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-Now we come to the part where it gets even worse for Troy. I'll have to admit this second half hasn't been glossed over by an editor. For some reason their file on it was lost in e-mail limbo so all I've got is my version with some rough editing by me. If I ever get the other file I'll upload that one instead but for now this should suffice.

-As always Sugar Skull and Wicked aren't my characters, they belong to

-And Ethos doesn't belong to me either he belongs to (That's right more than one person for copyright stuff this go around, and for the record plenty more of that to come >: ))

After that encounter, the next day was uneventful Troy had done some deliveries and for once no megalomaniac was out to make his day hell. After a full day shift of deliveries, he needed the night off from hero work. He was making himself dinner, tonight’s menu was breakfast dinner, nothing like freshly made Belgium waffles with lots of bacon and sausages. In the middle of waiting for his dinner to finish cooking he looked over to his phone. He still felt bad about what he said to Anastasia, he shouldn’t have called her a coward or a leech that was just going too far. With no time like the present he decided she’d had enough time to cool off. Troy grabbed his phone and began the very awkward situation of a super hero texting a super villain in order to apologize them.
    Troy: “Hey, you there?”
    He waited but didn’t get a reply. Instead he went back to his cooking, if she didn’t want to talk there was nothing he could do about that might as well finish making dinner. Another ten minutes later and he’d finished and was well on his way to eating through dinner. After he ate about five waffles his phone alerted him that he had a new message. Still shoveling an inhumane amount of food into his mouth with one hand he used his other hand to see what was going on.
    Anastasia: “Hey, remember that other super hero from yesterday.”
    Troy: “Wicked? Let me guess you’re fighting them again.”
    Anastasia: “Yep, and they aren’t alone.”
    The next thing that came up was an image of Wicked and some guy that had a weird, Troy wanted to say glowing aura around them, both were in the middle of ripping dozens of Sugar Skulls creations to shreds. Troy had to take a minute to process this, he could feel his lungs tightening he knew where this was going. As his phone lit up once more He then gave an audible gulp signifying his worry when the following text arrived, one he was hoping she wouldn’t send.
    Anastasia: help, please.
    Troy: how?!
    Anastasia: check your closet
    Troy did as he was told practically running over to his closet. As he grasped onto the door knob he could feel the fear inside him begin to swell once again. He could guess what it would be but he was hoping, begging, pleading for it to not be the case. He peeled the bandage off, forcing the door open with unprecedent speed and force. His eye locked onto the thing he’d feared would be there, down on the floor lay the wrapped box Anastasia had made for him.
    The musical hero was now faced with a decision, one that will change his life as he’d know it. If he left well enough alone Sugar Skull was taken in, they’d figure out her identity which means Troy would no longer have any hold on her and she could tell whoever she wants who ‘Music Dude’ really was and wouldn’t be long till some other super powered nut job winds up at his door step and anyone he knew would once again be put in jeopardy. However, if he dawned her gift play her game and sink further into her plans, he could possibly only possibly keep his life in order. Either stick to his morals and face the consequences or risk his life, reputation, and very being on a gamble that might let him keep his life the way he wanted it. Troy’s mind was abuzz with thoughts. He could create a thousand different reasons whether he should or shouldn’t do this but in the end it came down to one question. What kind of person was he?
    Troy wanted to be the kind of person that could get along with anyone. In his attempt to be a super hero he was trying to bring the world together, make it more enjoyable and less worrisome. Yet, he found that more difficult then he could’ve ever imagined. Be it those he was supposed to fight or his supposed allies he knew well enough how they saw him. He was the one that was quick to bail from a fight, quick to run, quick to give up. They considered him a lazy person. That wasn’t the true though, he knows he’s capable of so much, but only with music. As he’d learned from experience, at any moment his phone could receive a call or text, the thing could run out of juice or catch a virus and then what? Troy never considered himself powerful he’d learned that first hand from defeat after crushing defeat. In order to live he had to evolve and he did. He learned to play it smart see the objective, make a plan. He learned how to think quickly and roll with whatever power he had. But most of all he learned what fights he could and couldn’t win.
    Which brings him to right now and the crushing weight of his next decision hanging on his shoulders. He felt so frustrated, he was so close to calling himself a hero again. He was so close but deep down he knew he didn’t deserve to be called that. He wasn’t a hero, all the criminals that had nearly taken his life have beaten it out of him, he was a survivor. He was alive because he did what he knew he had to, even if it hurt. The last time he was Anastasia’s accomplice he thought that was the lowest he could ever feel. With a deep, mournful sigh he realized he had much, much further to go.
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    Not too long ago, Sugar Skull was doing well. She tried breaking into some local small business or something she couldn’t remember. All she could recall was an anonymous tip about that ankh she lost being inside. It was, what she hadn’t realized getting there was that some hero with an axe to grind was also aware of this. Today’s battlefield, the gravel parking lot outside Jump City national park. Today’s challenger, the hero that beat her within an inch of her life, Wicked. Sugar Skull was still doing well, sure she didn’t grab her ankh yet so she her fire power had decreased but she was banking on that extra life energy she had to beat them. Her shade soldiers were powerful but took too much energy to keep running instead she opted for a few simple skeletal arms which she overloaded with enough power to make them practically be invincible. That was enough to overwhelm Wicked as the arms clasped down on each of her limbs. She had the hero spread out ala roman chariot style.
    “Ah now this is so much better.” Sugar Skull said in a sing song voice.
    “The moment I disintegrate these shadow whatzit that has my right arm. I’m going to break the other arms. Then I’m going to break your arms.”
    “You really think you’re in a spot to make threats. God, who even are you?”
    “The name… is WICKED!!!” As the hero screamed out the metal that constituted their helmet began to shift. From the restructuring of their suit came a couple of fashionable new lasers which pointed at the skeletal limbs that held her down. In just a matter of seconds Wicked had themselves from Sugar Skull’s arms and destroyed a couple evil magical skeletal arms in the process. Bright light plus high heat makes mince meat out of the dark, seems rather obvious.
    Before Wicked could use her device on the other limbs, Sugar Skull called them back to her. The villainess used a lot of life force to make those and they were gone in less than five minutes. She still had enough in stock for a couple more limbs and an emergency teleport if she needed it, but she was too invested in the fight to leave just yet. She summoned two more limbs and let them take the offensive, this time they were out to kill not capture.
    All of the malevolent limbs swatted at the armor-clad hero whose offensive power seemed weaker than before. That laser must have taken more out of them than Sugar Skull thought. Seeing it now she could tell she had the upper hand. Wicked is powerful but they were best at close range. Sugar Skull’s constructs were far more mobile, the hero couldn’t keep up, especially with the dip in power. Maybe it was time to give her a piece of her mind for stomping her face in. She created another two limbs that blindsided Wicked from both sides of her helmet followed up with a quadruple shadow magic punch that sent the hero hitting the wall of the building. The lights on the hero’s armor turned from green to orange. Now all it took would be one last hit to wrap up the fight.
