MARIO 

Mario Timi was inwardly tense right from the moment he saw Lucas tumble out of that forest. That tension didn't go away until the point when Lucas was teleported before his very eyes in front of the CF Eaton Center. 

He squinted at the bright golden light of the Protector's Medallion, subconsciously reminiscing about the first time he teleported. A memorable day to say the least. 

The smile on his face as he watched Lucas disappear was a testament to the relief that washed over him. The boy is safe now. 

Nauseating wails pierced the air again. He turned to see the perturbed crowd of people under the influence of La Mala Hora. They had enclosed him in a blockade. There was still quite some distance between him and them. And the Eaton Center's entrance was just behind him, a perfect escape route…if Mario Timi was the kind to 'escape'. 

He was almost tempted to laugh. His years of experience, his greatest achievements, dwarfed the obstacles of this night. 

A dark fog seeped through the crowd, accumulating in front of them before compressing and reshaping to form La Mala Hora. She let out a ferocious hiss after scanning for Lucas.

Mario gazed intently at her pale green forehead. "Are you looking for someone, Ma'am?"

She scowled, gradually hovering closer. 

'X marks the spot.' Mario thought, noting that she was far enough from her  victims for the attack he was about to deliver.

He thrust his open palm into the air, and his enchanted car responded from almost half a mile away, flying off the ground towards the sky, then swiftly repositioning itself directly above the  Mexican urban legend.

"My parting gift to you," He grinned, throwing his hand down forcefully. The enchanter's car obeyed his will, nosediving like a bullet upon La Mala Hora, exploding on collision.

The orange hue of the explosion reflected off his brown eyes, the heat quickly dismissing the night's cold.

"Hmm," he reasoned his actions. "How will I explain this to my insurance company?"

The crowd started blinking rapidly, awakened from their nightmarish trance. Panicking, they distanced themselves from the fire, looking lost and confused; the aftereffects of beholding cryptids with bare eyes.

He heard a lot of rambling.

"I saw something, but I can't remember…"

"Someone did something to me but I can't recall who or what."

"How did I get here? Why's my mind all foggy?"

Mario tsked at their natural reaction. Suddenly, someone exclaimed. 

"I just checked my gallery, look at the woman in this picture!"

The person next to her was taken aback. "This photo was snapped only minutes ago. Is that green woman…a cryptid?"

"Did you say green lady?" Another passerby exclaimed. "I have a video of a green lady on my phone. What's going on?"

Mario tensed up. He saw this coming; pictures and videos of cryptids are digitally rendered, hence they don't affect the ordinary human mind like optical perception does. Fantasio's Henry Harrison was the first person to discover this. And these people here followed his footsteps–or rather, Fantasio Inc.'s guidelines.

Enforcers are on their way.

He tucked his hands into his tracksuit, believing that social media was already being flooded with pictures and videos of the cryptid. He determined his next course of action was to flee the scene. But he suddenly sensed a familiar presence which made his skin crawl. A certain maleficence was tied to this presence even though it wasn't the presence of a Dark Force.

Mario looked to his right. Far down across the street stood the figure he sensed. His blood boiled with anger as he clenched his jaw and dashed in that direction. Passerbys jumped out of his way but their attention quickly returned to their phones.

"Greyson!" Mario roared, balling his fists as he got closer to his target who was wearing ripped black jeans, black boots, black shirt with a black leather jacket and black gloves. Concealing his face was a cracked hockey mask. 

Standing on the spot, Greyson chanted. "Beast of Bodmin Moor, Beast of Bodmin Moor, Beast of Bodmin Moor!"

A loud piercing sound followed, and in a flash of green light, a six foot panther-like creature appeared in front of Greyson. Mario skidded to a stop, frowning at the translucent black-furred beast with few bright yellow spots. The Beast of Bodmin Moor growled at Mario. 

Greyson chuckled, his voice deepened through the mask. He walked forward, standing side by side with the creature he summoned. 

Mario took a fighting stance. "You think I can't destroy another one of your phantoms? Where are the boy's parents?!"

"Why are you playing guardian, Mario?"

"For your sake, his parents better be okay or else–"

"They are only bait, they are safe and sound for now."

"Don't do this, don't go down that lane again."

Green eyes shone steadily from the eye space of Greyson's hockey mask. "Tell me one thing."

Mario glared. "I won't tell you where he is."

"That is not my intended question." Greyson paused, his next words like gravel. "Was he chosen?"

"Stop this, Greyson. The feud is between us. Leave him out of this."

"You didn't say 'no'. That means…he was chosen." He began to laugh hysterically.

