Mr. Hat gazed across the packed room, the frantic people bustled to get out of his way, heading to the corners of the space. However, he had eyes for only one person, Ullr. His foe stood on the opposite side of the room, his hand clenched into fists as he looked back. The look alone, enough to make a weaker man quake in fear.

The panic in the crowd had died down some from his arrival. What was at first a stampede away from him had become people huddling together in little circles. Staying towards the edges of the room, their heads darting between the two adversaries standing opposite one another. A gun, threat of a bomb, and a Hero enough to convince everyone here it was best to stay out of the way. Like sheep, people’s natural instinct was to hide in a herd. Rendered invisible by those around them.

Ullr craned his neck, eyes darting around the room. Years of experience kicking in as he probed the space for any hidden threats. His body coiled up and ready to snap at the slightest of reasons.

After he was satisfied with the investigation, Ullr nodded to himself, then said, “Mighty brave of you to come alone, Mr...”

“You can call me Mr. Hat,” Mr. Hat said, his hand carrying the phone reached up and gave a small tip of the hat, “And who said I was alone?” he added.

“This isn’t my first showdown. I’d know anyone who came with you. And if you planted an accomplice in the crowd they would stand out, yet none are here,” Ullr said. His hands spreading out to point at the rest of the room.

“Then it’s a good thing this’ll only require me,” Mr. Hat said.

He readjusted his grip on the gun, his hands slick with sweat. He must be out of sorts. To be this nervous at the start of their talk. Taking a deep breath Mr. Hat tried to calm himself, he needed a clear head for what was to come.

“I could rush over there and take the gun,” Ullr said as he took a long stride forward. Probing at Mr. Hat’s reactions.

“Then the city goes up in smoke,” Mr. Hat said with a shrug. His nerves from a moment before gone or better hidden, “Wouldn’t want that now would we?”

Ullr stopped to consider that for a moment. Tilting his head to the side as his eyes slid down to the phone in Mr. Hat’s hand. Weighing the fate of the city versus one man’s claim. A moments review was all it took for the seasoned Hero to search for more information.

“Why would I believe your threat? A bomb on you makes more sense than something that could destroy the city.”

“You saw what I did at the police station, and how many explosives I used. That was only the appetizer of what I have in store for today.”

Ullr’s head snapped back into place. That was enough to give the threat credibility.

“Fine, none of that,” Ullr said, his eyes trained to Mr. Hat’s every move. It was clear the Hero was searching the man again, now that the threat had teeth to it.

A smug smile slithered its way onto Mr. Hat’s face. Seeing his opponent powerless made everything worthwhile. Years went into this moment and right now Mr. Hat couldn’t complain about the wait. He’d gladly do it again for another chance to experience this.

The enormity of the moment sank in as Mr. Hat prepared for the next step. He had some time to burn before the grand finale. Best to not hurry things along and give himself a chance to enjoy the moment. However he had to make sure he didn’t get lost in it. He hadn’t won just yet.

“So you’ve partnered with Liam?”

A round of murmurs rose from the crowd. Mr. Hat frowned and slid his gun around the room, the barrel didn’t even shake as it traveled, a good change from a few moments ago. Where it pointed, the commotion was quashed until only Mr. Hat and Ullr could be heard again.

“Partners is too strong a term. Last I saw him he tried to stop me. A futile act to be sure, even so he gave it a shot,” Mr. Hat said with a shrug. He took a couple steps from the entryway as he spoke. Moving to somewhere it was easier to protect his back. The crowd broke apart as he traveled, cattle being herded by a man with a gun, “It’s sad, after everything you did to him, he still plays at being a Hero. It would’ve been so much easier if he learned the new role you forced on him and helped with this endeavor.”

“I’m sure that’s what happened,” Ullr said. His own voice making it clear what he thought of Liam and the current situation.

...

Liam stumbled forward as a dagger clanged into his back. Screeching against the armor of his suit. Mercifully it failed to break through. Even though the force of the attack almost sent Liam crashing into a car. At the last moment he braced himself, inches from a collision.