    She looked around at the carnage they had caused, it didn’t really look that bad considering the parking lot was already gravel. Then she noticed a rather large boulder nearby, and an idea formed in her head. It was time for payback, she used her remaining dark arms to lift the boulder into the air and hurled it at the hero.
    Luckily, Wicked dodged out of the way and the rock was sent flying into the forest. What neither party expected was a rather large beam of red energy to come barreling back out nearly hitting the thief’s head. The land went silent except for some distant steady booms. Soon those sounds grew louder as the source grew closer until the source of the commotion came to the battle field. Out from the forest arrived what looked like a very hurt forest ranger surrounded by large menacing aura that held the shape of a monster. With in it’s large grasp held the very boulder Sugar Skull used to try and crush the other hero. A voice came emanating from the person with in, full of anger “Alright who the hell threw this!?”
    Which bring us to the present, Sugar Skull decided it was time to test her theory. She unraveled her skeletal arms and, in their place, created an army of low-level shade soldiers. She wanted to drag this out as much as she could, she needed this to work out the way she wanted it to. After taking a photo she did the only thing she could think of and pull an old Music Dude classic, run. She ran as fast as she could despite the throbbing pain in the front of her head. She looked back to see the absolute carnage that was behind her as the heroes carved their way through her instant army.
    The raging red monster was getting more aggressive by the moment. His style was, to put it bluntly primal, he’d swipe, punch, stomp out the dark entities with his incredible strength turning them to ash in an instant. Meanwhile, Wicked was being a bit more precise with her work. Instead of using absolute strength she was relying on the sharpness of her blades. The more she fought the more she realized that the creatures were weaker than they were before. The more they fought the more they got into it, they hacked away without reserve. At this rate Sugar Skull wouldn’t have more than a minute before she was tapped out.
    Music Dude must have rubbed off on her cause she was starting to get paranoid. What did she think was going to happen after this? She still had enough to get back to her penthouse so why did she insist on staying? She was willing to put herself on the line for the potential to have her sidekick back in her corner pocket. Even she couldn’t hide her fear behind a smile, this was risky beyond belief. Thirty seconds. The park ranger looking guy shouted at the top of his lungs which triggered the laser from before, his death ray disintegrated hordes of Sugar Skull’s creatures. Ten seconds. The villainess trips over a rock and when she looks to see the hulking figure leering down at her. The man, no this monster had its death laser charging up for a point-blank shot. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1. She closed her eyes.
    Sugar Skull flinched when she heard the beam fire but then she realized, she was completely fine. When the villain opened her eyes again, she was on the other side of the gravel lot. The two hero’s looking in her direction, but they weren’t focused on her they were focused on the person in front of her. It was a man dressed in all black. Heavy black boots, black jeans dark hoodie and to top it all off a black leather jacket which had an image embroidered on the back. Sugar Skull knew it well she spent weeks coming up with the perfect design for her intentions. She was going for a skull with headphones but just enough distortion so that it could be mistaken for a skull with some shapes around it. She went from terrified to joyously happy. Her partner, Troy, has returned to her.
    “bout time y-” Before she could finish Troy had his hand around her throat.
    “Let me make something very clear, you have officially pissed me the f*ck off.” His voice was deeper and rougher than she had ever heard it before, if wasn’t for the fact she knew who it was she’d have thought it was a completely different person under that hood. The hood, in question, was designed in a way so that it would hide his entire head except for his mouth, she figured it’d be for the better she didn’t want to see another death stare, even though she could just feel the death stare trying to bore its way into her brain.
    Despite currently being choked the villainess was happy, she knew she had nothing to fear from him. The fact that he had arrived at all proved that. A fully-fledged partner with an all new get up that she was proud of, what a thrill it was to have her own archrival back in her pocket. The look suited him well and by the way he was acting he could definitely play the ruthless bad boy part well just like she had hoped.
    “I told you, you’d do wonders on our side.” She said while struggling to breathe.
    “What can I say you bring out the worst in me.” After his comment he let her down so she could catch her breath. She took some of Troy’s morals but not all of them. That was about the one thing him and batman have in common, no killing. Now he has that same aggressive attitude problem he never liked of the big bat, just great.
    “You want my help fine, but we do this my way. Do you have enough energy to ‘port yourself back to your place?”
    “With the damage I took I could maybe get us halfway if I pushed it.”
    “Fine you can borrow some of mine.” Troy said immediately using his free hand to pull the hood up revealing his eyes. The look he gave Sugar Skull caused a moment of pause in her. This wasn’t his usual death stare those were cold and unfeeling. This time his eyes had a fire behind them, this was pure untampered hatred directed at her. Something she’d never seen from the generally up-beat or at least apathetic man. For however long they felt like they had locked eyes it didn’t last nearly as long as they thought, as the two other heroes descended upon them.
    Quickly Troy switched to invulnerability and warded off their attacks. He was really hating all of this, everything about this entire scenario was pissing him off. The fact that he had to sell another part of his soul to someone he hated. The fact that he’s facing off against two other heroes, people he thought were his allies. But most of all he hated how much of a coward he was. He just wanted this horrible night to be over with and pretend that it never happened.
    “Look, I’ll distract them, and you get away. Once you’re clear I’ll bail.”
    Troy pushed the two off of him and stood up taking a fighting stance towards the two heroes. Wicked the armored lady known for being a bit too intense. Then there was Ethos the emotional park ranger known for having breath taking anger management issues, it really did pay to keep tabs on other heroes. On any other day he would have considered them his allies maybe even try to make friends with them. This was his life now, hero’s out to arrest him and villains out to kill him, everything just seemed to be getting worse and worse. At this point he could officially declare he had it the worst out of everyone.
    “So, what’s your name? I want to know because I doubt, you’ll be able to tell the police what with your face beaten in.” Wicked said, trying to taunt the new challenger.
    “I’m Mu-” He cut himself off “name’s Maestro…”
    He tightened his grip of his fists till they were pure white so as to keep the shaking down, He knew there was no bailing out of this all he had left was himself and he had to hope that would be enough “Wicked… Ethos… Let’s get this over with.”
    With that they were off. The newly christened Maestro got the first hit off. With a devastating roundhouse kick he pushed Wicked back to the other side of the lot. No matter how mad he was he was primarily working with fear and he knew better than to take on two people at once. He skipped to the next song, heavy metal. At that moment the rage form Ethos came swinging with a right hook that Maestro immediately caught. He held it there then lunged forward to push park ranger down into the dirt. He then proceeded to beat the person into ground focusing solely on the area that wasn’t protected by the glowing red aura, Ethos face. The more he swung the more he realized it didn’t seem to faze the hero instead only making him angrier.
