Passive Aggressive

Cordayl arrives at the location the girl mapped out for him. Creeping around the warehouse, he finds a window that allows him to see the building.

Cordayl starts to get cold feet, seeing how many thugs and goons are inside.

Then he spots them. Lucille's parents are cuffed to a wall, looking miserable in the corner as they cling to each other behind a humongous guard.

Cordayl starts breathing, trying to pump himself up and summon his bravery, but he is failing.

"Are you seriously bitching up right now?" The voice in his head asks him.

"Shut up. I'm trying to get in the zone."

"Stop lying! I can feel how hard your heart is beating right now. I've been quiet this whole time because hearing you talk all tough to that girl made me think he might be able to do this without me. Silly, stupid me! I'll save your parents! Bullshit. Over here breathing like a swimmer. Fucking coward." The voice belittles him.

"Shut up," Cordayl whispers, with his head down.

"NO! You promised that girl to get her parents back, and now you're here shaking at the entrance! Look at them! They are over there dirty and enslaved, guarded by a giant, and you're more scared than them!"

"I'm not scared," Cordayl says, getting upset.

"Then act like it! Kick this door down and kick some ass!" the voice roars.

The men in the warehouse are loading their guns and sharpening their weapons when suddenly, one of the doors is blown off the hinges.

The goons instantly open fire, spraying the entry with crazy gunfire. The other door is knocked off and kicked into the room, knocking down several gunmen.

The gunfire halts as the goons have to reload, and Cordayl steps into the building, shirt torn to pieces by the bullets. Ripping it off, the guards stare in awe as they see that this boy is the Diablo, the man responsible for destroying the Youtound Kingdom.

The big boss stares from above and sees Cordayl staring right back at him. Guns finally reloaded, the henchmen let their automatics sing as they turn the Diablo into a wiffle ball

As the dust settles again, Cordayl stands in a puddle of damaged bullets, still staring at the boss. "Give me the two in the corner, and nobody gets hurt," he demands.

"So you want my two most prized possessions, eh? And what do I get in return?" the boss yells.

"Your life," Cordayl says in unison with the voice in his head.

This makes the boss bust out laughing. He calms down and puffs from his cigar, "The Diablo. A killer and comedian. Put his head on the hood of my car. I can show off my new ornament when I arrive at the casino."

Out of bullets, the men rush Cordayl with their weapons, and as expected, Cordayl whoops all of their asses. Leaving none uninjured.

Seeing this, the big boss jumps down, shaking the warehouse upon landing. Cracking his neck, the boss calls for the big guy in the corner guarding Lucille's parents to jump in the scrap with him.

The two massive men charge at Cordayl, who races towards them and meets them head-on.

As they clash, they engage in a lineman challenge of strength, pushing Cordayl back toward the entrance.

Cordayl is sliding back, but as soon as he hears the voice in his head let out a disappointed sigh, he gets angrier and reverses the direction. Blood fully pumping, Cordayl pushes the guard off of him, sending him flying into the wall.

The boss seizes the moment to grab Cordayl. Muscles bulging, he lets out a battle cry and tries to slam Cordayl's locks through the floor.

Instead, he ends up pulling a muscle in his back, sending him crashing to the floor in agony.

The guard jumps back into the picture and starts throwing some heavy punches at Cordayl. None of them connect, as Cordayl smoothly dodges them.

Cordayl suddenly goes on the offensive with a strong hook to the guard's ribs, making his whole body ripple with the impact of the hit. As the guard's body curls to the side in pain, Cordayl quickly spins behind him and punches him in the opposite side of his ribs as well.

Before the guard can drop to his knees in pain, Cordayl reappears in front of him and sends him flying into the second floor with a deadly uppercut.

Turning his attention back to the boss, who is crawling away, Cordayl slowly walks over to him. "How about this? I'll let you live, but in exchange," Cordayl steps on his ankle, crushing it with ease. "I'll take your legs." Then he steps on the other one, making the boss roar in pain.

Walking away, Cordayl mutters to himself, "Tryna throw me? You better upgrade your weight room first."

Making his way over to the parents, the husband shields his wife. "Relax." Cordayl says, breaking the chains off their limbs, "I'm a friend of Lucille's. Come on, she's waiting for us." Cordayl says, walking in front of them.

