Despite speaking casually, jets of numbing fear shot through every vein in my body. Our new visitor's calm tone contrasted heavily with our machine-like appearance. More so than the other's drones we've faced, this one seemed to shift its vision while moving, making it seem like it were a natural person. Stan wore every vile expression on his sleeve before developing into a weasel.

"Hephaestus? Those drone attacks earlier, were you? You know you could've killed me there, right?!" he said adamantly.

Even my steady temper started to grow hotter than my wounds, knowing just how many lives were sacrificed for this pathetic man. I was so pissed I didn't even notice this was the second person we've dealt with now in a row with a Greek mythology codename.

"Of course I did. I intended to," Hephaestus said flippantly.

The businessman looked genuinely offended yet remorseful at the same time before defaulting back to raging pride.

"So you're just going to throw me away like that? After the years of cover-ups, lies, and fucking loop de loops worth red tape, I had to go through for you pieces of shit?!" he barked.

The robot gestured up and narrowed its eye as if appalled by such a statement.

"That's rich coming from you. You didn't seem to mind the red tape when you stole portions of our profits. Or when you kept your full arsenal for yourself. The only benefit from your continued existence was the initial field test for my automatons,' he said viciously.

Hephaestus then awkwardly leaned to the side, acknowledging us.

"By the way, I applaud you two both for surviving them. You've given me far more data to work with than your allies. I'm curious to see how you'll deal with the next batch," he said in a thankful tone.

I didn't know whether to be flattered, disgusted, or surprised at the compliment. Our death match was nothing more than a game to him.

"Unfortunately, you've exhausted both my patience and resources. So let it be known you've forced my hand here," he said distastefully.

The eye then lit up, revealing a clear holographic screen not too dissimilar to the projectors on Mr. Daniels's desk. In it, we saw a kid on top of a rooftop with a blindfold tied to a chair. He seemed to be a rather tall teenager with black hair. Memories tickled the ends of my brain till I recalled Sarah describing a picture on Stan's desk: that of his son. Knowing that made my parental instincts flair as the boy screeched out.

"Hello? Is there anyone there? Oh god, someone help, please. I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm sorry." he said with tears rolling down his fault.

Stan then instantly jerked out of grips, manically waving at the screen while saying.

"Oliver, I'm here! Dad's here for you. I'm going to get you out of there, I promise," he said compassionately.

The boy gave no signs of listening to his father, though, only quitting down when a mechanical blade reached his throat. A distinct whimper escaped his mouth before the image vanished. Hephaestus robot then used its strong legs to carve into wood, all while making a beautiful threat.

"Good. Because you're going to surrender yourself at the coordinates, I'm writing down. Come unarmed and alone within 30 minutes, or else I'll cut off a limb for every minute your late till I kill him. Or you can let the boy die. Either way, I'm sure I can find some benefits. I'm curious about how you'll respond," he said as the robot started to turn off.

Before we could even move, the robot started to unleash a blinding light, vanishing in seconds. Following suit, Ben started to break down into a rainbow of wild emotion in under a minute. First, he broke into cursing while throwing broken bottles into the wall. Secondly, he burst into tears, blubbering in a stew of his self-loathing. And finally, into full-on desperation as he started to bow at our feet.

"Please, I'm begging you. Help me save my son, and I'll do whatever you want!" he loudly proclaimed.

During the emotional storm, my mind came whirring, utterly split at the strategy before us. Technically speaking, by all accounts, we finished our mission, and Stan was secured. One good punch will also have him shipped back to prison for a good reason. Over a dozen people have been maimed today alone, and how many more innocents have died through his munitions? He brought this entire situation on himself.

Amidst his begging, I clenched my fist. Painful memories vaulted to the forefront, where my armor was skinned, and I had no name, where I did anything to remain strong when everything fell apart. When I thought the pain of loss would never stop. Hoping there was still enough of that former "strength" left in me. Try as I might, though, I couldn't find that man in me anymore, only a man. A man who wants to seize the day and do all he can.

And on this day, I don't see an enemy. Only a fellow father. So despite myself, I hugged Stan out of pure empathy, still resolute in my realization. I'm never going to let what happened to define me. No matter what warzone I'm in, it won't change anything. I'll still be a man, a father, and most importantly, James.

"Don't worry, Mr. Stan. I'll save your son no matter what," I said.

A soft hand then landed on my shoulder while saying.

"We will," Sarah said without hesitation.

Words couldn't even describe how thankful I was for her support, to know she could indulge my "weakness." So I gave her one last gracious look before we departed. Emotional moment aside, though, I didn't know how we would get ourselves out of this mess. My body felt was a beaten rug hung out to dry, and the pain meds dampening effects were making anything better. This meant I had to do what I've always done when stumped, consul someone more intelligent than me, and I knew just how to call her.

"Sarah, can you hand me your phone for a second?"

"Sure, why, though," she said while tossing the phone as we exited the bar.

"Because if it's a text from you. It doesn't matter how late it is. She'll come," I said mischievously.

In nanoseconds, Sarah's face went from confusion and realization to pure cringe after realizing who I meant.

"She's never going to leave me alone after this."

Usually, my favorite perk from Titan was always the opportunity to experience something new. Interacting with talented people worldwide means there's always some new adventure or cool thing to experience. After tonight though, I may regret having remote-controlled cars, as our now remote-controlled vehicle sailed through the Detriot streets at 100 miles per hour. Every nerve in my body lurched over painfully at every bump. Though the cheers of our "driver mitigated my little gasps of pain.

"Woooo! I've always wanted to test our virtual vehicle remote control! It feels like I'm playing a video game!" Wiz says excitedly as we swerve onto the sidewalk to get past another car.

Panic immediately overtook us when we saw a homeless man in our headlights, forcing us to turn sharply from the road with our right-side mirror clipped by a newspaper stand. I saw Stan curled through the back mirror like a ball, regretting my earlier promise. Leaving Sarah, the odd woman, out as she prepared the strange new device.

"Wiz, I need you to focus! I got the cables from my grapple gun and exposed the bo staff's wiring. What else do I do?"

"Right, sorry, Paladin. First, wrap the cable around the staff, then in the bo staff, tie the cables and the wires in your staff. James takes the capacitor from the tracking device and uses the repair kit in the glove box to solder the cable to said capacitor. Be careful but fast, though. This is going to be a rush job as it is,"

Past the pain and nauseating speeds, I focused on my task single-mindedly. Chilling sparks and slight cuts collected around my fingers as Sarah and I followed Wiz's instructions. Simultaneously we both finished while blurting out now. Wiz replied with deading halt that nearly sent all of us hurtling through the window. When my vision realigned, my eye saw a closed-off skyscraper. Over the intercom, I could hear a subtle fright as she said.

"Now hook up the jumper cables to the device and say congratulations. You've created your first EMP device. I'll transfer all available power to the car, but it'll take a while for both that and the staff to build up a charge."

"How long?" Ben said hesitantly.

"Ten minutes. Any shorter and the charge won't reach you. Any longer and the car will overheat and start to short circuit," she said with uncharacteristic clinically.

Another storm of doubt claimed his face, realizing how desperate things had gotten. Frankly, I didn't know how we would survive tonight—beaten to hell, with virtually no leverage or weapons to fight back. Of course, this could end a thousand ways, so I didn't waste energy worrying. Instead, I'll place my faith in those who've gotten me this far.

"Have faith, Stan. I won't let them hurt you," I said while holding his shoulder in solidarity.

I couldn't tell if my words had any effect, but it did quiet him enough for us to finish the EMP. When applying the finishing touches, I noticed a dangling item on the side, giving me a creative itch that could get us out of here.