The First Hit

# Infinite Threat ##Episode 3: “The First Hit”
*Night. An abandoned street. Felix stands frozen with fear as Kael Veyron steps out from the shadows, smiling calmly.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Hello, cursed one. Don’t be afraid. I am here to give you freedom from that cursed life of yours.
*Kael slowly raises one hand.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  But first, let me introduce myself. When God asks who gave you freedom, you will be able to say my name.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  I am Kael Veyron, the Exorcist. A second-category Blessed Protector.
*His smile becomes colder.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  I have already given eighty-two cursed people their freedom. Now it is your turn. Come here.
*Felix trembles, then turns and runs.*
**FELIX:**  No… no, no, no!
*He quickly messages Monica.*
> **Felix:** Help me. Kael Veyron found me.
*A mysterious voice suddenly speaks inside Felix’s head.*
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Threat detected. Target fixed. Twenty random people across the world have been selected.
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Monica is included among the twenty targets.
**FELIX:**  What?! Monica is one of them? Are you insane?!
---
*Elsewhere, Monica reads Felix’s message. Her expression turns serious.*
**MONICA:**  Felix…
*She immediately runs toward his location and contacts the Protection Committee.*
**MONICA:**  This is Monica. Send nearby heroes to my location—now.
*Back with Felix, Kael catches up in an instant. He touches Felix’s shoulder.*
*Felix’s body locks completely. He cannot move.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  My ability is simple. Anyone I touch stops moving until I give them one attack.
*Kael picks up a metal rod from the street.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Let’s end this quickly. I dislike wasting time on cursed trash.
*He drives the rod toward Felix’s head.*
*Suddenly, far away, one of the twenty random targets is pierced instead. Felix is unharmed—and can move again.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  …What?
*Kael stares at Felix in disbelief.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  I killed you. I watched the attack land.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Are you Blessed? No… that is impossible. You carry the scent of a cursed one.
*Felix runs again.*
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Felix. Will you stop running? You have powers now.
**FELIX:**  What? I have powers? But I’m cursed!
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  I forgot to explain. When you kill a threat, it is erased from existence. You permanently receive its abilities.
**FELIX:**  You could have told me that earlier!
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Your current abilities are Acid Spray and Poisonous Gas—from the monster you killed.
*Felix stops and turns toward Kael.*
**FELIX:**  Okay… then I’ll use them.
---
*Kael approaches, amused.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  At last. You are ready to receive your freedom.
**FELIX:**  Yeah. We get freedom by stopping people like you.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Let’s see who dies first.
*Felix raises his hand.*
**FELIX:**  Acid Spray!
*A stream of acid shoots toward Kael. Kael moves with incredible speed and avoids it.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Acid Spray? I have never heard of that attack in the Protection Committee.
*Kael’s eyes narrow.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  So you must be the Blessed one pretending to be cursed—the one the Committee warned us about.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  They said you were strong. But you look weak. Fragile. Almost disappointing.
**FELIX:**  I don’t know who you think I am. But today, you die—for everyone’s good.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Then show me.
*Kael rushes forward and touches Felix again. Felix freezes in place.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Now you are dead.
*A sharp blast of force cuts through the air.*
**MONICA:**  Momentum Slash!
*The attack strikes Kael and launches him across the street. He crashes through debris, blood running from his mouth.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  That attack… I know it.
*Monica lands in front of Felix.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Monica.
*Felix is still unable to speak. Monica pinches his arm.*
*Felix suddenly regains movement.*
**FELIX:**  Thank you, Monica.
**MONICA:**  Idiot. I told you to stay safe, but you always find trouble.
**FELIX:**  Yeah… because you’ve got my back, right?
*Monica smiles briefly, then faces Kael.*
**MONICA:**  Kael Veyron, you are under arrest. Cooperate, and come with me to headquarters.
---
*Kael gets to his feet, wiping blood from his mouth. His eyes are empty.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Monica… you are far too kind.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  You should have killed me when you had the chance. Mercy is just weakness pretending to be virtue.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Now both of you will die so I can escape.
*Kael’s expression twists into a cruel smile.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  Since childhood, I was taught one truth: the strongest survive.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  But I hate the foolish idea that the strong must protect the weak. Why should powerful people carry the useless?
**KAEL VEYRON:**  The cursed are not people. They are mistakes. Their deaths are not cruelty—they are evolution.
**KAEL VEYRON:**  And if innocent people must die while I erase those mistakes… then that is simply the price of a better world.
**MONICA:**  Killing your own species is not evolution.
**MONICA:**  It is intraspecific murder.
*The mysterious voice returns to Felix.*
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Felix. If the threat is not killed, I will kill every selected target.
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  One has already died. Nineteen remain.
**FELIX:**  But how can I kill him?
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Ask Monica to control his momentum. Make him unable to move. Then use Acid Spray on his face.
**FELIX:**  She won’t do that. She won’t let me kill someone.
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  She will. Tell her what I say.
*The mysterious voice whispers something into Felix’s ear.*
---
*Monica and Kael fight. Kael lunges, but Felix interrupts with Acid Spray. Kael jumps backward.*
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Now, Felix. Say it.
**FELIX:**  Kael! Blessed or cursed—it doesn’t matter what you are given.
**FELIX:**  What matters is what you become.
*Monica freezes.*
*Flashback: Seven-year-old Monica is held captive by kidnappers who sell Blessed orphan children. A mysterious figure breaks in and saves her.*
**MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:**  Blessed or cursed—it doesn’t matter what you are given. What matters is what you become.
*Back in the present, Monica looks at Felix in shock.*
**MONICA:**  How do you know those words?
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Ask her.
**FELIX:**  Monica… trust me. Please make him unable to move.
**FELIX:**  Just trust me.
*Monica looks at Felix, conflicted. Then she nods.*
**MONICA:**  …All right.
*She raises her hand toward Kael.*
**MONICA:**  Momentum Control!
*Kael’s entire body locks in place.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  What—? Monica, stop this!
**MONICA:**  I’m sorry.
**FELIX:**  Now it’s your turn.
*Felix jumps forward.*
**FELIX:**  Acid Spray!
*Acid covers Kael’s face and body. Kael screams as his body begins to corrode.*
**KAEL VEYRON:**  No! I am the strongest! I cannot die like this!
**FELIX:**  The strongest don’t get to decide who deserves to live.
*Kael collapses. His screams fade. Kael Veyron dies.*
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Threat eliminated. All remaining targets are cancelled. Returning them to normal.
---
*The street becomes quiet. Monica looks confused, as if waking from a dream.*
**MONICA:**  Felix… what am I doing here? Why are you standing here?
**FELIX:**  Uh… I called you to my home for dinner.
**MONICA:**  Dinner?
**FELIX:**  Yeah.
**MONICA:**  Okay. Let’s go.
*The mysterious voice speaks again.*
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  New ability acquired: First Hit.
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Though it seems you have different plans with that girl, Felix.
**FELIX:**  No! She’s my friend.
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  This is the perfect time to propose to her.
**FELIX:**  No!
**FELIX:**  How did you know Monica would do what I said?
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Instinct, buddy.
**MYSTERIOUS VOICE:**  Until the next threat, enjoy your time with her.
**FELIX:**  Monica, I need to tell you something.
**MONICA:**  What is it?
*Felix looks nervous.*
**FELIX:**  I have…
*The screen fades to black.*
# The End