The atmosphere inside the gym was razor-tight.
Though the room was chilled by the cold weather, Tanaka felt the heat rising, not from the temperature, but from the pressure. His heart thumped. Every breath felt heavier. The tension clung to the air like static before a lightning strike.
Or maybe it was Red Ray.
The man radiated something more than power. It was presence. Authority. An aura that had been generated from more battles than Tanaka had ever dreamed of.
Tanaka wanted that feeling someday. Not just strength, but legend.
From the upper balcony, the managers looked on through reinforced glass. They'd been ordered to observe only. No interference.
Before heading up, Kurt had clapped Tanaka's shoulder and whispered, serious for once:
"Give 'em hell, boy. No jokes today. Show them who The Blacksmith really is."
Then he'd turned and walked off beside Emily Stone, Froststorm's sharp-eyed manager, and Salma Trejo, a fierce woman who handled Steel Alfredo like a prized pit bull. Laura Bennet followed close behind, silent but watchful.
On the gym floor, Red Ray's voice echoed across the polished walls.
"This will be treated as a live combat scenario. As if you're facing a real-world supervillain. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Froststorm replied instantly, her voice bright with admiration. She stood straighter, eyes still gleaming like a fan meeting her hero.
Alfredo raised a hand slightly, casual. "So... what exactly are we doing?"
Red Ray looked at him like he was a distraction.
"You're fighting me."
Silence fell like a dropped weight.
Tanaka blinked. Wait, what?
They were facing Red Ray? One of the most powerful heroes on the planet?
This wasn't a training match. This was a trial by fire.
Alfredo let out a low whistle. "You serious?"
Red Ray didn't blink. "Deadly."
Tanaka felt a grin tug at the corner of his mouth. Finally. A real fight.
For too long, he'd been the biggest fish in a small pond back home. This was his chance to test himself against the elite. Not simulations. Not sparring bots. A top-five hero.
Alfredo cracked his knuckles, grinning. "Well then. I guess I won't hold back."
He turned, eyes on Tanaka, and smirked.
"Watch closely, Samurai. I'm about to kick a top-ranked superhero's ass."
Tanaka gave a tight smile in return, hand resting lightly on one of his swords.
"Just don't get knocked out before I warm up."
Red Ray cut through the tension with a single statement, cool and controlled.
"You're welcome to attack together. In fact, I encourage it."
He flexed his fingers once, and his visor flared, glowing red lines flickering across the lens like a charging laser grid.
"Because if you don't come at me with everything you've got..."
A beat.
"You won't last thirty seconds."
"Fine by me....but I'd like to test how I perform, solo," Steel Alfredo said, cracking his neck.
"Watch and learn."
And just like that, it began.
He charged forward, his footsteps thudding heavier with each stride. At first, his pace was normal, almost lazy. Then, he kicked into superhuman speed, tearing across the gym floor like a freight train on fire.
As he ran, his transformation began.
The skin on his arms shimmered, turning silver-gray, then hardening with a grinding, metallic hiss. Veins bulged beneath the surface as his flesh morphed into polished steel, dense, gleaming, unbreakable.
With a thunderous grunt, he launched himself off the ground.
It wasn't a leap. It was an airborne assault.
He soared upward like a missile, body twisting midair, two massive steel-coated fists raised high above his head.
From the glass observation deck, the managers watched in rapt silence. Emily Stone let out a breath. Kurt pressed both hands to the glass.
Tanaka's eyes narrowed. Froststorm tilted her head, mildly impressed.
Below them all, Red Ray didn't flinch.
He stood motionless, calm as a statue, head tilted slightly upward, his arms still folded behind his back, his stance utterly relaxed.
He was watching Alfredo fall toward him like a meteor.
Unbothered. Unimpressed. Unmoving.
There was a deafening crash as Steel Alfredo's fists slammed into the floor. The ground shattered beneath him, cracks spiderwebbing outwards. Shards of tile and concrete exploded in every direction, rattling the reinforced walls.
But Red Ray wasn't there.
He'd vanished a split second before impact, too fast to follow.
Alfredo's eyes widened. He felt it before he saw it, the quiet, unnerving pressure of someone behind him. The air shimmered faintly. Not from the vents. From power.
He spun, launching a devastating backhand, a steel-coated jab that could've leveled a truck.