    Within seconds Ethos’ thoughts became form as a ball of white-hot energy accumulated right in front Maestro’s face. The hero let out a bellowing scream that instantly shot off another concussive point-blank laser blast. The beam sent Maestro flying into the air. Even with the throbbing pain that spread throughout his body he managed to land in a perfect three-point landing similar to a ballet dance. That didn’t last long as he had landed two feet away from Wicked. The armor-clad hero rushed at Maestro engaging him in hand to hand combat. While Ethos was more a test of power Wicked was a test of skill. The two clearly had some training in hand to hand combat as they were both able to block and counter each other’s advances with relative ease. All he needed was one solid hit with his strength that should be enough to take her out. Wicked going for another left hook, Maestro just found his opening.
    Instead of blocking he willingly took the hit to his left using his left arm to keep it grappled. Following this he pulled her in closer then hit her square in the chest with all his might. That should have been it, she should have been sent flying off to the other side of town, but before he could make contact he felt his power slip away. What the? I’m hearing the music, but the power isn’t there. In less than a second Troy went from angry to afraid.
    “Good time for my discs to start working again. You’re in trouble now.” Wicked said in between breathes. She then proceeded to turn her right hand into a blade and stab Maestro through his shoulder.
    Pain shot through him like a lightning bolt, he tried as much as he could but his arm was done. With blood running down both his arms he stared down Wicked from within his dark hood and then dodged out of the way of a laser blast as Ethos has rejoined the fray. It was a scene from hell as Maestro ran from Wicked and both were doing laps around Ethos. At this point it seemed that the hulking rage machine was in full monster mode. Before his attacks were directed at either Sugar Skull or him but now there was no direction. Ethos was just hurling punches left and right, some were targeting him some were targeting Wicked. His attacks were erratic causing major destruction to the surrounding area. Troy couldn’t do much, if Wicked can counter his powers he needed to adapt, think of something.
    There’s an idea worth some merit, Maestro touched down to land in front of Ethos. He grabbed and threw a rock directly at the man’s head. He now officially had the rage filled hero’s attention. He then changed his direction of dodges sending him on a direct course with Wicked. It all happened so fast, He got a hold on Wicked using a strange dance maneuver. Then came the super powered punch sending the two of them into a freshly made crater on the ground. Wicked got up a little woozy but alright thanks to her armor. With her senses only slightly impaired She was able to dodge out of the way of the next attack. Maestro, however, wasn’t so lucky and took another blast point blank.
    As it stands or couldn’t stand in Maestro’s case, he wasn’t looking to good. He was adaptive but he was most dangerous in his potential, when no one was sure what his power was, playing as an unknown element. He never could rely on which power he had, now he couldn’t so much as rely on just having a power, he couldn’t win. As he limped out of the of the impression Wicked grabbed his leg and threw him off into the nearby wall. He hit the building, leaving a rather defined impression of himself in the cement wall, the only thing keeping him going was the throbbing pain that had spread though out his body. First things first, he needed to heal his wounds. With a quick flip of the phone and some country music, he was on his way to getting some energy back, but he probably didn’t have long knowing how much Wicked loves to hurt people in her way.
    Oh well, this is what he gets for being a coward, he guesses. However, even he had to admit if this was a punishment for dealing with his own inner demons this is rather excessive. He was doing this to prevent his life from going to pot but he’s slowly starting to realize his life was already there. Forced to help his archnemesis in her schemes quite a life to live. Speaking of maybe Skully finally left and he could bail too. Her listening to him would be about the only good thing going for him right now. Too bad a sudden chime in from above shattered that reality.
    “You know I was expecting more from you.” Sugar Skull said, glaring down at him.
     “You- you really are out to ruin my life, aren’t you?”
    “Nah, just making it more to my benefit. So, you going to get up or-”
    “I’ve got this, so leave now…”
    “Are you sure they seem to be uh what’s the word, moping the floor with you.”
    Maestro turned to her flipping the hood off for just a moment “You want to help me? Then just listen for once and leave, please.” Despite the gritting of his teeth the request didn’t sound angry if anything it sounded sad and desperate. The effect was only compounded by the look on his face, the kind of look you’d expect from a child being bullied, he was practically on the verge of tears. Having healed himself enough to fight again he flipped his hood back on. Ready to charge into the fray once again, he walked back towards the two heroes leaving Sugar Skull in the back. Troy gritted his teeth, it was time for round two. If Sugar Skull wouldn’t leave he had no choice, he had to fight.
    Behind him Sugar Skull was there, watching the spectacle. This was rather boring compared to their fights, where was the drama of it all. This battle definitely had stakes but it needed something more, there was no pizzazz or last-minute surprise to turn the tide of the battle. Then as the thought crept into her head she got her devilish smile once again. I’ll do you one better Maestro, let’s make this a bit more interesting. With a click of from her heel the shadows began emanating from under her foot all of which converging on Troy.
    Troy could feel it. Some sort of shapeless mass was working its way around his body weaving around every inch of him. This shell of shadows worked its way around like some strange full body suit, it filled out his form giving his frame a much more muscular appearance. Which explained the slightly baggy design of the jacket. He kept moving forward but now he wasn’t sure whether it was his or Sugar Skull’s volition. As he outstretched his hands the shadows began pouring out from the sleeves taking the form of demonic claws.
    He tried to turn around to yell at Sugar Skull but found himself unable to do so, the shadows kept fighting back and forcing him on his directed path. This is what he gets for trusting her of course she wouldn’t listen no one ever listens. No matter what he does someone out their always wanted to ruin his life and for what? to piss him off? Why? It felt like everyone was out to get him just for the hell of it. People had been pushing him for years and he’d they’d nearly done it to if it wasn’t for his unabashed love of music. But now not even that could stop what was about to come, something awakened deep within Troy, from here on out he wasn’t feeling forced to fight he wanted to.
    He started running at surprising speed considering he was still listening to country music. He was so unprepared for this that he ended up crashing right into Wicked, the two essentially faceplanting into the dirt. Wicked followed this up with another stab in Troy’s shoulder or at least it would have if it wasn’t for a recent addition of some dark magical shadow armor. Instead the blade couldn’t so much as leave a scratch on him. Maestro threw an overwhelming blow at the armored hero’s helmet with an unexpected strength that was able to crack the visor. Speed, strength, invulnerability, and regeneration Troy definitely felt like he was cheating. These shadows weren’t just some accessory for Sugar Skull to control him they were making up for what he was lacking and amplifying he had. He could definitely feel that as his body had already finished fixing itself.