Twirling, Liam raised his arm high to block Skip’s next attack. The blow he thought was coming didn’t materialize. Looking around Liam found the space already empty. A puddle of liquid at Liam’s feet hinting that the man had already teleported away. Skip was never one to stick around and fight face to face.

Liam had no time to track down the teleporter, there were other enemies in the area. Spinning again, he looked to where he’d last seen H-Bar running. Only to find a bolt of hot white light headed his way.

Rolling to the side Liam could almost smell the concrete burning as the ball of light landed where he’d just been. The explosion sending chunks of the street over his suit. An attack like that wouldn’t pierce his suit’s original armor, but he wasn’t sure about the new stuff.

“Aim for the weak points in the armor,” H-Bar yelled. His voice booming into the parking lot.

He remembered the replaced parts Liam growled. But Liam wasn’t caught off guard. He knew there was a chance H-Bar would hunt for them. And because of that Liam improved the painting on those pieces until they were indistinguishable from the rest of the suit. Since he didn’t have the equipment to replace them, this was the best he could do.

Coming up from his roll Liam found a boot in his face. Skip was swinging down like a field goal kicker going for a record setting kick.

With no time to dodge or brace for impact the foot connected with Liam’s head. A shock wave ran through his body. The blow sending Liam’s head swimming for a moment. The earth and sky seemed to merge as one as Liam looked through his visor.

Like the eye of a storm Liam’s mind cleared, and he found himself under attack again. H-Bar was on top of him, having left his ranged attacks behind to get up close and rain down blows. Liam had trained in hand to hand combat and knew what was coming, the next few minutes would not be fun.

The first fist rained down, like hail from above. Glowing a bright white as H-Bar encased his hand in moving light. Liam only had time to blink before his helmeted head slammed into the concrete. The first strike fogging Liam’s mind again. The two that followed sent it into a spin.

Given time the attacks would break through Liam’s suit. Cracking him open like a lobster. If that point was reached it would happen long after Liam was dead. The suit might prevent an attack from breaking through, but it couldn’t stop all the force of the attacks. Some would still crash into Liam’s body. Which wasn’t built to take this kind of abuse.

On the seventh strike there was an abrupt change as a large black blob sprouted out of Liam’s chest. Taking up the space between the two fighters the sudden appearance of the blob sent H-Bar falling backwards. The gap in attacks giving Liam’s dazed mind a chance to form one solid thought. Move and get out of the way.

Still foggy, years of training kicked in and Liam crawled behind a car, buying what time he could for his mind to calm down.

A small part of Liam wondered why he’d been given this reprieve. H-Bar had him cornered. Trapped and defenseless. Getting back to his feet Liam noted the black, airbag on his stomach. His suit looked pregnant with the large bump deployed.

A sad smile stretched across Liam’s face as he realized what had just happened. His suit had noted the repeated impacts and thought it was from a fall. Deploying what safety measures it could to dampen the crash. That just so happened to throw his former teammate away. To have a computer, using cold hard calculations, determine you were being beaten so bad it wasn’t a fight you were in, but a crash landing left Liam cold. He’d been lucky with that escape, however that wasn’t something he could count on going forward. He’d have to counter these two if he wanted any chance at stopping the bombs.

A night long ago, laying in bed when he’d first joined the team, filtered into Liam’s head. He’d planned for ways to counter his former teammates. He could do it. It’d take timing and a little luck, but he’d win this fight.

With a turn Liam was ready for round two. A light tap of rubber on the roof of the car was all the warning Liam got before Skip’s foot came sailing down. That was the go signal Liam needed. With his airbag falling to the ground Liam formed a guard, ready to enact his revenge.

…

The silence stretched between them. A thin line of calm holding everything at bay. Eventually one of them had to break it yet for some time it looked like neither was willing to do so. That was until Ullr took the lead.

With his hand falling from his earpiece, Ullr said, “You’re not partners with Liam, yet he’s out there fighting the rest of my team as we speak.”

