation. However it did take quite a lot of self control not to put a hole in everyone's head that was standing too close to her car. Again, this was to be as civil as possible. Elena was not going to be the one to throw the first punch.

This was going in the direction that she had expected it too. The "This item can't be bought" and the "Don't try to fight for it" were all lines she had heard over and over again. He was getting resistant to her ever so nice offers too. She may have to start going classic Vexus on the situation.
"The sword is very special to you, I understand and respect that. However, I was really hoping that you wouldn't say this item cannot be purchased."
Her general that was outside by the car took that as his cue, he took out a simple hand gun and aimed it at the civilians. They very quickly aimed back with their guns, those who only have male weapons took shelter.
"Maybe the sword does not have monetary value to you, but maybe there is some moral value. Does it cost the lives of two of your neighbors? Three? How many uprooted homes will it take for you to cooperate?"
One of the men outside shot at her General, the bullet just bouncing off his skull casing. He did not fire back, but now the people were realizing what they were currently dealing with and began to back up.
"Tyler, darling, I know that this is all very 'classic villain' of me, but I am more than willing to negotiate and see what civil routes we can take so that the both of us are satisfied. Like I said, I am not leaving without this sword..."

Elena hoped that now with more aggressive negotiations he might understand his predicament a little more. She was a very quick to get to the point, and had no issue being merciless to innocent bystanders. Hopefully the neighbors would also see that all she wants in the sword, and they will be safe with her retrieval of it. This was quite the dead end set up, and it be coming one with the dust it was built one would happen with the flick of a wrist with Vexus. Elena was giving him a chance. She was giving everyone a chance. Playing God was something she often did without noticing.

"I won't be childish and set a time limit here, but just as all things come to an end, so will my patience..."

Oh? She may a struck a never in threatening the bystanders. This was progress. Even more so when the boy opened up a board in the floor to reveal the sword. Vexus rolled her eyes seeing the ever so simplistic hiding spot. She could have leveled this place and actually found it. Nevertheless, the sword was now visible.
Vexus gave a smirk and was about to outstretch her hand as another curious character entered the scene. A brunette casually strolled on the street, approaching the hostile situation. She apparently gave no concern to the civilians with weapons drawn, the seven foot cyborg with a gun in his hand, or Tyler with a sword drawn. Elena looked at Tyler, and then to the girl. There was an exchange between the two of them, and she immediately knew something was up.
"General!" she shouted, as this girl sent a ball of energy at her body guard. He dove down, but the attack clipped his shoulder as he dodged. Unexpectedly, the ball of light exploded. Vexus covered her face from the light and to protect from debris. Her bodyguard was a different story and he tumbled on the ground and slammed hard against the expensive car, leaving a large dent in it.

Tyler had already ran out to the side of his friend, and Elena quickly followed after. Immediately tending to the aid of her General.
"Are you okay!?"
"Yes, of course." he said as she used the opposite arm to put weight on in order to stand.
Taking a look at the damage, Elena could tell that it had nearly ran clear through his armor despite the durable alloy she used. The balls of light were most certainly on a need to avoid basis.
"You two move the car somewhere, I would still like to be able to drive it once we're done here. It shouldn't take too long, so don't park too far away."
The general nodded and got into the car with the assistant and they drove off. Vexus then stood before the two. Everyone else had already run back to their homes where they assumed it was safe.

Elena took off her hat and tossed it like a frisbee over to her general as they were driving away. She then took out her a hair tie, letting her long blond hair down. The sunglasses remained on as they would be calculating a number of things as she asses the abilities of the two individuals. She would bring this to a end quickly.
Elena lifted up a single finger and two very large, red circles quickly appeared behind each of them. They were laced with strange markings through the center and along the edged, no doubt advertising that they were magic in origin. Just as quickly as they appeared, the two magic rings launched massive, continuous blasts of fire at both the man and woman. The fire would also continue forward and consume Elena, however she had shrouded herself in a protective barrier to resist the heat while she cooked the two of them.

