All for One

Two beings, male and female, were above Velah City. “It doesn’t make sense,” he said, “it wasn’t his time to go.” “The boy fought four life-changing battles,” she said, “if he were to lose one, the outcome might have been different. But sacrifice was his way to go.” The male spoke, “What is going to become of the girl.” She stood in silence until she said, “She may not look like it, but she has a tough interior, she’ll live through the rest of her life until time will take her.” The male scoffed, “So the boy’s will was beaten. Do you think it has anything to do with that shadow?” “Every experiment has to have a variable,” she said, “Besides, only time will tell if what happened today will have any effect on the future.” The male chuckled, “There you go using that word again.”

He grasped his hands, “So, what is the next phase?”

Sparx rubbed his eyes after waking up. “Oh ow,” he rubbed his temples, “what happened?” He saw in the distance a tentacled figure electrifying six victims. “Wait,” Sparx peered closer, “Wing? Spirit? Frostbite, Spike, Rush?” He saw the last one and panicked, “Reyn?” He could barely make out her face. She had a pained, sad look on. Sparx could not bear to see her in this position. There was a horrible feeling in his heart, the feeling of loss. Sparx did not want to lose anybody, especially his family.

Something warm was beginning to overtake Sparx from the inside. He felt it coming, but did nothing to try and prevent it. Sparx felt a tremendous power coming into him. It was so big that it made him scream from where he stood. Sparx started to involuntarily discharge electricity from his body. He then blacked out.

Wing saw the tentacles being separated through the torture. At once everybody was released and fell to the ground. A bright light was standing before them. Wing shielded his eyes and saw a figure in he midst of the light, “Sparx?” The figure looked over it’s shoulder and stared at Wing and the rest. It then gave a thumbs up, just like Sparx did before he went unconscious. Wing laughed, “Ha ha Sparx you son of a bitch.” Reyn looked through the blinding light and saw Sparx had underwent a massive wardrobe change. He did not have his jacket on, instead he had a white shirt with the collar reaching down his chest to his esophagus. Embedded in his chest was a burnt “S” in the style of a lightning bolt. Sparx did not have his gloves on, and everything else was white, including his hair. But what was ethereal about him was that he did not have his mouth and that electric energy was flowing out of his eyes.

As fast as he came in, Sparx zipped off towards the shadow. The force of him speeding pushed everybody forward. “Holy crap,” Frostbite exclaimed, “what happened to him?”

Sparx took his fist and buried it in the shadow’s stomach. The force was too much for it to stay still. The shadow flew back towards the crater where the Equilibrium stemmed. Sparx sped after it with an electric bolt ready. The shadow got on it’s feet and readied one, too. What came next was too fast to see and explain.

Everybody stood away from the crater, as the electric shocks were destroying the cliffs. All that was heard were booms and massive thunder echoes. Bright flashes of light escaped the crater each time thunder was heard. There were also shocks of black electricity, but they did not come as often as the bright ones. “What’s going on,” Spirit asked frantically. She was tending to the wounded Reyn. Wing rubbed his arms where the shadow tentacles were constricting, “I don’t know,” he chuckled, “but it looks like Sparx is winning.” Reyn spoke up, “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Everyone looked at her with surprising looks on their faces. “Why so pessimistic? You should be the one saying that he’s going to make it back,” Wing said. Reyn looked down, “His soul. It’s slowly fading away..” “How can you tell,” Spirit asked. “When my race falls in love, we can feel the strength of the other person’s soul. His is draining away.” Spike spoke up, “So this is his drone at full power then.” Everyone looked at him now. “That’s impossible though,” Wing said, “he has never used his primary before.” “True,” Spike replied, “but what if he doesn’t have a primary? I knew there was something special about him, and it turns out he can only use the last stage of his drone. Only,” he looked down, “the last stage is his only stage.” Wing had trouble accepting this, “N-no you guys are wrong. He won’t let the shadow beat him, he’s tougher than that!” Spirit stood up and hugged his arm, “We aren’t worried about his shadow.” All they could do was wait and see if Reyn’s prediction would come true.

