THE CHOICE

The boy swarmed Austin with a plethora of attacks.

Austin merely blocked all of them with relative ease.

They flew all over the incredibly large white room punching and blocking attacks. It wasn't until Ace came out of the hole the boy made that Austin realised he was wasting time.

Not anymore.

Austin summoned his Hawk gauntlets and pulled his fists back to deliver a devastating blow to the boy and end this useless battle.

That is, until he got a good look at his face.

He looked exactly like Bufford. His slender face and blond spikey hair were exact replicas of Bufords features.

Austin hesitated for a moment.

A moment that lasted for less than a second as his fist already reached the boy's face and sent him flying across the gigantic white room and hitting every wall like a pinball.

What returned his concentration you ask? A good look at Ace, the object of his revenge. Ace took away everyone Austin cared about and he wasn't going to let him go so easily. Even if it meant attacking someone with Bufurd's face.

Ace jumped from the hole on the wall he was watching from and landed right in front of Austin. The only thing between them now was the boy's injured body.

Just when they were about to approach each other however, Mr E appeared from said hole.

"Aw well what do we have here. It seems my clone isn't up to par with the Hawk Knight! What a shame. It's seems we're back to the drawing board then. Ace, take care of this failure and extract his DNA so I can make a better one."

The boy's jaw dropped in horror.

Ace obeyed his boss like a zombie and approached the boy, removing a large sword from his sleave and preparing to slice his head off.

The boy turned tail and ran away, fearing that his already short life would be made even shorter.

But like a bunny running from a wolf, there was no escape. The boy looked back only to see Ace was gone. Once he turned however, all he saw was Ace's cold dead eyes staring at him.

And his giant sword ready to cleave him in half.

He wanted to scream, to beg, to ask for mercy but he couldn't. Why you ask? Because he never learnt how to speak. All he knew in his brief life was how to fight and kill.

But that didn't mean he wanted it cut short.

He braced for impact, knowing we'll that once that blade hit, his life would be over in an instant.

And then, in less than a second...

SHING!*

The blade hit all right, but not the boy, it hit Austin who stood in the way. Getting his arm sliced off in the process.

The boy looked in shock and wondered why the hell this man, who he tried to kill just now, saved him.

I'm not letting you hurt the face of my friends again.

Ace stared at Mr E with his cold dead eyes but realised he wasn't there.

He realised what he had to do now.

Whatever he wanted.

Meanwhile.

Jake woke up in a black room with only a dim red light shining above him.

He struggled to move and quickly realised he was tied up. He also realised he wasn't tied up with ordinary rope since if it was rope he would've been free by now.

"Advantagem. Said to be one of the strongest metals in the world. Got a shipment all the way from Mecha. This whole base is made from the stuff." A deep yet calm voice said to him from the darkness.

Jake hadn't heard of whatever that metal was or whatever Mecha was either. He assumed that was some country in the outside world but didn't care that much of it.

All he cared about was who was talking to him.

Then suddenly, the being revealed himself. A large bulky man wearing a black tuxedo and a four eyed mask. This was none other than Mr E.

"Mr E. Charmed I'm sure." He said, extending his arm to shake Jake's hand.

"Oh silly me! You're tied up! I can be so forgetful sometimes!"

Jake struggled and struggled but to no avail. He was trapped.

"Don't bother trying to escape now. Not when a choice is to be made."

"A choice?" Jake asked, his annoyance building by the second.

"Yes. You're new to the super business and from what I can gather, you seem to have an obsession with helping people. I mean, it's all over your mind. Well, that and some mysterious darkness, but that's besides the point."

"So what? What kind of choice are you talking?"

"One that if you make the right move, I'll free you. If you make the wrong one however, not only will you be trapped but you will suffer!"

Jake looked at the mad man in confusion as he walked back into the darkness.

What choice did he have to make here?

What was this psychopaths goal?

"Here is your life saving question! Would you save someone you know over someone you don't know?"

Just when Jake began to think about the question, the lights turned on.

And what he saw horrified him.

There she was. Ivy, who he only met a while ago, who he came to care about deeply in that short while, was gagged and tied to a chair with several tubes poking out of her. Tubes leading to a giant tank of green liquid.

On her right was a little boy he saw only minutes ago. The same boy who's father he questioned before, gagged and tied to his chair with similar tubes attached to a large green liquid filled tank right above him.

And all the way at the back of the room was a large black man, also tied up, but with no tank or tubes above him. The boy's father.

Struggling helplessly as he could only watch as his own son struggled and tried to scream.

"Y..you asshole! Mr E! Why are you doing this?! I thought if we brought you the intruders you'd let us go!!" The man shouted with a cold sweat dripping down his face.

"Oh yes Luther I did! But I didn't say whether or not you'll leave with your humanity intact." Mr E said calmly.

Jake realised what this all meant. He had to choice who was gonna be saved and who was gonna have that liquid drained into them.

Jake tried once more to free himself but still couldn't. No matter what, he had to make a choice.

"I followed your scent to this lovely girl's appartment. Although I didnt find you, I knew she'd be be useful in some way. Man I love being right! So, my friend, what's it gonna be. I spare the son of the man who got you here or I spare your girlfriend over there. What's it gonna be?"

W..what's the green stuff?" Jake said, tried to fake calmness. A trick which clearly wasn't working.

Mr E could clearly see him trembling from head to toe.

"A little concoction I call Mutoxin. Once it enters your system it gives you a temporary muman ability. Too much of it however, turns you into a beauty of nature. As we all are meant to be." Mr E said with glee.

"Please man! Let my son go! Take me instead." Luther begged with a stream of tears dripping down his face.

"Oh but where's the fun in that? I didn't capture you, probe your mind to find and kidnap your son just for giggles! OK, maybe for a little giggle, but he is of use to me. Now shut up and let the man think.

Jake's mind was blank.

He didn't want this. He came to beat the shit out of this fucker for destroying his store.

Now look at him. Tied to a chair and forced to choose between the lives of a little boy and one of his newest yet closest friends.

Jake looked at the boy and saw a terrified crying face. He knew if he chose Ivy over him, then all his rants about helping people would be completely hypocritical.

Jake then looked at Ivy's crying face. She didn't scream and struggle. All she did was sit still and cry. It didn't even look like she had any emotion other than complete hopelessness.

She looked at Jake for a brief moment and all she did was nod.

She knew the choice Jake was supposed to make.

She knew all hope was lost for her but still didn't want to die.

Jake didn't know what to do. He wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

So he didn't hesitate when a sudden darkness suddenly enveloped him.

To be continued...