    He heard a roar coming from the enraged Ethos who was charging at him normally he’d run for it but this time he’d try experimenting with the strange dark music combo. Before the hulking beast could attack him, he did a switch over to heavy metal. Then caught both of the red fists. Armed with both his and Sugar Skulls strength he was stronger than Ethos as he was able to push him back even making tumble onto himself. So, this is what it felt like to be powerful. He went in for a couple hits but that aura around him seemed to protect the raging hero from harm. That’s when he got a blast from behind sending him flying back into the dirt. When he got up Wicked was on top of him with a ready-made laser pointing right at him. He put his hand up to block the blast but all that accomplished was the singing of his real fingertips. As quickly as they’d left some more shadows came to replace the demonic hand. Shadows and lasers do not mix Troy thought to himself. Then a thought occurred, and he grimaced.
    Wicked landed on her feat firing another volley, which Maestro evaded with ease. He was moving like a wraith and close the gap in a second. With his right hand in his pocket switching songs again he used his left hand grabbed onto the barrel of the gun. The cannon charged up but just before it fired the shadows receded back into the sleeve as his normal hand took the shot. Invulnerability looks like Music Dude’s is better than the shadows. When the blast concluded the shadows returned encasing the entirety of Wicked’s right arm. Maestro followed up with a barrage of powerful punches and kicks. He was going at blurring speed almost to the point that he could be confused for the shadows themselves. Even so Maestro was still fighting smart, he wanted this fight to be over with and was only hitting key spots to disable her. At first, the hero tried defending herself but given the speed Wicked just couldn’t keep up with his attacks. Her armor started to bend at strange angles from the incessant pounding it had to take. The mind was willing but the body just couldn’t keep up with all the beatings it had taken. Before long the lights on her armor turned from orange to red and Wicked was too weak to even raise her arms Finally came a punch straight to the face that caused helmet to concave and the visor to crack, she had gone limp. Maestro pushed Wicked over to the side, content that she now seemed to be done with fighting.
    Now he just needed to finish with Ethos, who had spent the last few moments readying another concussion blast. He evaded again and then Ethos tried doing what had failed earlier with another punch which lead to the same result of him being on his back. Unlike the angry Ethos Troy kept thinking. Knowing that he could control the shadow constructs he sent the demonic claw through the giant gaping mouth of the construct. He then proceeded to wrap his grip around the hero’s neck. As the hero began gasping for breath the construct around them began glitching, it was changing from an aggressive red to something that was bright green with multiple arms. The arms tried to throw Maestro, but they couldn’t so much as leave as scratch on him.
    At this point Maestro couldn’t help but smile a little as the adrenaline was working its way in his mind. He’d always known that Sugar Skulls was incredibly powerful, he even admitted as much to her. Troy was the opposite, he’d never considered himself powerful, but he always saw himself as adaptable able to work with any situation and find some sort of solution. Troy was honestly amazed at how good it felt, being Maestro was on a whole other level than before, not only were these shadows helping, he could control them. To an extent Maestro understood Sugar Skull’s fascination with him, with their powers combined he had undeniable power with adaptability, there was nothing anyone could throw at him that he could go up against. This was the greatest high he had ever felt, Maestro was unstoppable.
    Even Sugar Skull realized that the fighting had died down and she left her little hideaway. Seeing her partner deal with the heroes sent a shiver down her spine. She was ecstatic. Never in her life did she think this would work out as well as it had. She’d seen it in Troy, he really had the potential to be one of the best super criminals ever, and now he was hers. The smile on her face just kept growing as she got closer as she felt like she had truly won the battle.
    “Not bad for a first time Maestro, I think it’s time we take our spoils.” Sugar Skull exclaimed
    Just like that, the high Troy was on crashed as he was brought back from his adrenaline induced haze and he was left with was an attempt at murder. Troy regained his senses, Sugar Skull was trying to remove Wicked’s helmet, and ethos was still in his clutches gasping for air. Troy tried to remove his grasp, but his hand was stuck. A quick look over at his accomplice told it all, she had her hand raised towards him and her signature devilish smile.
    “Sorry but can’t have you turning coward just yet.”
    He was panicking, he might have been tempted to enjoying violence but he’d never take a life if he could help it. His fear mounted but not for the usual reason, he knew exactly how to get out of this situation but he hates using that power. However, the fact he was about to choke someone out did take precedent, he bit his fear and with his free hand switched the music back to the same song he’d used at the bar. It took a few seconds to warm up but with Troy focusing hard the darkness surrounding his body sizzled down, soon enough there was nothing left but smoke and ash.
    With Ethos’s neck free, the park ranger leapt back skidding across the ground. Without a second thought the hero got up wanting to run away as fast as he could but Maestro stopped him. The villain was able to catch up to ethos in a in less than a second, now holding the limp and badly hurt Wicked in his arms.
    “Wait before you go, please take Wicked with you.”
    He switched to another song in his phone and began rubbing his fingers together. When he spread his fingers out arcs of electricity formed between them. He touched down on Wicked’s chest plate and the lights on her armor became turned from red to orange. A sigh of relief passed his lips. He began carrying the hero in his arms over to the quite paranoid hero.
    Before he could hand her over to the other’s awaiting arms he felt a tug on his jacket. It was Wicked who was using the last of her strength to grab his attention.
    “You’re… going… to pay for this…”
    “I’ll be sure to lose sleep over it.”
    Ethos looked at Maestro funny for a second “Why would you do this?”
    “It’s might surprise you but I don’t like hurting people as much as it seems.”
    With that Maestro handed Wicked over to Ethos and they parted ways. He returned to Sugar Skull who was looking quite frustrated with the turn of events.
    “Can’t believe you, you’re my partner again you should act like it.”
    “We’re done here let’s just get you back home.”
    “Come on not even so much as a snappy comeback.”
    “You almost made me kill someone tonight, I’m done.” As he said that he looked down at his hand covered in pulsing dark energy. He rolled his fingers and the demonic claws responded in time. This was too much for him to handle he needed time to think about what had just happened.
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    Within the hour Both of them were back in their respective dwellings. Sugar Skull enjoying herself a nice long rest but Troy, Troy couldn’t sleep. After what happened tonight how could he just forget it like it was nothing. He tried before to get away from being a criminal and now it got even worse. Before he was a lackey and now he had full blown third personality with a costume to back it up. Which was currently spread out across the floor. He kept repeating the same mantra in his head over and over again everything will be fine, just wait, you need to survive. Troy looked at his phone one new message he had gotten from Anastasia after he had dropped her off.
    Anastasia: “Maestro huh?... I like it : )”

    He turned his phone off and tried his best to get some sleep, but it never came. So, he laid there in silence, after everything that happened he didn’t deserve to listen to music.
