The Family Name

"Our old house.Go alone."

Starlio soared above the old neighbourhood where he was born and raised,Orion Street,one of the poorest parts of Plex City.He recalled all the times he had spent in the attic,using anything and everything he could find to built his first inventions and from what he knew...Mason was still living in the house alone.

Give him a chance.Starlio recalls Shannon's words.

Starlio spotted Mason,holding a cigarette in his hand and standing by the front door,looking up at him.His HUD had detected nothing,no other heat signatures nearby which meant that Mason himself was probably alone like he had promised.Starlio landed in front of him,now being almost as tall as his father who began the conversation:"Hello Son.It's been awhile."

"What do you want?"Starlio asks,ignoring Mason's statement.

"I wish to atone.For the longest time I have been a coward.A hypocrite.I was not a good father to you and Mitchell.I was not a good husband to Alice.But...I know my mistake and I want to turn things around as much as I can."Mason lowers his head.

"We don't require you in our lives anymore Mason."Starlio tells him."And you don't deserve our forgiveness.What happened to all those times where we needed you?You spent all our money,things we could have used to eat,to pay for our bills,our education?Mom had to spent years starving almost every night because of you!"Starlio pushed Mason backwards as the military general nods.

"You're right...I don't deserve your forgiveness.And I'm not asking for it either-"

"Then why call me now?Because I'm successful?!"Starlio growled.

"No...I swear Starlio I did not ask you here for all that bullshit.I know where the Chairman is."Mason looked up to his son who activated his plasma cannon:"Of course you know where he is.You sold us out to him.Xavier Navarro died because of this...someone who I consider my father more than you."Starlio was seconds away from snapping as Mason took out his phone.

"He doesn't know I'm here.To the Chairman I'm now simply getting more men from the military to be recruited under him.I know...I was a spineless idiot.I was scared when he came to me and threatened my life to sell you out...which I did.But...I've been looking around recently,people my age having perfect families to hang out with and love.For the longest time I took that for granted.I didn't even know I needed you guys until you all left me."Mason was starting to break down.

"It's a simple concept that you took too long to realize don't you think?"Starlio mocked.

"Yea...I don't want anything from you son.But here...this is where he is."Mason handed Starlio his phone as he grabbed it,analyzing through the map.It's an island,2 miles from the Plex City coast.From Starlio's knowledge,that island was nothing more than a fishing port with a small boat construction factory but now that he thought about it...it makes a ton of sense.

No wonder I couldn't find that fucker.

"What do you propose?"Starlio asks.

"We have the element of surprise.We go in and assassinate him.I'm sure you have some form of tech that can do that."Mason tells his son who nods:"Okay...what can you do to make me trust you?I have no guarantees you won't stab me in the back right now."

Mason looks at him:"Nothing.But I am willing to do this mission on your terms."

Starlio looks at him,looking at his HUD carefully,his armor scanning Mason's vitals.No spike in number of heartbeats per minutes,no breathing changes.He wasn't lying."So what you are saying right now...that you want to sneak into Plex Fishing Island,find the Chairman and assassinate him.I can live with that but after we kill him...I'm taking you to jail."

Mason lowers his head in shame.

"Yea...I can live with that."Mason agrees.

Starlio nods,ready to leave when Mason stopped him,dragging his son back to himself."What?!I thought we already had an agreement-"Starlio paused as Mason handed him a hard drive:"Listen...I know I don't deserve to ask you for anything but...this hard drive contains everything.I had...tried my best to piece down every bit of information of my life down here.This includes my work in the military...a ton of useful information that you might need one day."

"I don't understand.Why are you handing it to me?"Starlio stopped him.

"Whether you like it or not...you're still my son.Take this as a...last gift from me.The mission ahead will not be easy so let's say if I die-"

"You won't die.I would not allow it."Starlio corrected.

"That's not up to either of us."

"Okay...I'll take the bloody hard drive.But I don't wanna hear any jinxing thing like this alright?"Starlio tells Mason who nods:"Alright.Go prepare.We'll meet again soon."

-

4 Months Ago.

Starlio remembered talking to his mother about the Virgo.

"Do you think Dad will try to take all this away from us?"Starlio asks his mother who shook her head:"Your success is already widely known.If he wanted anything from us I honestly think he would have already contacted one of us.He...he's an asshole and all but if any part of his past self is there,he will retain the dignity to stop stealing from us."

"He's clearly not who you used to know though mom."

"It's hard to change your base character Starlio.Your father is a great example.Once he was caring like I told you,the man I fell in love with had great character until his job got to his head and corrupted him.But look at that day when he shot the Chairman's soldiers in the back and wanted you to shoot him in order for us to escape.That act alone tells me that deep down the kind part of him is still there."Alice Stex tells him.

"He still shouldn't have given into his fears.Imagine betraying your own family."

"I'm not asking you to forgive him Starlio.But...show mercy when the time comes."

Now.

