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Mecha Man stood in front of the burning mall, looking at what was soon to become nothing more than burnt ruins even if he managed to get the fire-wielding villain out from inside it, just waiting for the signal that everyone had been evacuated. He hated this feeling, being unable to do anything in the moment, knowing that people were suffering and he couldn't make a move to help them. It was far too dangerous, the combination of his suit, the fire, and the crumbling building would just make it harder to save everyone.
"That's everyone, all clear," a police officer said, and he looked back at the man for a moment, before starting to run in. He vaguely heard the officer say something else, but he didn't bother paying attention. He had a villain to beat. Moving through the burning building, he eventually came upon a large open section, jumping down to the ground to look around. If there was a place in this mall for the villain to confront him, it was probably here.
"Damage is done. All I want is a conversation," he announced into his suits microphone, his words ringing out clear from the suits speakers. Walking through the carnage, he looked around, not wanting to be caught off guard by the villain. Suddenly, a ball of fire shot by him, and his gaze followed it. A bad idea, given what followed it.
"No need to do any more-" he started, before the villain flew straight at him, fully covered in flames, hitting him in the chest and making him stumble to the side. Stumbling slightly, he looked around, trying to figure out where the villain was amidst the smoke and fire was proving to be a challenge. The thermal cameras he'd installed in his suit would be of no help, hell, they'd probably make finding the villain harder.
Thankfully, this time the villain flew at him, he had more than enough time to react. Readying his stance, he swung at the villain, who managed to dodge in time. Fuck. They entered a sort of dance, with the villain continuing to fly at Mecha Man, and Mecha Man dodging and trying to hit him. At one point, he managed to hit the villain with an upper punch, knocking him though that didn't dissuade him in the slightest. Pain shot through his body, and he had to take a moment to recover. Whoever they were, his soulmate picked the worst time to get into a fight. Steeling himself, he prepared. He needed to hit the villain harder, because he wasn't sure how many hits the suit could take from something so hot.
The villain flew at him one last time, as Mecha Man wound the suits fist back and poured as much power as he could into it, hitting the villain and knocking him across the room and onto the floor. A plume of smoke, ash, and fire covered where the villain had hit the ground, and Mecha Man fought to keep upright, pain yet again hitting him suddenly. He tried to power through the pain, steadying himself and pretending the moment of not moving was just him preparing for the villain to launch at him again. Cautiously, he walked forward toward the impact site, looking around at possibly the worst time.
Suddenly, the villain hit him again, and he didn't have enough time to react, flying back into a column. As the suit hit the ground, a chunk of what seemed to be the column he'd hit fell on him, knocking the wind out of him slightly. With more effort than he'd like, he tossed the rubble off of him, panting as he sat up. From the corner of his eye, he could see the villain fly by, though he seemed to have slowed down slightly.
Standing up, he very quickly had to turn on the suits boosters as all of a sudden the villain threw a piece of rubble at him. From his vantage point, he could see the carnage their fight had brought on, feeling slightly bad for the people who were going to need to clear out everything. yet again, the villain flew at him, this time knocking him into the ceiling. Too distracted by the pain as he fell, he didn't notice the villain falling to the ground suddenly either. The suit hit the ground, and he grit his teeth, trying to power through the pain again.
Suddenly, the floor below him collapsed, and he hit the basement floor this time. This time, the suit fell on it's front, and Robert felt the wind get knocked out of him yet again. He desperately tried to push himself up to grab onto the suits controls again, something that yet again took more effort than he ever would have liked. He'd need to do more at the gym if he was this out of it. Looking around, he managed to dodge the villain in time, noticing he was even slower this time. The next dive bomb, Mecha Man knocked the villain through a wall, doing his best to ignore the pain that hit his back and the trickle of blood now coming from his mouth as he did so.
Once the smoke and debris cleared, he saw the villain again, this time no longer covered in fire, slowly and shakily standing up. The villain walked towards him, and had Robert not been so far into the Mecha Man mindset and the desire to win this fight, he might have noticed the very similar trickle of blood coming from the villains mouth. The villain walked towards him slowly, and he braced himself for the villain to launch himself at him again.
"Cool down, and I won't have to hurt you," he'd rather not continue to fight, not with the pain he was in and the fact that his soulmate also happened to be fighting at the same time, and causing him even more pain. The villain didn't reply, suddenly firing a beam of fire at Mecha Man. He quickly pulled up the suits shield, praying that it could hold up under the onslaught. It didn't. Once he started to see it break down, he looked around the suit for a moment, before panicking and launched nets into the air, hoping they would distract the villain so he could figure something else out.
Yet again, that idea failed, and the villain instead quickly burned them, and started hitting Mecha Man with even more fire. The hero quickly tried to hit him with the taser attached to his arm, though it was instead just hit with a burst of fire, knocking it off of the suit. He was pushed back, the suits feet hitting a large rubble piece, keeping him from being moved further, though it also pinned him down. The fire continued, and he glanced a look at his shield, which only continued to melt more and more.
In a last minute decision, he turned on the suits energy sword and swung, cutting through the pinky and ring finger of the villain. Suddenly, pain shot out from his right hand, the same fingers falling off and blood starting to drop from them, and he felt nothing but pure, unadulterated dread and sorrow. Not only was his soulmate a villain, but he was a villain who he had permanently disabled. Tears spilled from his eyes unwillingly, and he could hear himself start to sob, desperately trying to pull through and capture his soulmate the villain.