The pace of the fight slowed down so everyone could make out what was happening. It turns out Sparx’s light was having a massive effect on the darkness of the shadow. It attacked with a myriad of tentacles and bolts of electricity. Sparx just continued to walk towards it, dodging the strikes as they came. Everytime he dodged, Sparx retaliated with his own punches and bolts. The shadow grew tired of him and created a cannon made of shadow sticking out of its chest. Sparx acted quickly and dodged the electric blast from the cannon. He disappeared before its eyes and knocked the shadow to the ground. Sparx reappeared standing in front of the shadow with a massive electric bolt surrounding his right fist. It also seemed to the shadow that it was infused with the light energy Sparx had been emitting the whole time. He readied his arm and saw the look in the shadow’s face. Even though only its eyes were shone, Sparx could not help but feel it had no regrets in its eyes. With one fell swoop, Sparx slammed the shadow’s face in, which caused the Outskirts to become filled with light.

Wing saw the impact coming. He took both girls in his arms and turned around while protecting them with his wings. Frostbite fogged his goggles while Spike put a giant spike in front of him and Rush. The explosion caused a bright flash. The force of it reached everyone as they braced themselves. When it finished, Wing looked over his shoulder and saw smoke rising from the crater.

“Did he win?” Spike asked. Wing relaxed his wings, “We’ll see when the smoke clears.” They waited a while before they saw a figure walking out. Everyone got ready to fight. “Sparx,” Wing called out. When the smoke cleared, Sparx was shown trudging towards his friends while grasping his right arm. Everyone but Reyn cheered for him in awe as he struggled to walk. “You see! I told you he would beat this,” Wing told Reyn. Spirit jumped into Wing’s arms and screamed to Sparx. Wing raised his fist into the air in victory. Sparx saw this and grinned while letting go of his arm to raise his into the air.

The cheering immediately died when Sparx fell to his knees, then on his stomach.

“Sparx!” Wing yelled as everyone but Reyn again ran to his rescue. All she did was walk towards Sparx. Wing flipped him onto his back, “He’s ok, he’s ok. Just unconscious like last time, right?” Spirit placed her palm on his chest, then got up and turned away. “You probably weren’t doing it right,” Wing said in a false cheerful tone, “you gotta do it like this.” He put his talon on Sparx’s neck, hoping to find the slightest pump of blood. Wing dug deeper, hoping to find it somewhere in there when Spirit stopped him in a depressed tone, “Wing, you’re breaking the skin.” She and the rest had come to the realization, but Wing would not accept it. “No, no dammit,” he yelled, “Sparx, get up. Come on man quit playing around. You have your whole, damn life to die, just please don’t do it today.” His voice started to break, “Please Sparx, just get up and breathe. We’re all waiting for you, please don’t leave us alone, especially Reyn. That girl sees alot in you, man. She fucking loves you and adores you!” “Wing,” Spirit uttered. “We all do, so come on get up,” he continued. Spirit put her hand on his shoulder and called his name. Wing looked at her and looked behind him. He saw Reyn with a blank stare on her face staring at Sparx. Wing got up and crossed his arms, stifling his sobs while he turned away. Reyn crouched to have a better view of Sparx. Even in this state, he still had a grin on his face. She laid across his chest with her face buried in his shirt.

There was silence for a few moments, until it was broken by quiet, yet audible sobs coming from Reyn.

There the group would stay, until it was time to carry his body through the city. Some people mourned him, while others cheered. Meanwhile, in the V.E.S.P. HQ, something corrupt was being planned.

Wing darted towards the shadow. He stuck his legs out and drop-kicked it away from Sparx. The shadow flew back and regained it’s footing. Rush then came along and punched the shadow in it’s face, which made it fly farther. Spike placed his palm on the ground and morphed the environment behind the shadow into a spike pointing towards it’s back. The spike pierced the shadow as it went through at a fast rate. Rush raised his fist in victory as Wing gave Spike a high-five. The shadow proceeded to pull itself apart in order to free itself. All three of them looked in shock as the shadow split itself in half. A substance stuck itself between the split body and pulled them together. “Shit,” Wing cursed as the three of them retreated.

The shadow started walking towards Sparx. Ice started surrounding it’s legs, slowing it’s movement. Reyn then took the surrounding water and blasted the shadow with a high pressure blast. Then she grabbed it with a water-arm and threw it further away. Frostbite chucked an ice crystal towards it, and it hit with succession. Spirit raced after the shadow and bared her claws. in a flash, she swiped the shadow, which split it into a million pieces. She turned back to the the shadow and grinned. Just then, the pieces melted and joined back up to create the shadow in whole. “Fuck,” Spirit said.

