Patrick breezed through the earlier rounds, as his final opponent was not only less talented, but he was also terrified of Patrick. All of the young prodigy’s previous opponents had been knocked out. In fact, everyone Patrick faced in his last twenty amateur fights, leading up to the gold medal match, was knocked out. But it wasn’t that Patrick was huge. Yes, he stood at 6’3″. But he was only 213 lbs. There were bigger heavyweights in the division. It was Patrick’s speed and punching power that were unparalleled. Plus, on top of his incredible athleticism, Patrick believed in the mantra of one of his favorite fighters of all-time, Conor McGregor; he believed precision was power, and timing was speed. In other words, hit anyone in the right spot, and they will be hurt; hit anyone with perfect timing, and they won’t be able to defend it.

All in all, Patrick was an unstoppable monster. As his trainer often told him, the only person who could beat him was himself. So, he made sure he was beyond prepared for every fight. The gold medal match at the Olympics was no different. He knew his opponent inside and out. Every skill, move, tendency, weakness, strength, etc., of his opponent, Patrick knew like the back of his own hand. So, when the bell rang to the opening round, it was domination. Patrick danced with perfect footwork, creating impossible angles to defend against, while landing stiff jabs and powerful right hands. His opponent threw punches, both jabs to set up power punches of his own, and counters. However, Patrick slipped and parried those with ease. It was effortless. After the first round, Patrick was untouched, while his opponent was cut and swelling all over his face. Patrick’s trainer told him to drop the other fighter in the next round, so they could get a clean victory for the gold. Patrick agreed.

At the beginning of the second round, Patrick came out and baited his opponent. He allowed the other fighter to get his punches off first, letting him throw multiple combinations. This tired out his opponent some, then, when Patrick had a window, he unleashed a vicious right-handed power punch, that rocked his opponent’s jaw. The other fighter’s entire face shook, as if it were hit by a baseball bat. However, he remained standing! Patrick was a little surprised, but he knew the fight was all but over. A mere tap, and he would fall. He actually was impressed by the fighting spirit of his opponent, as he continued to press forward, and throw punches out of sheer muscle memory. With victory and the gold only one punch away, however, the unthinkable happened.

As the other fighter stumbled forward and flailed punches, Patrick prepared for a perfect counter-punch to end things for good. However, when the opponent swung one last time, instead of slipping the punch, Patrick’s entire body phased through it! The other fighter fell to the canvas, hitting the ground like a bag of rocks – clearly, he was down and out for the count. Nevertheless, the entire stadium saw what happened. Millions at home watching saw it. And most importantly, the referee and judges saw it. The use of hyper-abilities in Olympics competitions was strictly forbidden. Thus, even though his opponent was knocked out and laying in front of him at his feet, completely unconscious, Patrick was disqualified.

He stood in the ring, devastated. Patrick had no clue he was a hyper-human. Never before had his powers emerged. Malcolm, who had been training him since he was seven years old, had no clue, either. The fact he phased through a punch was mind-boggling. None of that mattered, though. The Olympic Committee rules were explicit. Patrick was to be disqualified, and all of his wins were to be stricken from the record. Distraught, he left the ring with Malcolm, and was never seen in the boxing world again – that is, the sanctioned boxing world.

A couple months later, Patrick emerged in the underground fighting world. He loved fighting too much to give it up, and since he could not fight amateur or pro, he decided to partake in illegal fights against other hyper-powered people. The results were the same. Patrick dominated.

Now going by the name “Traverse,” Patrick had mastered his ability very quickly. With a mere thought, he could make his body completely transparent. Objects passed through him with no resistance in this form. Combined with his phenomenal athleticism, supreme boxing skills, and years of rigorous training, Traverse’s powers enabled him to eliminate his opponents with even more ease than before. This ultimately led to him being recruited by Tylda Durden to fight in her underground fighting league heavyweight division of hyper-powered beings. He gladly accepted, and for months he continued to dominate. However, before he could ascend to the top, and become the king again, he was recruited by someone else with a financial offer he couldn’t refuse. The ruthless business mogul and mastermind villain, Edgar Lockhart desired Traverse’s skill set, and offered to pay handsomely for it. Alas, Traverse ceased competing, and joined Lockhart’s ranks.