((oh boy what a story, What will become of Troy with this new (and already used) developement, tune in next time for another Indomitable Music Dude story PS: It's just gonna get worse for him from here on))

Description
-Now we come to the part where it gets even worse for Troy. I'll have to admit this second half hasn't been glossed over by an editor. For some reason their file on it was lost in e-mail limbo so all I've got is my version with some rough editing by me. If I ever get the other file I'll upload that one instead but for now this should suffice.

-As always Sugar Skull and Wicked aren't my characters, they belong to

-And Ethos doesn't belong to me either he belongs to (That's right more than one person for copyright stuff this go around, and for the record plenty more of that to come >: ))

After that encounter, the next day was uneventful Troy had done some deliveries and for once no megalomaniac was out to make his day hell. After a full day shift of deliveries, he needed the night off from hero work. He was making himself dinner, tonight’s menu was breakfast dinner, nothing like freshly made Belgium waffles with lots of bacon and sausages. In the middle of waiting for his dinner to finish cooking he looked over to his phone. He still felt bad about what he said to Anastasia, he shouldn’t have called her a coward or a leech that was just going too far. With no time like the present he decided she’d had enough time to cool off. Troy grabbed his phone and began the very awkward situation of a super hero texting a super villain in order to apologize them.
    Troy: “Hey, you there?”
    He waited but didn’t get a reply. Instead he went back to his cooking, if she didn’t want to talk there was nothing he could do about that might as well finish making dinner. Another ten minutes later and he’d finished and was well on his way to eating through dinner. After he ate about five waffles his phone alerted him that he had a new message. Still shoveling an inhumane amount of food into his mouth with one hand he used his other hand to see what was going on.
    Anastasia: “Hey, remember that other super hero from yesterday.”
    Troy: “Wicked? Let me guess you’re fighting them again.”
    Anastasia: “Yep, and they aren’t alone.”
    The next thing that came up was an image of Wicked and some guy that had a weird, Troy wanted to say glowing aura around them, both were in the middle of ripping dozens of Sugar Skulls creations to shreds. Troy had to take a minute to process this, he could feel his lungs tightening he knew where this was going. As his phone lit up once more He then gave an audible gulp signifying his worry when the following text arrived, one he was hoping she wouldn’t send.
    Anastasia: help, please.
    Troy: how?!
    Anastasia: check your closet
    Troy did as he was told practically running over to his closet. As he grasped onto the door knob he could feel the fear inside him begin to swell once again. He could guess what it would be but he was hoping, begging, pleading for it to not be the case. He peeled the bandage off, forcing the door open with unprecedent speed and force. His eye locked onto the thing he’d feared would be there, down on the floor lay the wrapped box Anastasia had made for him.
    The musical hero was now faced with a decision, one that will change his life as he’d know it. If he left well enough alone Sugar Skull was taken in, they’d figure out her identity which means Troy would no longer have any hold on her and she could tell whoever she wants who ‘Music Dude’ really was and wouldn’t be long till some other super powered nut job winds up at his door step and anyone he knew would once again be put in jeopardy. However, if he dawned her gift play her game and sink further into her plans, he could possibly only possibly keep his life in order. Either stick to his morals and face the consequences or risk his life, reputation, and very being on a gamble that might let him keep his life the way he wanted it. Troy’s mind was abuzz with thoughts. He could create a thousand different reasons whether he should or shouldn’t do this but in the end it came down to one question. What kind of person was he?
    Troy wanted to be the kind of person that could get along with anyone. In his attempt to be a super hero he was trying to bring the world together, make it more enjoyable and less worrisome. Yet, he found that more difficult then he could’ve ever imagined. Be it those he was supposed to fight or his supposed allies he knew well enough how they saw him. He was the one that was quick to bail from a fight, quick to run, quick to give up. They considered him a lazy person. That wasn’t the true though, he knows he’s capable of so much, but only with music. As he’d learned from experience, at any moment his phone could receive a call or text, the thing could run out of juice or catch a virus and then what? Troy never considered himself powerful he’d learned that first hand from defeat after crushing defeat. In order to live he had to evolve and he did. He learned to play it smart see the objective, make a plan. He learned how to think quickly and roll with whatever power he had. But most of all he learned what fights he could and couldn’t win.
    Which brings him to right now and the crushing weight of his next decision hanging on his shoulders. He felt so frustrated, he was so close to calling himself a hero again. He was so close but deep down he knew he didn’t deserve to be called that. He wasn’t a hero, all the criminals that had nearly taken his life have beaten it out of him, he was a survivor. He was alive because he did what he knew he had to, even if it hurt. The last time he was Anastasia’s accomplice he thought that was the lowest he could ever feel. With a deep, mournful sigh he realized he had much, much further to go.
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    Not too long ago, Sugar Skull was doing well. She tried breaking into some local small business or something she couldn’t remember. All she could recall was an anonymous tip about that ankh she lost being inside. It was, what she hadn’t realized getting there was that some hero with an axe to grind was also aware of this. Today’s battlefield, the gravel parking lot outside Jump City national park. Today’s challenger, the hero that beat her within an inch of her life, Wicked. Sugar Skull was still doing well, sure she didn’t grab her ankh yet so she her fire power had decreased but she was banking on that extra life energy she had to beat them. Her shade soldiers were powerful but took too much energy to keep running instead she opted for a few simple skeletal arms which she overloaded with enough power to make them practically be invincible. That was enough to overwhelm Wicked as the arms clasped down on each of her limbs. She had the hero spread out ala roman chariot style.
    “Ah now this is so much better.” Sugar Skull said in a sing song voice.
    “The moment I disintegrate these shadow whatzit that has my right arm. I’m going to break the other arms. Then I’m going to break your arms.”
    “You really think you’re in a spot to make threats. God, who even are you?”
    “The name… is WICKED!!!” As the hero screamed out the metal that constituted their helmet began to shift. From the restructuring of their suit came a couple of fashionable new lasers which pointed at the skeletal limbs that held her down. In just a matter of seconds Wicked had themselves from Sugar Skull’s arms and destroyed a couple evil magical skeletal arms in the process. Bright light plus high heat makes mince meat out of the dark, seems rather obvious.
    Before Wicked could use her device on the other limbs, Sugar Skull called them back to her. The villainess used a lot of life force to make those and they were gone in less than five minutes. She still had enough in stock for a couple more limbs and an emergency teleport if she needed it, but she was too invested in the fight to leave just yet. She summoned two more limbs and let them take the offensive, this time they were out to kill not capture.
    All of the malevolent limbs swatted at the armor-clad hero whose offensive power seemed weaker than before. That laser must have taken more out of them than Sugar Skull thought. Seeing it now she could tell she had the upper hand. Wicked is powerful but they were best at close range. Sugar Skull’s constructs were far more mobile, the hero couldn’t keep up, especially with the dip in power. Maybe it was time to give her a piece of her mind for stomping her face in. She created another two limbs that blindsided Wicked from both sides of her helmet followed up with a quadruple shadow magic punch that sent the hero hitting the wall of the building. The lights on the hero’s armor turned from green to orange. Now all it took would be one last hit to wrap up the fight.