The fire easily traveled down the entire length of the street, and even began to melt the siding of houses that were too close. If there was any greenery, it would have very quickly been set a blaze. If the two did manage to avoid the flame, Elena would keep the blasts going to keep a protective shield of fire around her for a moment. Hopefully this was a good enough starting point. Either way it was more than appropriate for dealing with people who had damaged her General. These children would soon see hell, and Vexus would walk out victorious.

As she created the circles behind the two Tyler had little time to react. thanks to his fast reflexes he was able to quickly kick Astrid out of the way and took around three seconds of the blast before the phantom was able to incase him inside itself. 'Are you okay Tyler!' he said in a worried tone of voice. "I'm fine, just a few burns is all, I've taken worse." he answered as he held is shoulder, covering the burn mark that had appeared across it.

Astrid hadn't noticed the circles behind them and was surprised when she was kicked away by Tyler. "What was tha-." she shouted before noticing what was happening. 'Why does he keep saving me.' she thought with a sigh as she looked at Elena. "Tyler? Tyler!" she shouted into the flames but got no response from him. "If he's dead I'll kill you bitch!" she growled as she formed a light ball in her hand.

Tyler couldn't hear the Astrid calling his name because of the roaring flames around him. Tyler then quickly jumped out of the flames and stood on the opposite side from Astrid with the Kage Dokan in hand. As he started to look around he saw his whole street catching fire which took him back to the school. "No!" he shouted in anger as he held his head in pain.

Astrid started to throw balls of light at the woman until she heard Tyler shouting no at the top of his lungs which stopped her in her tracks. "Phantom, what's wrong with him!?" she shouted over as loud as she could.

'I have no idea...' the phantom said in a panic. "He just shouted no and started holding his head.' he explained as Tyler suddenly stopped holding his head. As he did so the phantom dematerialized without warning and black smoke started coming out of his body. The smoke was coming from various wounds on his body, most of it coming from his shoulder. He then suddenly got on all floors, put the Dokan is his mouth, and ran in the direction of Vexus, creating claws out of the smoke as he ran.

He ran threw the fire, giving it little attention, and started swinging manically at Vexus. As he swung he started screaming at the top of his lungs...

Tyler did well with helping his friend avoid her attack, but did not seem to do well in protecting himself. Vexus was able to keep an eye on him despite the fire with the infrared setting on her sunglasses. Turns out he managed to cover himself in a protective shroud for the time being. His friend called out for him, threatening her life. Once she saw Tyler jump out of the flames, she let them die down. The flames had set fire to some of the surrounding houses, an expected side effect to such a large amount of flames. However it seemed to have an effect one the boy. He was holding his head and had screwed his eyes shut. Something about the fire? A bad memory? Fear of flames? Could have been a number of things, though what ever it may be it was hindering him from attacking

Fear not though, as the girl he called Astrid was hot on Elena's case. She had noticed that the girl was beginning to charge the orbs in her hands previously. Vexus folded her hands together activating one of her abilities. A shockwave caused the ground below her to spider web out as her physical boost took effect. With her now heightened senses and her sunglasses doing a little bit of the geometry for her, Elena began to effortlessly dodge the spheres of light that were being fired at her despite their high speeds. Soon the attacks stopped as a blood curdling scream pierced the air. All eyes went to Tyler.
Astrid and the strange shadow figure were trying to deduce what might be going on, but to no avail. In an instant the boy seemed to recover and the shadow figure by his side vanished.
Oohh...? What this? Vexus thought as the child was now on all fours like a sort of primal beast. The sword she was after was now in his mouth and he took off toward Vexus.
His speed had no doubt in creased, and he was manipulated the strange black smoke that was coming out of the wounds on his body. She jumped back as he approached her, a black claw quickly reached out to attack her forcing her into a back flip and a number of other evasive maneuvers to acquire even more distance. Elena adjusted her sunglasses once she landed a safe proximity away from the raging child. He would end up hurting himself or others if he continued like this no doubt, Vexus figured she would put the dog down quickly.