The veins bulged on Mario's forehead. "If you won't listen to reason, I'll make you listen to my fists. I'll end you right here!"

"Oh, Mario. I'd spar with you again, but those drones…" he pointed up at the navy blue drones suspended in the sky, products of Fantasio Inc. "... that's my cue to leave. I don't intend to fight Fantasio. I don't intend to fight you either. " The Beast of Bodmin Moor scooped Greyson up with its tail and propped him on its back. "So stay out of my way."

In a single bound, the beast leaped into the air and disappeared in a burst of green light. 

Mario tongued his cheek, angry at himself for not attacking Greyson. But he reminded himself it was pointless as Greyson could easily disappear with his phantoms. 

He looked up at the drones again. How long have they been recording me?

When his gaze shifted from up to straight ahead, he registered a squadron of high-ranking Enforcers way down the street, charging towards him. They were clad in jumpsuits, boots and helmets, all dark red.  And were armed with strange looking rifles. 

"Mystic, freeze!" They hollered before firing a barrage of tranquilizer darts. 

"No thanks," Mario side flipped out of the way. As the Enforcers retook aim, he slammed a hand on the nearest building's wall. "Fascino!"

A piercing sound followed and about a hundred bricks dislodged themselves and swirled around him. 

Not a moment sooner did another set of darts collide with the bricks, shattering on impact.

"Hey!" Mario eyed his assailants through the small gaps in the floating bricks. "I don't want to hurt you guys."

"We're taking you down, mystic!"

"Thickheaded Fantasio hooligans." He grunted and took to his heels, the floating bricks trailing him, forming a barrier between him and his pursuers.

The gasps of passerbys didn't concern him, in fact they gave way for him. A striking concern was the incoming white van with a high ranking Enforcer at the helm.

"Going up!" Mario exclaimed and the bricks reformed beside him as a stairway; with the top stair leaning against the roof of a building. He bolted up the stairs until he was standing on the rooftop. The van parked at the foot of the stairs and unloaded another squadron of Enforcers. "Disassemble!" Mario commanded and the bricks obeyed, splitting into individual pieces and floating up to stay by side. He glanced at the distraught Enforcers below and smirked. But his victory was short lived as they tucked away their rifles and drew grappling hook guns from the utility strap around their waists. "Shit!"

BANG!

The guns fired simultaneously, projecting grappling hooks into the air. They latched onto the rooftop with a clink.

"Continuous bridges!" Mario ordered while sprinting across the flat rooftop. Upon reaching the edge, he jumped off and in a split second, the bricks repatterned beneath him to form a slender bridge which received his feet. He dashed across it to the next rooftop, ignoring the threats Enforcers were barking.

In seconds, he was already at the rooftop edge again and he jumped onto another newly formed bridge, making his way to the next rooftop. 

I've got to ditch them on lower grounds. He thought. "Going down,"

The bricks reformed into a smooth slide connecting the edge of the roof to the street. Mario slid down, going from top to bottom in a flash. 

As he touched down and crouched, the bricks disassembled yet again. 

Sweat beaded his face. Even for an experienced Enchanter, binding objects under enchantment for this long was tiring. He wasn't sure how long he could keep the bricks enchanted. He had already pulled off multiple enchantments in a single night, his energy was wearing thin. 

With his sleeve, he wiped sweat off his forehead, determined to find somewhere to hide. 

Then, the sound of a free falling heavy object reached his ears. Mario's gaze rose just in time to catch a metal behemoth drop in front of him, the sheer force sending cracks through asphalt. It vaguely resembled a headless Optimus Prime, or perhaps a headless Megatron, given it's ghastly features. It was a gray machine, armed to the teeth with shoulder-mounted missile launchers, forearm-mounted mini guns, sharp, polished blades protuding from the wrists, and circular laser beam projectors in the palms. Where the head should've been, a glass covering was placed. Within was the face of the famous Henry Harrison, beaming with pride. "Seasons greetings, mystic!"

Mario rose from his crouch, analysing his opponent. "I don't suppose you have a gift for me under that suit of armor."

"Oh, I have a gift; a gift for society. I'm giving society one less mystic to worry about. And you may address my armor as 'Reality Check'." 

Mario stifled a laugh. "That's the best name you've got? You know, all I need to do is touch you and it's game over."

"You aren't very wise are you? Telling me your plan."

"Your ridiculous company couldn't beat me even in my sleep. So," Mario cracked his knuckles. "Give me your best shot."

"You're cocky, mystic." Henry frowned. "You need a reality check to remember what ordinary humans are capable of." 

With a loud blast, a barrage of missiles was launched to meet Mario Timi.