Meeting Your Nightmares

Please...be okay...Dad.

Starlio looked at Shannon,who was flying right behind him:"You alright?"Starlio asks Shannon who nod her head:"Yea...don't worry about me."

This is not the first time the couple had went out with their armors before.On over a dozen occasions over the past few months Starlio had allowed Shannon to use his armors to go on rescue missions.Vehicle accidents,natural disasters,bank hostage scenarios,the two of them had went through a ton of things together despite being together for just over a year.

[Approaching Island.]

"Shannon,you gotta stay back.My armor can go stealth mode so I can go in to scout first."Starlio tells her.Shannon nods,staying back as Starlio went forward,looking at the island that he approached."Model 10 Stealth Panels activate."

A mirror like effect started to travel down the panels of the armor as Starlio began blending into the background,becoming almost completely transparent and his thrusters,going more and more quiet to the point where his presence was essentially completely hidden.

The teenager found a relatively empty spot by the shore of the small island,landing there and placed down an EMP dart that could fry almost all tech except his within a mile,implanting it within the sand before making his way further inland."Scan for all heat signatures."Starlio whispers as he spotted the first group of patrol soldiers.

They looked like any ordinary coast guard.Starlio had to be sure they were under the Chairman before he ends up hurting someone innocent.

Starlio levitated silently above the ground,moving further inwards into the island to quickly spot a watch tower which had armed guards atop of it,manning a heavy machine gun and looking into the sky as if they were expecting his arrival.There was little to no chance these were just some random guards.[13 Signatures Detected.Tracker 200 meters ahead.]

Starlio quickly soared forward,cautious to still make himself invisible as he looked around the island,which was mostly just greenery and small trails of human footpaths except for the massive facility that overlooked the island,a giant factory with multiple buildings and shipping docks connected to it that Starlio quickly found.

"Heat signatures?"Starlio whispers.

[220.All Armed.]

"What the fuck....Shannon are you seeing this?"Starlio asks as Shannon replied to his comms from afar:"Yea...this isn't normal.I'd say we get him out silently.This is clearly a small army we are facing,no point going loud."

Starlio followed his armor towards the tracker and quickly found the van.

Mason must be nearby.

Platoons of armed soldiers,fully equipped with military grade rifles,bullet proof armor,what seems like night vision googles and visors along with combat boots with secondary firearms like pistols,blades and grenades.This were men ready for war.

Starlio decided to sneak past them,slowly levitating his way throughout the island where he spotted more platoons of soldiers,military trucks and tanks.

The men may be not be able to see him due to his stealth plates,but making too much noise would still clearly give himself away.

[Warning:Air Defense Missiles Scanning Environment.Activating artificial temperature cloaking.]Starlio's armor acted by itself as the teenager entered the facility building,opening a door slowly and peering through it,landing softly on the floor and looking around the factory,which to his horror was building weapons...thousands and thousands of military grade weapons and missiles.

"Since when...?"Starlio looked around,trying to find Mason.

Shelves of thousands and thousands of weapons were being stacked and not far,Starlio could peer outside a window to see multiple military tanks and even several attack helicopters.This is basically already a military base,disguised as a small boat construction factory.This place needed to go.There was no way that this was all legal.

Focus.Find Mason.

Starlio looked around even more,using his HUD's heat detection to eventually find a tied up man in a chair behind multiple walls which could only mean one person.Quickly rushing to the site,Starlio silently walked into the corridor that led him to the room and slowly,began pushing down the door handle which unfortunately,was locked.

"He gave you mercy,granted you a chance at true power and you wasted it.How stupid do you feel now?"A voice asks.

"Stupid...?I've never felt more smart."

"Really?Interesting.Why do you think you're...finally smart?"

Starlio's arm panels began opening up,deploying his silent blaster and ready to barge in at any moment."For the longest time I thought beer,women and money would give me the joy I wanted in my life...but I finally am trying to do something for my family...betraying you just for them?I never betrayed you all.I betrayed them first.Never again."Mason growled.

Starlio kicked the door open,not taking any further chances.

Starlio aimed his blaster forward only for his arm to be caught by the interrogator,gripping Starlio with increasingly straining strength as the teenager kicked the man backwards,freeing himself forcefully and fired multiple shots at the man who ducked under Starlio,delivering an uppercut that smashed the armored teenager into the ceiling before collapsing back down onto the ground.

"An armor that negates all forms of detection...you've upgraded."The man denounces him.

"Who are you?!"Starlio got up,swiping off some rubble off himself.