    She looked around at the carnage they had caused, it didn’t really look that bad considering the parking lot was already gravel. Then she noticed a rather large boulder nearby, and an idea formed in her head. It was time for payback, she used her remaining dark arms to lift the boulder into the air and hurled it at the hero.
    Luckily, Wicked dodged out of the way and the rock was sent flying into the forest. What neither party expected was a rather large beam of red energy to come barreling back out nearly hitting the thief’s head. The land went silent except for some distant steady booms. Soon those sounds grew louder as the source grew closer until the source of the commotion came to the battle field. Out from the forest arrived what looked like a very hurt forest ranger surrounded by large menacing aura that held the shape of a monster. With in it’s large grasp held the very boulder Sugar Skull used to try and crush the other hero. A voice came emanating from the person with in, full of anger “Alright who the hell threw this!?”
    Which bring us to the present, Sugar Skull decided it was time to test her theory. She unraveled her skeletal arms and, in their place, created an army of low-level shade soldiers. She wanted to drag this out as much as she could, she needed this to work out the way she wanted it to. After taking a photo she did the only thing she could think of and pull an old Music Dude classic, run. She ran as fast as she could despite the throbbing pain in the front of her head. She looked back to see the absolute carnage that was behind her as the heroes carved their way through her instant army.
    The raging red monster was getting more aggressive by the moment. His style was, to put it bluntly primal, he’d swipe, punch, stomp out the dark entities with his incredible strength turning them to ash in an instant. Meanwhile, Wicked was being a bit more precise with her work. Instead of using absolute strength she was relying on the sharpness of her blades. The more she fought the more she realized that the creatures were weaker than they were before. The more they fought the more they got into it, they hacked away without reserve. At this rate Sugar Skull wouldn’t have more than a minute before she was tapped out.
    Music Dude must have rubbed off on her cause she was starting to get paranoid. What did she think was going to happen after this? She still had enough to get back to her penthouse so why did she insist on staying? She was willing to put herself on the line for the potential to have her sidekick back in her corner pocket. Even she couldn’t hide her fear behind a smile, this was risky beyond belief. Thirty seconds. The park ranger looking guy shouted at the top of his lungs which triggered the laser from before, his death ray disintegrated hordes of Sugar Skull’s creatures. Ten seconds. The villainess trips over a rock and when she looks to see the hulking figure leering down at her. The man, no this monster had its death laser charging up for a point-blank shot. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1. She closed her eyes.
    Sugar Skull flinched when she heard the beam fire but then she realized, she was completely fine. When the villain opened her eyes again, she was on the other side of the gravel lot. The two hero’s looking in her direction, but they weren’t focused on her they were focused on the person in front of her. It was a man dressed in all black. Heavy black boots, black jeans dark hoodie and to top it all off a black leather jacket which had an image embroidered on the back. Sugar Skull knew it well she spent weeks coming up with the perfect design for her intentions. She was going for a skull with headphones but just enough distortion so that it could be mistaken for a skull with some shapes around it. She went from terrified to joyously happy. Her partner, Troy, has returned to her.
    “bout time y-” Before she could finish Troy had his hand around her throat.
    “Let me make something very clear, you have officially pissed me the f*ck off.” His voice was deeper and rougher than she had ever heard it before, if wasn’t for the fact she knew who it was she’d have thought it was a completely different person under that hood. The hood, in question, was designed in a way so that it would hide his entire head except for his mouth, she figured it’d be for the better she didn’t want to see another death stare, even though she could just feel the death stare trying to bore its way into her brain.
    Despite currently being choked the villainess was happy, she knew she had nothing to fear from him. The fact that he had arrived at all proved that. A fully-fledged partner with an all new get up that she was proud of, what a thrill it was to have her own archrival back in her pocket. The look suited him well and by the way he was acting he could definitely play the ruthless bad boy part well just like she had hoped.
    “I told you, you’d do wonders on our side.” She said while struggling to breathe.
    “What can I say you bring out the worst in me.” After his comment he let her down so she could catch her breath. She took some of Troy’s morals but not all of them. That was about the one thing him and batman have in common, no killing. Now he has that same aggressive attitude problem he never liked of the big bat, just great.
    “You want my help fine, but we do this my way. Do you have enough energy to ‘port yourself back to your place?”
    “With the damage I took I could maybe get us halfway if I pushed it.”
    “Fine you can borrow some of mine.” Troy said immediately using his free hand to pull the hood up revealing his eyes. The look he gave Sugar Skull caused a moment of pause in her. This wasn’t his usual death stare those were cold and unfeeling. This time his eyes had a fire behind them, this was pure untampered hatred directed at her. Something she’d never seen from the generally up-beat or at least apathetic man. For however long they felt like they had locked eyes it didn’t last nearly as long as they thought, as the two other heroes descended upon them.
    Quickly Troy switched to invulnerability and warded off their attacks. He was really hating all of this, everything about this entire scenario was pissing him off. The fact that he had to sell another part of his soul to someone he hated. The fact that he’s facing off against two other heroes, people he thought were his allies. But most of all he hated how much of a coward he was. He just wanted this horrible night to be over with and pretend that it never happened.
    “Look, I’ll distract them, and you get away. Once you’re clear I’ll bail.”
    Troy pushed the two off of him and stood up taking a fighting stance towards the two heroes. Wicked the armored lady known for being a bit too intense. Then there was Ethos the emotional park ranger known for having breath taking anger management issues, it really did pay to keep tabs on other heroes. On any other day he would have considered them his allies maybe even try to make friends with them. This was his life now, hero’s out to arrest him and villains out to kill him, everything just seemed to be getting worse and worse. At this point he could officially declare he had it the worst out of everyone.
    “So, what’s your name? I want to know because I doubt, you’ll be able to tell the police what with your face beaten in.” Wicked said, trying to taunt the new challenger.
    “I’m Mu-” He cut himself off “name’s Maestro…”
    He tightened his grip of his fists till they were pure white so as to keep the shaking down, He knew there was no bailing out of this all he had left was himself and he had to hope that would be enough “Wicked… Ethos… Let’s get this over with.”
    With that they were off. The newly christened Maestro got the first hit off. With a devastating roundhouse kick he pushed Wicked back to the other side of the lot. No matter how mad he was he was primarily working with fear and he knew better than to take on two people at once. He skipped to the next song, heavy metal. At that moment the rage form Ethos came swinging with a right hook that Maestro immediately caught. He held it there then lunged forward to push park ranger down into the dirt. He then proceeded to beat the person into ground focusing solely on the area that wasn’t protected by the glowing red aura, Ethos face. The more he swung the more he realized it didn’t seem to faze the hero instead only making him angrier.