Over the years, Traverse moved from post to post, slowly working his way up the ladder. Then, once he earned Edgar’s trust, Traverse was moved to a compound in the Amazon, where Edgar’s sister, London Lockhart was occasionally held captive. As great and powerful as Edgar was, it was his sister who offered his greatest potential weakness. It was a very important post, and it was also the place where Traverse encountered the members of the elite superhero squad, The Alpha Initiative.

Liberty Star, Black Jag, Orenda, and Encore, along with a contingent of Ex-Navy SEALs, launched an all-out assault on the compound, but the fortress and Traverse were protected behind a massive force-field. This was to be expected, and the Alpha Initiative had the perfect contingency in the form of Orenda Barefoot. Everyone lined up behind the Iroquois warrior, and as she placed her hands on the barrier, it began to open up. Using her powers, she was able to engage the artificial-intelligence based energy field. She was pushed to her limit, as the artificial intelligence component of the force-field technology continued to adapt to her abilities. As she destroyed and restructured the atomic bonds within the energy molecules making up the barrier, the AI reconfigured their structure, repairing them. It was a master game of physics chess. Orenda’s abilities were immensely powerful, though, and she was finally able to safely navigate the entire team to a ventilation, allowing them access to the compound.

Once inside, they stealthily made their way towards the center of the building, where London was located. The SEALs used their elite training to silently take down the guards, as the heroes moved along. All was going according to plan. Almost a little too well, Liberty Star thought. And she was right. A trap awaited them!

Traverse stood in front of the entrance to the inner section of the compound. He was accompanied by a squad of heavily armed mercs. Traverse commented that nobody believed Orenda could actually defeat the advanced AI force-field. He was impressed, and as such, he knew not to take the Alpha Initiative lightly. Then, without any further adieu, he attacked.

The soldiers engaged the mercenaries, to allow the heroes to concentrate on Traverse. Liberty Star directed the attack, as she took a perch position and fired particle arrows at the villain. Traverse’s senses and timing, however, were impeccable. He would make his body transparent, seeing every single arrow she shot travel directly through his body. At the same time, Black Jag engaged with a series of punches and kicks, but his strikes were easily parried and dodged. Encore teleported behind him to try and grab him, but whenever she would re-materialize, Traverse would go transparent, and she would grab nothing but air. The villain would then maneuver himself into position to land devastating punches. In addition to his hyper-ability and his natural skill, he also wore a pair of metallic knuckles on his hands, which emitted a burst of concussive energy, increasing his punching power tenfold. The strikes he landed on the heroes were massive, sending them flying to the ground, or against the wall. They were losing badly.

That was when Orenda stepped up to help. She had been cut off from the heroes by a few mercenaries. After crippling them, she advanced on Traverse, to allow the others to recover. As she punched and kicked, Traverse would go transparent again. However, as her hands would pass through his body, she would activate her powers. This caused Traverse to solidify, allowing her to land a number of strikes. Soon, she began to time Traverse with proficiency.The other heroes then jumped back into the fight as well. Orenda would emit her powers, to make sure Traverse could not make himself transparent, allowing Black Jag and Encore to engage. However, even though they began hurting Traverse, if the villain was able to strike Orenda, they would have to wait for her to recover before they could be effective again. This meant Traverse would begin to beat the heroes down once more. However, Orenda and Encore came up with a plan.

Encore teleported at Traverse’s back again, knowing it would make him go transparent, and maneuver to strike. However, Orenda anticipated Traverse’s positioning using her atomic vision to track him, and when he solidified, she grabbed him, and began releasing all her power. This sent a massive wave of energy through his body, temporarily stunning him. Black Jag quickly moved in, and blasted Traverse with powerful punches, causing him to become stunned even more. Then, he yelled to Liberty Star. She fired multiple arrows, and finally they found their target! He was pierced in his right arm, his left leg, and the side of his gut, crippling him. He looked around, to see that the mercs had also been forced to surrender to the SEALs. He was surrounded, and out of options. Liberty Star raised her bow, and unleashed an arrow right at his head, but before it could meet its mark, Traverse stepped back, and phase-shifted through a wall. He had escaped death, or capture, but for the time being he was no longer a threat.

The fight, however, was not over, as reinforcement mercenaries began advancing on their position! The Seals laid down some cover fire, which allowed the main Alpha Initiative members to move on to the next area of the compound, and closer to their goal of obtaining London Lockhart.

‍