MUGEN Voltage

Ch. 17: Into the Downward Spiral

"It's about time you showed up..." Said a male voice. "Shockmaster."

Kouya, Iro and Osamu were in the middle of moving into their new apartment, when the taxi cab they were riding on suddenly stopped moving. It was then that they realized that the cab appeared to be sinking down the asphalt, as if the ground were some sort of quicksand, leading Kouya to think that it was an attack by another Irregular. Eventually, it was all confirmed when, after rescuing Iro, Osamu and the driver, Kouya heard a voice coming out from behind.

"Who are you...?" Said Kouya.

Kouya glances behind him, and saw a mysterious figure coming out from behind. It turned out to be a teenager, who had ash-blonde hair styled up in high spikes, and wore a red and black tracksuit and white shoes. The large collar of the tracksuit conceals his mouth, giving him a delinquent-like appearance.

"Name's Riki Yusa. My PSI... is Quicksander." Said the male. "You may not know who I am... but I know everything about you."

"My, my, seems like I'm becoming quite famous." Kouya replied.

"As foolish as the rumors say, it seems." Said Riki. "Heh, this'll be a piece of cake!"

"Me? Foolish? What kind of rumors have you be-whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa!" Kouya replied, as he nearly steps on the quicksand puddle beside him, only managing to take off his foot at the last second. "Whew, that was a close one!"

Riki observes Kouya's every move with a blank expression on his face. In his head, various thoughts cross his mind.

"So this pipsqueak is the guy who single-handedly defeated the El Diablo del Pilar?" Riki thought, as he observes Kouya. "Tch, must have been a fluke. There's no way someone like him was able to defeat El Diablo himself."

"Oi, clown face. It's best you quit goofing around and take me seriously." Said Riki. "Show me the ferocity that you unleashed on El Diablo himself!"

Music: "Down" by Motograter (Motograter; 2003)

"Oh, is that so...?" Said Kouya. "Well then, be careful what you wish for!"

Kouya runs toward Riki, using his Shockmaster-powered lightspeed, with the speed boost allowing him to reach a few meters without his feet touching the ground, allowing him to scoot away from any possible quicksand puddles that Riki might have made nearby.

As he was about to land on the road, a hand suddenly comes out of the asphalt, and grabs him by the foot.

"What?!" Said Kouya.

"Gyahaha! Utter fool!" Riki replied. "Did you really think your lightspeed can save you from the effects of my quicksand?!"

"My ability, Quicksander, doesn't just allow me to turn the floor into sticky quicksand..." Riki added. "But it also allows me to control that very same quicksand, kinda like this!"

The hand from the quicksand proceeds to throw Kouya all over the place, before slamming him down the hard concrete. The hand then grabs ahold of him again, this time in an attempt to drag Kouya down the ground.

However, before Kouya was dragged complete into the quicksand, Kouya proceeds to cut off one of the wires from a nearby electric post and uses it to climb up and escape Riki's quicksand. Due to the nature of his Shockmaster ability, contact with live wire doesn't harm Kouya. Rather, it actually increases his supercharge.

"Not bad. I must've underestimated your ability, Shockmaster." Said Riki. "But, escaping will only get you so far!"

Kouya suddenly notices that Riki's quicksand was slowly climbing up the live wire that he was hanging on. In a frenzy, Kouya hurriedly climbs up the wire and into the nearest post. Eventually, Kouya reaches the top of the post.