    Within seconds Ethos’ thoughts became form as a ball of white-hot energy accumulated right in front Maestro’s face. The hero let out a bellowing scream that instantly shot off another concussive point-blank laser blast. The beam sent Maestro flying into the air. Even with the throbbing pain that spread throughout his body he managed to land in a perfect three-point landing similar to a ballet dance. That didn’t last long as he had landed two feet away from Wicked. The armor-clad hero rushed at Maestro engaging him in hand to hand combat. While Ethos was more a test of power Wicked was a test of skill. The two clearly had some training in hand to hand combat as they were both able to block and counter each other’s advances with relative ease. All he needed was one solid hit with his strength that should be enough to take her out. Wicked going for another left hook, Maestro just found his opening.
    Instead of blocking he willingly took the hit to his left using his left arm to keep it grappled. Following this he pulled her in closer then hit her square in the chest with all his might. That should have been it, she should have been sent flying off to the other side of town, but before he could make contact he felt his power slip away. What the? I’m hearing the music, but the power isn’t there. In less than a second Troy went from angry to afraid.
    “Good time for my discs to start working again. You’re in trouble now.” Wicked said in between breathes. She then proceeded to turn her right hand into a blade and stab Maestro through his shoulder.
    Pain shot through him like a lightning bolt, he tried as much as he could but his arm was done. With blood running down both his arms he stared down Wicked from within his dark hood and then dodged out of the way of a laser blast as Ethos has rejoined the fray. It was a scene from hell as Maestro ran from Wicked and both were doing laps around Ethos. At this point it seemed that the hulking rage machine was in full monster mode. Before his attacks were directed at either Sugar Skull or him but now there was no direction. Ethos was just hurling punches left and right, some were targeting him some were targeting Wicked. His attacks were erratic causing major destruction to the surrounding area. Troy couldn’t do much, if Wicked can counter his powers he needed to adapt, think of something.
    There’s an idea worth some merit, Maestro touched down to land in front of Ethos. He grabbed and threw a rock directly at the man’s head. He now officially had the rage filled hero’s attention. He then changed his direction of dodges sending him on a direct course with Wicked. It all happened so fast, He got a hold on Wicked using a strange dance maneuver. Then came the super powered punch sending the two of them into a freshly made crater on the ground. Wicked got up a little woozy but alright thanks to her armor. With her senses only slightly impaired She was able to dodge out of the way of the next attack. Maestro, however, wasn’t so lucky and took another blast point blank.
    As it stands or couldn’t stand in Maestro’s case, he wasn’t looking to good. He was adaptive but he was most dangerous in his potential, when no one was sure what his power was, playing as an unknown element. He never could rely on which power he had, now he couldn’t so much as rely on just having a power, he couldn’t win. As he limped out of the of the impression Wicked grabbed his leg and threw him off into the nearby wall. He hit the building, leaving a rather defined impression of himself in the cement wall, the only thing keeping him going was the throbbing pain that had spread though out his body. First things first, he needed to heal his wounds. With a quick flip of the phone and some country music, he was on his way to getting some energy back, but he probably didn’t have long knowing how much Wicked loves to hurt people in her way.
    Oh well, this is what he gets for being a coward, he guesses. However, even he had to admit if this was a punishment for dealing with his own inner demons this is rather excessive. He was doing this to prevent his life from going to pot but he’s slowly starting to realize his life was already there. Forced to help his archnemesis in her schemes quite a life to live. Speaking of maybe Skully finally left and he could bail too. Her listening to him would be about the only good thing going for him right now. Too bad a sudden chime in from above shattered that reality.
    “You know I was expecting more from you.” Sugar Skull said, glaring down at him.
     “You- you really are out to ruin my life, aren’t you?”
    “Nah, just making it more to my benefit. So, you going to get up or-”
    “I’ve got this, so leave now…”
    “Are you sure they seem to be uh what’s the word, moping the floor with you.”
    Maestro turned to her flipping the hood off for just a moment “You want to help me? Then just listen for once and leave, please.” Despite the gritting of his teeth the request didn’t sound angry if anything it sounded sad and desperate. The effect was only compounded by the look on his face, the kind of look you’d expect from a child being bullied, he was practically on the verge of tears. Having healed himself enough to fight again he flipped his hood back on. Ready to charge into the fray once again, he walked back towards the two heroes leaving Sugar Skull in the back. Troy gritted his teeth, it was time for round two. If Sugar Skull wouldn’t leave he had no choice, he had to fight.
    Behind him Sugar Skull was there, watching the spectacle. This was rather boring compared to their fights, where was the drama of it all. This battle definitely had stakes but it needed something more, there was no pizzazz or last-minute surprise to turn the tide of the battle. Then as the thought crept into her head she got her devilish smile once again. I’ll do you one better Maestro, let’s make this a bit more interesting. With a click of from her heel the shadows began emanating from under her foot all of which converging on Troy.
    Troy could feel it. Some sort of shapeless mass was working its way around his body weaving around every inch of him. This shell of shadows worked its way around like some strange full body suit, it filled out his form giving his frame a much more muscular appearance. Which explained the slightly baggy design of the jacket. He kept moving forward but now he wasn’t sure whether it was his or Sugar Skull’s volition. As he outstretched his hands the shadows began pouring out from the sleeves taking the form of demonic claws.
    He tried to turn around to yell at Sugar Skull but found himself unable to do so, the shadows kept fighting back and forcing him on his directed path. This is what he gets for trusting her of course she wouldn’t listen no one ever listens. No matter what he does someone out their always wanted to ruin his life and for what? to piss him off? Why? It felt like everyone was out to get him just for the hell of it. People had been pushing him for years and he’d they’d nearly done it to if it wasn’t for his unabashed love of music. But now not even that could stop what was about to come, something awakened deep within Troy, from here on out he wasn’t feeling forced to fight he wanted to.
    He started running at surprising speed considering he was still listening to country music. He was so unprepared for this that he ended up crashing right into Wicked, the two essentially faceplanting into the dirt. Wicked followed this up with another stab in Troy’s shoulder or at least it would have if it wasn’t for a recent addition of some dark magical shadow armor. Instead the blade couldn’t so much as leave a scratch on him. Maestro threw an overwhelming blow at the armored hero’s helmet with an unexpected strength that was able to crack the visor. Speed, strength, invulnerability, and regeneration Troy definitely felt like he was cheating. These shadows weren’t just some accessory for Sugar Skull to control him they were making up for what he was lacking and amplifying he had. He could definitely feel that as his body had already finished fixing itself.