Red Ray tilted his head, just slightly, and the punch missed by inches. No effort. No sound. Just ghostlike precision.
Alfredo snarled and attacked again, faster this time. Blurred swings tore through the air, one after another. Thunderous hooks. Rising uppercuts. Hammering blows that could crush bone and bend steel.
Red Ray dodged them all, gliding between strikes. His hands remained clasped calmly behind his back, posture perfectly relaxed, as if he were merely walking through falling leaves.
Not a single hit landed.
To the managers above, it was like watching a storm try to catch the wind.
"Your boy moves like a pit bull," Kurt said, arms crossed, eyes tracking Alfredo's wild swings.
"But…"
"But he's up against a dire wolf," Salma finished, her voice cool and firm. "He's fast, strong.....but reckless. Still too eager to prove something."
Emily leaned closer to the glass, her eyes scanning the untouched fighters. "Froststorm and that other kid haven't moved an inch," she noted.
"Studying their prey, maybe. Looking for an opening."
Laura said nothing. She simply watched.
Her gaze settled on The Blacksmith.
His expression was unreadable, cool, calm, almost indifferent. But his eyes were sharp, locked on the fight below.
"I'd like to see him in action," Laura said quietly.
Kurt smiled without taking his eyes off the glass.
"You will... and trust me, he won't disappoint."
...
Below.
"Don't mock me!" Steel Alfredo roared, fury rising in his throat.
His legs shimmered, transforming into dense gray metal with a grinding hiss. He bent low, then launched skyward with explosive force. The air cracked behind him.
He soared so high the managers instinctively flinched, stepping back from the reinforced glass. But Alfredo didn't crash into them. Instead, he twisted midair, body coiling like a spring.
Then he dropped, one leg raised high above him, aimed straight at Red Ray's skull.
The speed. The power. The sound, a violent whistle through the air.
But Red Ray didn't move.
He just watched the descending blow with a cold, measured grin.
The steel leg came down.
CRACK!
Red Ray caught it cleanly between both hands.
The floor trembled. Dust scattered.
But Red Ray didn't flinch.
The attack, one that should've caved in concrete, had no effect. His grip didn't budge. His body didn't even shift an inch.
Alfredo's eyes went wide. He felt it now, raw, terrifying pressure wrapping around his leg.
Not brute strength. Mastery.
The kind of power that separated heroes from legends.
"Let me go!" he snarled, struggling to wrench free.
Red Ray's cold smile widened.
"With pleasure."
And then, he moved.
He spun, using Alfredo's own momentum like a slingshot. His body twisted in a clean arc, and with one monstrous pull, he hurled Alfredo across the gym like a ragdoll.
Alfredo's body smashed through a training station, pulverizing steel support beams, and slammed into the far wall hard enough to leave a crater.
The room shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Silence followed.
Froststorm's eyes sparkled with awe. Her idol's presence, his sheer command of the room, was beyond anything she'd imagined.
The Blacksmith, however, felt only relief. The loudmouth had been silenced. Finally, it was his turn.
He wouldn't make the same mistake. He wouldn't be another name on Red Ray's highlight reel.
"Looks like we're up," he said to Froststorm, loosening his shoulders.
She smirked. "Well, try not to freeze. I'm going full power. I don't care if he's my hero, I'm not holding back."
Before either could move, a low growl came from the far wall.
Steel Alfredo staggered out of the crater, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Who said I'm done?" he rasped, wiping his chin. "I'm made of steel."
Red Ray tilted his head, mildly amused. "That's admirable," he said, "but since you're made of steel... I'll need to use something that melts steel."
His visor flared to life, deep crimson lines pulsed across the glass, like lava veins crawling under the surface. The air around him shimmered, warping with heat.
"Here it comes!" The Blacksmith shouted.
Alfredo's instincts kicked in, he threw up his arms, shielding his face with metal-plated forearms.
A split second later, Red Ray fired.
A blazing red laser erupted from the visor, slicing through the gym like a lance from the gods. It tore across the room with a high-pitched screech, like metal screaming under pressure, the beam leaving a scorched trail in its wake as it powered towards Alfredo's guard.
The light from the blast lit up Tanaka's face. He didn't blink. Neither did Froststorm. No one moved.