"My name is Argus,the Chairman's most trusted ally and...strongest soldier."Argus announces as red lights began flashing across the corridor.He has been found.Starlio ignored them as he charged forward,throwing a series of punches in random order,completely catching Argus off guard but the latter,still able to keep up and deflect all his moves.

Argus jumped forward,striking Starlio in the helmet,surprising Starlio who read the damage report:[250,000 Newton of Power Detected.]

"What the-"Starlio needed a way to quickly get out as he yelled to Mason:"Dad!Close your eyes!"

A flash bang shot out of his wrist armor,blinding Argus temporarily as Starlio rushed in and tackled the superhuman soldier onto the ground,aiming his blaster point blank and firing at Argus,blasting him right through the room's wall and sending him falling from the second floor.

"Come on!Let's go!"Starlio deployed a knife,cutting Mason loose.

Mason barely managed to get up when an unknown force punched Starlio right out the same hole he sent Argus flying out off.Starlio reacted quickly,activating his armor to keep himself afloat and managing to activate his rockets in time,looking towards his attacker.

A tall large man towering over 2 meters in height,dressed in a large black trench coat with a menacing oversized hat,big menacing eyes that somehow glowed green with a brown beard and mustache,smoking a cigar.

Starlio instantly recognized the Chairman.

The infamous mobster grabbed Mason by the hair,lifting him up:"So this is the man...the hypocrite that you are trying to rescue Starlio Stex?"

"He's my father."Starlio hissed.

"It's okay..."Mason choked on his own saliva as the Chairman looked down at him and delivered a punch that instantly shattered every single bone in Mason's body,a punch that sent visible waves of air across the room and sending a flopping lifeless body of Mason Stex out of the hole in the wall and splattering onto the ground in a pool of meat and blood.

-

Starlio's ears rung uncontrollably.

Why...?

"Starlio!You need to move!"Shannon called out to him as she flew towards him,unloading a tsunami of flames to separate them from the Chairman,who already had dozens and dozens of men swarming towards their location,all of them armed with military grade weapons and in the distance,attack helicopters were taking off along with multiple tanks,all of them set with one goal:

Destroy Starlio Stex.

"Starlio!"Shannon flew towards him,grabbing the lost Starlio out of the air as missiles shot towards them.Starlio looked at Shannon as his instincts kicked right back him,knocking him out of his shock as he deployed an energy shield,tanking the missiles.

"Sorry...."Starlio's voice cracked.

His blood began boiling as a wave of heat surged through every inch of his body.Flashes of the small kind moments his father had shared with him shot through his mind,moments that were rare,but moments that did happen.A small change of money for him,the first time he taught Starlio to cycle,the first time he arrived at his kindergarten bring your dad to school day....

The prodigy shot towards the Chairman at superhuman speeds,charging up his fist with a rocket punch and launched it over at the giant who caught his punch surprisingly with his own bare hands.The ground between them cracked and the wind pressure created,pushing Argus and the regular soldiers around them back as the Chairman smiled:"You're getting too emotional now Starlio,don't act like he was a good father."

"He was my father nevertheless you piece of shit!"Starlio jumped back,drawing his plasma sword out and swinging at The Chairman who was dodging and weaving across the room effortlessly before bursting forward and landing another kick that shot Starlio right out the other side of the building where he was greeted by two attack helicopters.

Bullets rained down against the Model 10 armor which instantly deployed it's plasma shields,blocking out the bullets when Starlio grit his teeth,allowing his rage to take over and flying towards the helicopter,firing two missiles directly at the cockpits of the two aerial vehicles,killing it's pilots before turning back to the Chairman.

A tank shell struck Starlio before he could even reach the mobster,blasting him back.

"Starlio!"Shannon called out,firing more missiles towards several platoons of armed men who were charging at them,holding them back temporarily.

"I need to kill him."Starlio growled,charging back when a seemingly endless barrage of bullets began blasting at him,pushing him away and knocking him towards the ground when missiles blasted the ground in front of him,further preventing him from advancing.

More missiles blasted towards him as Shannon jumped between him and the projectiles,firing a large wave of flames that melted majority of the projectiles mid air.

"A valiant effort by the two of you.I would have recruited you two to join the ranks of my men but...that is too late.You've delayed me for way too long.For years you have been causing me problem after problem,causing me to lose men,resources and talent."The Chairman's voice boomed,spreading his arms widely,looking down at the two armored heroes who were getting more and more surrounded by soldiers,tanks and heavy artillery every moment.