    He heard a roar coming from the enraged Ethos who was charging at him normally he’d run for it but this time he’d try experimenting with the strange dark music combo. Before the hulking beast could attack him, he did a switch over to heavy metal. Then caught both of the red fists. Armed with both his and Sugar Skulls strength he was stronger than Ethos as he was able to push him back even making tumble onto himself. So, this is what it felt like to be powerful. He went in for a couple hits but that aura around him seemed to protect the raging hero from harm. That’s when he got a blast from behind sending him flying back into the dirt. When he got up Wicked was on top of him with a ready-made laser pointing right at him. He put his hand up to block the blast but all that accomplished was the singing of his real fingertips. As quickly as they’d left some more shadows came to replace the demonic hand. Shadows and lasers do not mix Troy thought to himself. Then a thought occurred, and he grimaced.
    Wicked landed on her feat firing another volley, which Maestro evaded with ease. He was moving like a wraith and close the gap in a second. With his right hand in his pocket switching songs again he used his left hand grabbed onto the barrel of the gun. The cannon charged up but just before it fired the shadows receded back into the sleeve as his normal hand took the shot. Invulnerability looks like Music Dude’s is better than the shadows. When the blast concluded the shadows returned encasing the entirety of Wicked’s right arm. Maestro followed up with a barrage of powerful punches and kicks. He was going at blurring speed almost to the point that he could be confused for the shadows themselves. Even so Maestro was still fighting smart, he wanted this fight to be over with and was only hitting key spots to disable her. At first, the hero tried defending herself but given the speed Wicked just couldn’t keep up with his attacks. Her armor started to bend at strange angles from the incessant pounding it had to take. The mind was willing but the body just couldn’t keep up with all the beatings it had taken. Before long the lights on her armor turned from orange to red and Wicked was too weak to even raise her arms Finally came a punch straight to the face that caused helmet to concave and the visor to crack, she had gone limp. Maestro pushed Wicked over to the side, content that she now seemed to be done with fighting.
    Now he just needed to finish with Ethos, who had spent the last few moments readying another concussion blast. He evaded again and then Ethos tried doing what had failed earlier with another punch which lead to the same result of him being on his back. Unlike the angry Ethos Troy kept thinking. Knowing that he could control the shadow constructs he sent the demonic claw through the giant gaping mouth of the construct. He then proceeded to wrap his grip around the hero’s neck. As the hero began gasping for breath the construct around them began glitching, it was changing from an aggressive red to something that was bright green with multiple arms. The arms tried to throw Maestro, but they couldn’t so much as leave as scratch on him.
    At this point Maestro couldn’t help but smile a little as the adrenaline was working its way in his mind. He’d always known that Sugar Skulls was incredibly powerful, he even admitted as much to her. Troy was the opposite, he’d never considered himself powerful, but he always saw himself as adaptable able to work with any situation and find some sort of solution. Troy was honestly amazed at how good it felt, being Maestro was on a whole other level than before, not only were these shadows helping, he could control them. To an extent Maestro understood Sugar Skull’s fascination with him, with their powers combined he had undeniable power with adaptability, there was nothing anyone could throw at him that he could go up against. This was the greatest high he had ever felt, Maestro was unstoppable.
    Even Sugar Skull realized that the fighting had died down and she left her little hideaway. Seeing her partner deal with the heroes sent a shiver down her spine. She was ecstatic. Never in her life did she think this would work out as well as it had. She’d seen it in Troy, he really had the potential to be one of the best super criminals ever, and now he was hers. The smile on her face just kept growing as she got closer as she felt like she had truly won the battle.
    “Not bad for a first time Maestro, I think it’s time we take our spoils.” Sugar Skull exclaimed
    Just like that, the high Troy was on crashed as he was brought back from his adrenaline induced haze and he was left with was an attempt at murder. Troy regained his senses, Sugar Skull was trying to remove Wicked’s helmet, and ethos was still in his clutches gasping for air. Troy tried to remove his grasp, but his hand was stuck. A quick look over at his accomplice told it all, she had her hand raised towards him and her signature devilish smile.
    “Sorry but can’t have you turning coward just yet.”
    He was panicking, he might have been tempted to enjoying violence but he’d never take a life if he could help it. His fear mounted but not for the usual reason, he knew exactly how to get out of this situation but he hates using that power. However, the fact he was about to choke someone out did take precedent, he bit his fear and with his free hand switched the music back to the same song he’d used at the bar. It took a few seconds to warm up but with Troy focusing hard the darkness surrounding his body sizzled down, soon enough there was nothing left but smoke and ash.
    With Ethos’s neck free, the park ranger leapt back skidding across the ground. Without a second thought the hero got up wanting to run away as fast as he could but Maestro stopped him. The villain was able to catch up to ethos in a in less than a second, now holding the limp and badly hurt Wicked in his arms.
    “Wait before you go, please take Wicked with you.”
    He switched to another song in his phone and began rubbing his fingers together. When he spread his fingers out arcs of electricity formed between them. He touched down on Wicked’s chest plate and the lights on her armor became turned from red to orange. A sigh of relief passed his lips. He began carrying the hero in his arms over to the quite paranoid hero.
    Before he could hand her over to the other’s awaiting arms he felt a tug on his jacket. It was Wicked who was using the last of her strength to grab his attention.
    “You’re… going… to pay for this…”
    “I’ll be sure to lose sleep over it.”
    Ethos looked at Maestro funny for a second “Why would you do this?”
    “It’s might surprise you but I don’t like hurting people as much as it seems.”
    With that Maestro handed Wicked over to Ethos and they parted ways. He returned to Sugar Skull who was looking quite frustrated with the turn of events.
    “Can’t believe you, you’re my partner again you should act like it.”
    “We’re done here let’s just get you back home.”
    “Come on not even so much as a snappy comeback.”
    “You almost made me kill someone tonight, I’m done.” As he said that he looked down at his hand covered in pulsing dark energy. He rolled his fingers and the demonic claws responded in time. This was too much for him to handle he needed time to think about what had just happened.
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    Within the hour Both of them were back in their respective dwellings. Sugar Skull enjoying herself a nice long rest but Troy, Troy couldn’t sleep. After what happened tonight how could he just forget it like it was nothing. He tried before to get away from being a criminal and now it got even worse. Before he was a lackey and now he had full blown third personality with a costume to back it up. Which was currently spread out across the floor. He kept repeating the same mantra in his head over and over again everything will be fine, just wait, you need to survive. Troy looked at his phone one new message he had gotten from Anastasia after he had dropped her off.
    Anastasia: “Maestro huh?... I like it : )”

    He turned his phone off and tried his best to get some sleep, but it never came. So, he laid there in silence, after everything that happened he didn’t deserve to listen to music.
((oh boy what a story, What will become of Troy with this new (and already used) developement, tune in next time for another Indomitable Music Dude story PS: It's just gonna get worse for him from here on))