She stood up straight and tightly clenched her fists. It could be seen from a distance that her entire body tensed up for a very brief moment. In the next instant she had bolted forward in such a blinding burst of speed that an untrained eye would not have been able to follow. The ground from where she launched herself had been overturned from the force of the take off.
Elena ended up in a slightly crouched position right by Tyler's legs. Her right hand would already be out and grabbing onto his left leg once she arrived in that spot. If successful in latching onto him at the shin, she would bring her body to a very quick fault and use the momentum to bring him up and over and slam his back into the ground in front of Vexus. After that went through she would grab his right leg with her left hand and slam him back over face down. Both of these impact with the ground had plenty of force to make small craters in the Earth.
Elena gritted her teeth and winced a bit at the feeling of the muscles in her legs tearing from moving so quickly and stopping so suddenly. Each time she flipped the boy up and over she heavily damage the bones and muscles in her arms, which is why she had to switch arms each time.

If she had successfully thrown this kid around like a rag doll, she would deactivate her physical boosts and slowly walk over to his body and place her foot on his throat. It was clear that her steps were weak and shaky as her leg muscles  were still regenerating. Because of this she made sure to keep her guard up and keep an eye on Astrid. She would be the most likely to attack her right now.
"Drop the sword, boy." she said to him as if he were a dog.
"Don't even think about attacking me. I will crush his throat." She directed to Astrid as she increased the pressure she had on his neck.
If she was not successful with her attack, and he managed to avoid her grabbing his leg, Elena would continue past him and not both with the strong halt to preserve her muscles. She would instead retaliate with another very large fire circle spell. But this was only if she did not manage to throw him around violently initially.

The child was faster than expect, good. He'll be able to provide a little bit more entertainment for the time being. She noticed that he did take some damage in dodging her attack. Little by little she would wear him down.
The animalistic child sprinted towards her again, this time forming spikes on him. Elena kept her physical boosts active in order to properly evade if necessary. While running towards her she created more fire spells, this time much smaller. They shot back and fourth but to no avail, Tyler managed to avoid the attacks effortlessly. Once he was in range of her, Elena used a different spell. A copper circle appeared in front of her and the ground below crumbled apart and quickly formed a very dense shield. The shield took the stabbing attack, Elena had to actually up the defensive capabilities as he was actually tearing through it rather quickly. These constructs he had were decently powerful. Elena questioned if he power resulted in possession of this sword, or the fruits of his own training. Either way, he most certainly would be able to pose a threat in the future.

Eventually the onslaught on her earthy defense ceased and the boy backed off. Elena allowed the battered and beaten rocks to crumble down in front of her, slightly filling the hole in the ground from where they had been pulled. Vexus cracked her knuckles and her neck and started doing some basic stretches. Then jumped up and down a little throwing some punches in a boxing like position, almost comedically getting ready for a fight.

"Alrighty, lets do this."

And with that she took off in another blinding burst of speed. This time she was going to clothesline him and send him flying down the street. If she struck him, she would launch herself again and move in front of him before he arrived to place a devastating punch in his back that would slam him into the ground. However if she missed, three separate spell circles that were a sort of sky blue in color would appear around him wherever he deiced to evade. They would then unload catastrophic amounts of lightning into his body from a dangerously close range.

Vexus landed behind Tyler, but he managed to stop himself before she landed her second strike. His partner fired an orb of light, which she narrowly avoided. It clipped her shoulder and the explosion sent her summersaulting into a nearby wall, leaving a huge crater. She coughed up some blood as there had been quite a bit of damage done by the explosion and her own physical boosts. She then deactivate the ability so that her body could heal itself. However before she could manage to get herself up off of the ground, two spikes impaled her legs.
"Gah! Ow!! Shit, that hurts..."
He pinned her to the ground, but before he could manage to get close she activated another spell. These were a number of circle that surrounded her that created a slicing hurricane. If he were to try to enter, the gusts would easily lift him off the ground.