[Hostiles Detected:142 and rising]

The Chairman leapt down from the building,his bulky figure landing several meters away from Starlio and Shannon,completely unharmed as he raised his arm up:"Under normal circumstances I would grant you two mercy.But this ain't normal,neither are the two of you.Kill them."

The men began advancing as Shannon shot a flare up into a sky.

The men uncontrollably looked at the flare out of curiosity as the flare erupted into a burst of light,blinding a majority of the crowd temporarily,the two teenagers taking the brief few seconds Shannon brought to go on the offensive.

[Shadow Armor:Combat Mode.]

Panels between the chunks of the Shadow Armor opened up,firing off beams of lasers that began cutting through the ranks of the Chairman's people,forcing them to retreat.Starlio didn't let up,flying forward and pointing his lasers towards the military trucks,cutting them in half effortlessly.

Bullets sprayed at them mercilessly as the couple fought back to back,dodging and weaving missiles,deflecting shots and firing back.

[Truck.Incoming from the South.]

Starlio turned around to see a truck fly towards him as he quickly jumped at Shannon,pushing her out of the way when the truck stuck him,crushing him backwards and pushing him towards the ground.Starlio used the enhancing strength the armor grants him to push the truck off himself when the Chairman himself charged at the teenager,tackling him towards the ground,grabbing his leg and tossing Starlio uncontrollably into the sky.

Starlio activated his boosters,trying to gain control mid air only for the Chairman to jump at him,easily leaping past the height of the building which greatly shocked Starlio.

That jumping power....that's far more powerful than anything I've seen.

The Chairman easily caught up to the armored teenager,grabbing him mid air before tossing him right back onto the ground,throwing him around like a rag doll as Starlio slammed back onto the ground,barely able to register the events that had just occurred.

[Stealth Plating:Offline.]

Starlio quickly rolled out of the way as the Chairman shot towards the ground fist first,exploding a large crater into the concrete flooring of the island.Debris sprayed over to Starlio who quickly released an array of smoke bombs to hide his own presence,taking the time to quickly check on Shannon who was brutally being blasted by missiles and bullets from countless directions.

There was no way they were winning this fight.

"Shannon,we have to go."Starlio used their private communication systems to contact her as her tired voice replied back quickly:"Go up!"

Shannon shot out her blinding flare once more as Starlio shot out his smoke bombs,providing each other cover,not taking any chances further and quickly,taking the window of time they bought to fly up into the sky,taking off away from the island.

Starlio's heart was...dead.

The prodigy uncontrollably turned around,hoping to see his father's body at least one more time.Missiles were launched from the island's anti air defense systems,speeding towards Starlio who was quickly grabbed mid air by Shannon once more,knocking him suddenly back into reality as she quickly turned around,releasing a wave of flames that the missiles flew towards,exploding in the air and the shock wave of which,disrupting the flight stability of both teens.

"Starlio!Eyes up!"Shannon yells.

"I...Sorry!"Starlio looked back for a moment to see helicopters starting to give chase.

I have to focus...for Shannon."Shan!We get at least a mile away from the island,get those copters to follow us!By then we should be out of range by the air defenses and that will leave the copters to be taken out easily."

"Let's go!"

Both heroes activated their thrusters,going towards the mainland at full speeds,reaching there within a matter of seconds when they realized that the helicopters stopped.They weren't being chased any longer.Starlio finally managed to catch his breath as he landed by the shore,punching his fist into the ground and his emotions,being allowed to slowly crawl out once more.

Starlio knelt down in devastation,removing his helmet and allowing himself to take in a breath of fresh air and his grief to flow through.

Why am I....?Sad?

"Starlio?"Shannon slowly approached the teary Starlio who looked up at her.Her eyes were also reddened and swelling from the fight just now as she spread her arms,allowing him to fall into her hug as she began stroking his hair."It's okay...I know it hurts."

"It isn't fair...he was changing...he..."Starlio felt his tears drip down uncontrollably.

"Remember him Starlio.That's the best way.Like how you remembered Conner and Xavier,remember what they have done for you.Keep them alive in your memories and learn from what they have taught you.That's the best thing we can do for them."Shannon comforts him.

"The Chairman...he isn't normal."Starlio states,trying to wipe his tears off.

"Probably Ironblood right?"

"I wish it was that simple.His strength...my armor recorded it.It's at least ten times stronger than Titus' or even Demonshot's.I don't know if Ironblood is enough to explain that extreme display of power,in addition to his army,he must be planning something big.We have to stop him."Starlio concludes,his voice still quivering a little.

"We will.Together."