As he spoke he started to walk to the side, like a predator on the hunt, stalking his prey. Looking for any signs of weaknesses in his future meal.

This wasn’t what Mr. Hat needed. Not with his revenge so close at hand. He couldn’t save the kid now. He’d given Liam more than his fair share of chances in recent days. If the kid didn’t want to take them then who was he to judge? Whatever happened to him now was of his own making.

“Gladius back from her break already?” Mr. Hat asked. He wasn’t above poking at a recent wound and if it moved the conversation away from Liam, all the better.

“Changing the subject are we?”

It’d been a long shot. No surprise if Ullr could see through it.

“You’re the one who mentioned the team,” Mr. Hat said. He’d started his own circle at this point. Moving opposite Ullr and making sure to keep the two of them the same distance apart while at the same time monitoring the other people in the room. A surprisingly difficult thing to do.

“Fair enough, no Gladius isn’t with them. And I doubt she’ll be back anytime soon. Now about Liam?”

“What a shame. She could beat the stupid kid at whatever he was doing.”

Ullr didn’t seem to catch the last part as he continued to circle, his mind stuck somewhere else. After another ten steps he stopped, hand reaching for his earpiece. Mr. Hat could see the concentration in Ullr’s eyes.

“Seems they caught Liam with a few explosives on his person. What were you saying about working together? I must have heard wrong.”

He was carrying bombs. After their fight earlier in the day Mr. Hat was sure Liam was out of the whole attacking civilians business, what was he doing with explosives now. Then it hit him, Liam was an idiot. It took him a long time to plant the bombs and now the wannabe Hero was going around diffusing them. Trying to ruin all his plans in one move. If he ever saw Liam again, which at this point was looking less likely than ever, he’d strangle the guy.

The only redeeming part of the entire situation was The Hunt finding and fighting Liam. Liam was the one trying to save the city, yet the team who was supposed to be doing that was in fact stopping it from happening. What a joke they’d found themselves in. Well it wasn’t like he would fix their misunderstanding. And with them delaying him, there was no way he’d get to all the bombs.

Mr. Hat mulled over what was happening, he had to change the subject or he’d lose the edge in this talk. Maybe even speed things along if it looked like Liam would reach more bombs. The entire day would lose its meaning if that happened.

Ullr began his circling again, Mr. Hat followed, countering him. While Ullr only had eyes for Mr. Hat, the latter continued to keep his darting about. His mind racing to figure out something to say.

“What does Blue Feather mean to you?” Mr. Hat asked. It was time to pull out the big guns.

Mr. Hat could almost see Ullr frown at the question. His prowl slowing ever so slightly. Not enough for the people around them to notice, however mirroring the man as he was, it was obvious. Mr. Hat could imagine Ullr’s eyes darting to the feather in his hat. Trying to determine the connection between the man in front of him and the woman he killed years before.

“Many things.”

Good, keep him talking and close the distance Mr. Hat thought. He almost took a step forward but held himself back. Ullr couldn’t know he wanted them closer. He had to make Ullr feel like he’d win any physical confrontation. Only when that happened could they get close enough, without raising suspicions, for the fun to begin. If only he hadn’t used his power on Liam earlier in the day, then things would have been much easier. What can you do, he thought? The situation called for it so he had to make the sacrifice.

Instead of creeping towards his opponent, Mr. Hat extended his own movements. Circling a foot farther away from Ullr. Mr. Hat could see the man’s eyes tracking the move, calculating what it meant.

Trying to keep a smile from his face Mr. Hat asked, “Is that it?”

Ullr tightened his circle as he thought of an answer.

“The stories out there for everyone to see,” Ullr said, “She was a traitor and was dealt with like any traitor should be.”

Ignore it, in a few minutes what he says won’t matter, Mr. Hat thought. His boiling blood begged him to put long term planning aside. With his brain warring against itself Mr. Hat said what had been on his mind for years. And this time there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

“You murdered my wife.”