Starlio now had a private radio that allowed him to communicate directly with his father.Part of him was still hurt badly by his father's previous betrayal but at this moment,every instinct in his body was telling him to trust Mason.

Returning back to Stex Enterprises,Starlio quickly returned to his lab.

"A.I Prepare the Model 10 on standby."Starlio tells the artificial intelligence system that was wired to the entire building.The teenager walked towards the end of his private lab as a laser scanner picked up his presence and the wall,opening a panel in front of him that led him towards another room.

[Welcome back sir.]

Starlio found himself staring down his 15 armors.

From his first few armors,the Model 1 and 2 displayed from the left all the way to the right ending with the Model 8 and another layer of armors stacked on top from the Model 9 to 15,the Garuda armor which is being hoisted back to it's display position by a giant metal arm at the side of the room.Only a total of 4 people knew about this room,including Dakota,Javier,Shannon and himself.

Each armor was displayed in a bulletproof glass casing with the giant arm,moving towards the Model 10 and taking it out of it's display glass almost like an action figurine,bringing it towards the center of the room and placing it gently on the ground.

"Check fuels and battery levels."Starlio commands.[Fuel capacity and battery levels are at one hundred percent.Shall I run a weapons diagnostic test as well?]

"Yes."

[Screen display is fully charged.EMP pallet count is at twenty.Plasma weaponry is also fully charged as requested.Shall I place the other armors on standby as well?]The A.I asks Starlio who thought about multiple possibilities of the upcoming conflict.

"Prepare the armors on standby.Make sure it's fully charged and I want all weapons to be at least half charged by the night."Starlio commands his A.I who registers his voice:[Filling the inventory of all armors would cost at least $12 million dollars in-]

"Do it."

[Your friends.Roy and Kane are requesting permission to enter the building.]

Starlio greeted the two downstairs as Kane walked around the lobby of the building which was still not decorated and simple with nothing more than potted plants giving the place a little color."Dude you've been here for half a year already and still no renovations?"Kane asks.

"We're moving out you know.This is just a temporary workplace anyway."

"Temporary as in a few years?"Roy adds in.

Shit...he's right."Uhhh yea.Now that...I don't know why I didn't think of that but I promise you the office for the employees are more furnished and I even installed a skittle vending machine.Free flow of candies and energy drinks also."

"That nice.Are you hiring by any chance?"Kane jokes.

"Come on dude you know you are welcome if you are interested in engineering and inventing in the first place.What's the occasion though why did the two of you come here?"Starlio asks Roy who took his phone out,showing Starlio their phone chat which only consisted Roy asking Starlio an onslaught of messages that were never replied to.

"I-"

"We know you're busy Starlio.But we just don't hear from you anymore.You rarely come to school and the only reason you're still a student is because Mr Jackson wants to use your name to promote the reputation of the school.Remember what you promised to Conner?"Roy asks an increasingly guilty Starlio who nods:"I would have stayed in school if I could.But it would be very selfish for me to endanger everyone there."

"We all understand that Starlio.No one expects you to go back to school after all that has happened but...as friends.We at least expect you to answer us when we call for you."Roy looks at his friend who nods:"Sorry...it's just...the amount of things I have to deal with..."

"We know.That's why we came looking for you.You don't look well you know that?"Kane observed the eye bags on Starlio.

"He's not showing himself.I might finally have some clues on him.When I take care of the Chairman....and I will.Things will change."Starlio promises his two friends when his watch beeped:[Distress call from Mason Stex.]

"Your dad?What?"Roy was confused.

"Sorry...I'll explain later!I have to go!"Starlio quickly sprinted past his friends towards the exit of the building,calling the Model 15-Garuda towards his location,suiting up quickly and taking off into the sky towards the distress signal.

It might be a trap.Starlio tells himself...but what if-

[Incoming call.]

"Starlio...quick,they found me."Mason whispers before gunshots broke out in the background."What happened?!What do you mean they found you and how?!"Starlio asks.

"He sent Ironblood soldiers here.I don't know how long I can hold out.I don't know how but you need to get here quick!"

[Warning:Speed approaching Mach 5]

Starlio ignored the warning,swooping through the city at supersonic speeds towards his old town and reaching there within a minute and bursting straight towards the first attacker he saw,who was armed with a machete marching towards the house.Without warning,Starlio shot himself fist front into the attacker,delivering a rib crushing blow that sent the Ironblood warrior flying down the street unconscious.

"He's right!Starlio is here!"Starlio heard a voice behind him as he quickly turned around to see a truck being flung towards him.Starlio quickly jumped out of the way,dodging the truck which crashed next to him when a man jumped towards him,throwing a super powered punch that Starlio quickly blocked with his forearm.

The Garuda Armor easily resisted the attack,the armor not even denting unlike many of his previous armors which were easily dented by Ironblood users but now...Starlio reacted,jumping back,before firing a missile directly into the Ironblood soldier,blasting into shreds instantly.

