Iron Fist

His face resembled a human's but was cold and emotionless, with no hair on his head; his face, feet, hands, chest, and back distinguished by a silver color, while the rest of his body was like glass or transparent plastic, with blue energy flowing inside. But this was not the time for contemplation and gathering information—it was time to fight. The robot stopped, raised the fingers of his right hand toward Ivanov, and his fingers opened to become like the barrel of a gun—five barrels, in fact—reminding Ivanov of his battle with Kino. He activated his power to cover his body with iron from the front, so when the bullets cut through the air and struck his defensive posture, none affected him. Ivanov lunged forward, and the robot likewise charged forcefully toward him. Ivanov raised his hand and brought it down on the robot's head, smashing it against the ground until it shattered from the force of his blow.

He caught his breath and examined the strange robot's body, then decided to turn off the flashlight and use night vision goggles so that no other robots would find him again easily. He said to himself:

"So it seems the robots are responsible for this catastrophe somehow! I need to find a survivor who can tell me everything."

He moved through the shattered buildings cautiously, with the moon shining brightly, casting some light on the ruins of the city that had witnessed a horror known only to God and the dead. The cold air seeped inside his white clothes, giving him a slight shiver, and his fingers grew numb from holding the goggles the entire time so he could see. He noticed a building on his left leaning against another but not completely collapsed, and an idea occurred to him. Without hesitation, he began to implement it, turning left and climbing the tilted building, attempting to reach its summit by scaling the rough slopes, gripping rocks, desks, and wires. Several times he nearly lost his balance but grabbed nearby objects and regained his stability. He heard the building creak beneath him during his climb and hoped it wouldn't collapse now. Thus he continued ascending, overcoming all obstacles in his hazardous, tilted path until he finally reached the top of the building.

He felt this was the right vantage point to survey the city from above and see where he might go—perhaps he would spot an illuminated place from this height, or any sign of human presence in this ghost city. Ivanov placed his bag on the ground beside him, took the sniper rifle from his back, lay down on the sloping ground, adjusted his body position until he was well-situated, then examined the city through the rifle scope. But he saw only darkness throughout, which filled him with despair. He continued looking in all directions, but there was nothing except darkness. Suddenly, in a distant place ahead, he saw a massive explosion that shook the city. His whole being trembled from the force of the blast, and he began to examine what was happening through the scope.

This explosion was followed by several others, making him apprehensive, but at least now he knew where to go to find some answers—or perhaps more wreckage and corpses. He decided to take one final look at the path ahead to ensure it was completely clear. He activated the night vision in the sniper scope and began scanning the road below. Suddenly, he saw someone standing in the middle of the road, gazing toward the explosion—a person wearing a hood and head covering, appearing like an assassin or secret agent. He looked suspicious and his appearance was not reassuring at all, which made Ivanov focus on him intently, staring hard at the masked stranger without blinking.

Without warning, the masked figure turned and looked upward toward Ivanov at the top of the shattered building. Ivanov was startled and quickly ducked his head to avoid being seen. He said to himself:

"Could he possibly have seen me in this darkness and from this height? That's impossible! But how then did he look directly at me? Our eyes met, I'm sure of it. Was it coincidence? Of course it must be coincidence! No one can see in this darkness, and from this elevation... unless he possesses some kind of power?"

He raised his head again, peering cautiously, but the stranger was gone! The path was completely empty, nothing but debris. He felt a slight tension, and suddenly heard the sound of falling rubble in the building. He immediately knew the masked figure had come for him. Ivanov jumped to his feet, adjusted his stance, and directed his scope inside the demolished building. There he found the masked figure rushing toward him, his cover blown, leaping nimbly as he traversed the tilted building upward in his direction.

Ivanov froze momentarily as he watched the masked figure surge toward him. He couldn't believe his eyes, but now his suspicions were confirmed—the man had indeed seen him. He marveled at how the stranger could see through this darkness, but time didn't allow him to deduce what had happened. Snapping out of his astonishment, he considered what to do next. He quickly adjusted the sniper rifle's position to face the stranger fiercely charging toward him.

Having attended military college in Russia, Ivanov specialized in long-range shooting with remarkable talent. His ability to hit any target, moving or stationary, surpassed all his colleagues at the college. Since then, they called him the Russian Falcon for his precision vision, range, and ability to swoop down on targets undetected. With his muscular build and broad shoulders, he was also a skilled fighter in close combat.

Unfortunately for the masked man, he was still at a distance from Ivanov, placing him squarely in the spider's web—the domain where Ivanov never missed. He aimed, took a deep breath, then squeezed the trigger. The bullet shot forth, cutting through the air toward the masked figure. At that same moment, the figure stopped, raised his hands forward toward the bullet, and before it could hit him, powerfully moved his hands to the right. The trajectory of the bullet curved with the motion until it struck the building's glass, shattering it before finding its way outside and embedding itself in the opposite building.

Ivanov stood processing what had happened, his eyes wide with astonishment. He said to himself in overwhelming amazement:

"He made the bullet veer off course! What in heaven's name? Is he one of those who were with us in the tests? If so, why is he attacking me? Could this strange ability of his be what enabled him to see me in the darkness? He must have gone through what I went through too!"