Vexus used tiny lightning spells to knock out the spikes in her legs and shakily stood up. She rolled her eyes thinking that this had certainly gone on for long enough. The gusts of wind came to a halt and Vexus took off her sunglasses, folded them up and put them in her pocket.
"Okay kid, you've hand enough fun. I'm going to get what I came here for now."
She closed her left eye for a brief moment, and when she reopened it her Celestial Eye was now active. A gold spell circle appeared underneath her and any wounds that she had on her body were visibly repaired. Simultaneously a grey sand like material began spiraling up from the ground. It was eating away at the earth, the houses were deteriorating as the silver material corroded anything it touched. Very quickly there was a large amount of this material. Vexus crossed her arms and the Technomatter sped out towards both Astrid and Tyler. The sand would split apart and constantly try to latch onto any extremity it could get. No matter where the two of them moved, dodged, or tried to evade, the silver sand would follow. Attacks would do nothing to it, as Vexus was constantly making more of the material. Soon there would be more than they would be able to avoid and they would have no choice but to succumb to the strange essence.

Attacking Vexus would prove useless as she had a small circle of the sand like material at her feet. Any projectile could easily be neutralized, and if one of them attempted to get closed the sand would simply capture them.
She was positive that eventually they would no longer be able to avoid her advances in trying to capture them. Once she got a hold of the two heroes, the Technomatter would create a tight cocoon around their bodies with only their heads exposed preventing them from moving a single muscle. She would only squeeze tighter if they attempted to resist. The Technomatter would not corrode their bodies, only keep them captive.
She took her sunglasses out of her pocket at put them on and put her hands into her pockets as she casually walked a little closer to the situation. Whether they had been captured or still aimlessly avoided the Technomatter.
"Have either of you heard the story of the monkey trying to capture the moon? Try as he might, struggle as he may, it is only the reflection of the moon on the water that he sees. And he sinks. Every single time, he sinks."She paused for a moment.
"And here we have my two simple monkey friends. Flailing about in the water. Sinking..."
He tone was cold and stern. The two of them may have been able to fight on par with her at one level, however the gap between levels was far to great for them to comprehend.

It seemed that the child was reverting from his primal form. His shadowy counterpart began to return, seemingly quite confused on the situation. She had the Technomatter hold off on attacking the two of them as they began to concede. They knew their limits.
Vexus scoffed in a heavily condescending way. She walked over to the sword on the ground and kicked it up into her hands in a flashy yet effortless manner. She put her sunglasses over her face and deactivated her Celestial Eye. All off the grey sand that was surrounding the three of them began to evaporate into the air and soak into the ground. The surrounding town was still burning fiercely in areas, the whole place had taken significant damage.

"I hope you children have learned an adequate lesson here. If we ever cross paths and you two decided for a second time to stand in my way, I will not be as merciful."

Vexus casually walked to the edge of the town where her ride was waiting. She had the sword over her shoulder that she just tossed in the backseat as if she had merely went grocery shopping. The three of them went on the drive back to LAX where Vexus would take the nest flight to Taiwan...
---Exit

Vexus and her team made it back to Taipei 101 and reproached the room where The List is located.
"Ms. Vexus. Back so soon. I suppose I should have expected nothing less."
Elena said not a word as she handed over the desired sword. There was a slight flash of light when the receptionist touched the item.
"Wonderful. Thank you Ms. Elena Vexus. Your compensation has been transferred, and a recommendation shall be put through... While you are here, we offer the opportunity to target another item on the list."
Elena Glanced over The List again. Her eyes caught the name of yet another sword. The placed her finger on the name.
"I'll be back with this one next."
"The Blood Sword, excellent choice. We already have your information on file, we look forward to your return..."
Vexus turned and exited the room and arranged appropriate travel in order to hunt down her new target. Hopefully this one would prove to be more interesting than the last.