"DAD!"Starlio called out,quickly flying into the house to see Mason,unloading a handgun towards another Ironblood soldier who was holding up the side of a car door as a shield.

Starlio went in for the kill,drawing his heated blade and lunging it at the Ironblood soldier who reacted equally as fast,ducking under Starlio's arm,grabbing him and tossing him against the ceiling before the armored teenager collapsed back down onto the ground again.

Before he could regain his footing,another Ironblood soldier burst through the wall like a wild animal,pouncing forward and kicking Starlio backwards and sending Starlio flying right out of the other side of the house."Shit...Da-Mason!"Starlio called when three more Ironblood soldiers found him,each of them armed with sledgehammers and machetes,charging towards him ferociously.

One of the soldiers jumped towards the side of a walkway,ripping out a lamp post and swinging it at Starlio who deployed his blade,slicing the lamp post in half before firing a missile between the three soldiers,dispersing them away from each other.

He could see two more Ironblood soldiers going into the house.

"You've caused us enough trouble!You won't live much longer!"An Ironblood soldier says,jumping into the air and preparing to swing the sledgehammer at full force when Starlio jumped back,barely dodging the attack as the sledgehammer smashed onto the ground,cracking the pavement beneath him.

"He's just a teen,exploit his merciful nature!"Starlio heard another Ironblood soldier call out.

"Merciful?"Starlio flew upwards,looking down at the three soldiers who were attacking him."Merciful?I think the information you guys received is outdated.I am no longer my past self thanks to people like you."

Starlio flew downwards at supersonic speed,blasting his sword right through the first soldier and tossing his corpse aside like nothing,greatly horrifying the other two soldiers.Starlio quickly flew towards the other soldier,who jumped out of the way towards a nearby fence and smashing it against Starlio,who stood there,tanking the attack completely unfazed.

"You're insane!"A soldier chucked his machete with his superhuman strength at Starlio who knocked it away with just a backhand slap,glaring down at the attacker.

"He's lost it!Kill him!"

"HOW?!"

Starlio activated his blasters as the two attackers jumped him,firing a shot from each of his arm blaster and gunning the two Ironblood soldiers down,massive holes burnt through their torsos.

Starlio didn't even bat an eye as he flew towards the house when he spotted a van driving away with Mason,probably already taken or killed."Heat signature!How many in the van!"Starlio commanded his armor as he gave chase.[Tracker Activated.Deploy.]

Starlio fired a tracking dart at the van as a precaution,furthering increasing his speed when a missile flew towards him,blasting him head first.

Two jets flew right past Starlio.

Military jets.F-22 Raptors.

Looks like the Chairman's packing more than I thought.If this was any other armor before the Model 6 I would have been dead already.[Armor Integrity:98 percent.]The armor reports the missile damage,which barely did anything to Starlio who quickly changed trajectory,flying upwards into the sky to misdirect the fighter jet.

"Flares!"Starlio commands,deploying flares from his back armor plating to throw off the jet more,blinding the pilot temporarily.

When the flares slowly cleared up,all the pilot could see was an enraged Starlio,flying full speed towards him,jamming his heated blade through the cock pit of the fighter jet and firing a blast inside that killed the pilot instantly,jumping off the fighter jet which crashed back onto the town below Starlio,flying victoriously over the machine.

[No Signatures Detected in a Five Mile Radius.]

Mason's tracker was moving extremely fast for a van he saw just now,something else was at play here.Starlio knew chasing him down now would probably be a suicide mission.Whoever is taking Starlio probably knew he would follow and they must have something in place to counter his presence.

-

Shannon looked down at the math equation.

Stex Enterprises may have a luxurious office for her to do her schoolwork thanks to Starlio who had given her a key card to the building but nevertheless,Shannon couldn't help but be in constant worry about the situation outside,knowing that Starlio was actively fighting almost daily while she was stuck not only worrying about him,but her academic results as well.

While my boyfriend is going out there risking his life to potentially rid the world of a supervillain I'm stuck here doing homework.How wonderful.

Boom.

The door sprung wide open as Starlio marched in hastily,taking off his helmet and marching towards his lab where Shannon spotted him,sweating profusely.

"Star?Are you alright?"Shannon got up,walking towards him.

"They got my Dad."Starlio tells her as Shannon widened her eyes:"Give me an armor.We'll get him back together."

Starlio suit up in the Model 10-[Shadow],a black diamond pieced armor with purple light beams surrounding it,two glowing purple eyes that gave off a menacing vibe while Shannon suited up in the Model 6,the flame power based red and gold armor which over the past few months,Starlio had modified to fit Shannon,allowing her to fight and defend herself when the situation calls for it.

Shannon and Starlio both attended multiple Karate,Muay Thai and gym sessions together several times a week,working out together and determined to keep each other motivated and strong.A promise that Shannon made him.If she wanted to help him,she had to be prepared.

"Let's go."Shannon tells Starlio as the two teenagers took off into the sky.