The couple is still frightened, but hearing their daughter's name motivates them to move.

Cordayl hears the boss laughing and asks him what's so funny.

He rolls over towards Cordayl, "This." he says, pulling out a controller and pressing the button to release the floor from under the parents.

The parents scream as they plummet towards certain death.

"NO!" Cordayl shouts as he teeters on the edge of the trap door, only his toes on solid ground.

Reaching out, Cordayl laughs when he is able to stop their descent. He is finally able to use his powers again.

Reversing gravity, Cordayl starts to pull them toward him but doesn't realize that every knocked-out guard, including the boss, the guns and weapons, the furniture, the whole damn building, is starting to lift into the air.

Finally able to grab the couple, Cordayl grabs them and places them on each of his shoulders.

Cordayl has reactivated his gravity control but starts to worry, realizing he doesn't know how to shut it off.

As more of the building starts to pull apart and float into the night sky, Cordayl panics. Now, the guards are more than 40 feet in the air. Most would surely die upon impact if he deactivated his power so suddenly.

"Breathe. Calm your nerves and control your emotions. Just breathe." The voice in his head instructs him.

Cordayl listens and calms himself down, slowly and safely returning everyone to the ground. Deactivating his gravity control and sending everything crashing down, Cordayl walks past the boss, who is happy to be back on the ground.

"Of all the men who could've walked in here, it had to be the fucking Diablo." the boss chuckles. "Well, welcome, and watch your back, killer. We'll be seeing you around," The defeated boss says menacingly.

Cordayl walks past him and leaves to meet up with Lucille.

Lucille is waiting at the meet-up location with a bag full of coins.

A flux of emotions runs through her petite body as she wonders if Cordayl will follow through on his part of the deal.

Seeing him cooly walk through the crowded streets with her parents on his shoulders, her eyes grow big and watery. Racing through the pedestrians, she crashes into Cordayl and gives him a big hug.

He gladly accepts her hug and drops to a knee so her parents can get down and the family can finally embrace.

Seeing the love, Cordayl feels bittersweet as he realizes how long it has been since his parents hugged him. Lucille wipes her eyes and turns her attention back to Cordayl.

"Thank you, Cordayl. I haven't felt this kind of joy in so long. Thank you so much, " she says, hugging him again.

Cordayl smiles as Lucille finally lets him go. "I should be thanking you. That coin you gave me helped out a lot." Reaching into his pocket, Cordayl tries to return the coin.

Lucille shakes her head, "Once it's given, it is yours forever."

"You sure?" Cordayl ask.

"Yup. You've earned it." She says, jumping up and kissing him on the cheek.

Cordayl smiles and puts the coin back into his pocket.

"And here is what I earned," Lucille says, dropping a nice heavy bag of coins into his hands.

Cordayl's eyes grow big, looking at the big purse, but he shakes his head. "Keep it. Use it to get as far away from this city as possible."

"Take it, Cordayl," Lucille says, forcing him to accept it. "That was what we agreed. Besides, the money I've saved up to buy their freedom is more than enough for us to start over," Lucille explains.

"Thank you, Lucille." Cordayl smiles. Take care," he says, waving goodbye to the reunited family.

Watching Cordayl leave, Lucille's father comments, "I like that boy. He's a bit scary, but I like him."

"He would've made a fine husband for you, Lucille." her mother comments.

Lucille blushes hard. "I think it's time for a shower, " she awkwardly states, leading them away.

Outside the casino, Esquimo is playing a harmonica with a hat in front of him, hoping to receive donations for his street performance.

Suddenly, a heavy bag falls into the hat.

Staring at the massive amount of money, Esquimo's eyes sparkle as he looks up and sees Cordayl smirking.

"Cordayl!" Esquimo shouts in glee, jumping into the young lad. "Okay, one more game, then we can leave," Esquimo says, picking up his heavy hat.

"Nope, you're done," Cordayl says, picking him up and walking away from the casino.

"Please Cordayl! I'm feeling lucky again." Esquimo begs as he fights to break Cordayl's grip on him.

"Let's save it for later." Cordayl ignores him as he walks out of the city.