The shadow stood still for a few moments. Everyone braced themselves for what would come. A tentacle came out of it’s back and speared after Wing. It wrapped around him and squeezed tightly before he could do anything. “Wing!,” they all yelled. He struggled to get free, “RUN!” Everybody started to move when the shadow made more tentacles come out of his back. They snatched them all and started pumping electricity into their bodies. Everybody screamed in pain as the shadow stood triumphantly. All Reyn, Wing, and Spirit could think about was Sparx. Reyn screamed his name throughout the torture she was enduring.

Sparx’s eyes fluttered opened slowly.

Wing laid Sparx’s body in front of everybody. “Sparx, get up,” he said distraughtly. He would not budge, even from a few nudges from Wing. Everyone at that moment thought the worst, until the teary-eyed Reyn put her ear to Sparx’s chest. “His heart is still beating,” she said happily. All three of them let out a sigh of relief. “He’s just unconscious,” Spirit said, “all he needs is rest.” Wing scoffed as he sat down next to Sparx, “No kidding. He fought and ran without breaks. That takes a toll on your body, no matter how built you are.”

Spike, Rush, and Frostbite walked up to the four of them. “Oh shit,” Wing complained, “can’t you guys leave us alone?” He was about to get up when Frostbite motioned him to stay in place. “We came to,” he hesitated, “explain our behavior now that Sparx beat Fiego.” He looked at Sparx’s body, “I’m not a fighter. I race, it’s what I do. Sure I may cheat sometimes, but all I wanted was a rival in speed. I honestly, deep down in my heart, never meant to hurt any of you. It’s just.. you know, fire melts ice.” Wing, Spirit, and Reyn seemed to accept it.

Wing to turned to Spike and Rush and said, “Now, what the fuck do you asswipes want?” Spike put his head down, “I see where that’s coming from, and if I was in your position, I would do the same. First, Fiego made us help him, because he could do away with us like that,” Spike snapped his fingers, “Second, I just thought I would clear up the air around us. Remember that night we first met?” Wing clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, “You better have something good for bringing that up.” Spike continued, “We were looking for you and Sparx because that shadow seemed to make us follow it. Just like Fiego,” he snapped his fingers again. “Anyway, it wanted us to test Sparx’s power for some reason. When we made it to your home, the place was being burnt down. We had nothing to do with it.” Rush nodded in agreement. Wing laughed angrily, “Bullshit, you said so yourself that you two burnt it down.” Spike shook his head, “Come on man, we were stupid kids. How else was I going to make you guys fight?” Wing struggled with the truth, “A-alright, let’s say I believe you. Who else would burn our home?” Spike and Rush looked at each other for a moment. Wing looked at both of them, “What? What is it?” Spike finally spoke, “Before we actually moved in, there were three armored vans parked outside your home. They all had a V in a circle.” Wing interrupted, “Whoa, whoa wait a minute. You’re telling me V.E.S.P. did it? Why do I not believe you? I mean, they are corrupt as shit, but I would never imagine them doing this.” Spike made his tone more intense, “How many other orphanages are in Velah City?” Wing thought for a moment, “Alot.” Spike continued, “That serve our kind?” Wing stayed silent. “Anyway, that’s not even the worst part,” Spike said, “About four troops toting sub-machine guns came out of each van. Let’s just say, they weren’t invited in, but they went in anyway. Rush and I were in the bushes outside of the scene.” Spike closed his eyes as if he was in pain, “All we heard then was gunshots being fired and screaming inside the building until the last scream was heard, then it was interrupted by the last gunshot. Eleven troops walked out, while one stayed behind. He then came out as the orphanage started catching fire. We went inside when it was done burning to see if there were any survivors. Then you two showed up behind us.”

Wing put his head on his palm. Spirit tried to comfort him by putting her hand on his arm. “Wing..” she said comfortingly. He wiped his face with his sleeve, “Now I feel like shit.” “Why,” Spirit asked. “Because all this time, I blamed you guys for that day,” he told them all. Spike shook his head again, “We’re the ones who should feel like assholes. We have been taunting you over that, and we’re both sorry.” Wing looked up, “Now what I don’t understand is why the government slaughtered all these freeqs.” Spirit touched his shoulder, “We’ll have time to think about that, but for now we need to get Sparx back home and treat his wounds.”

The shadow substance left over from the fight started to move.

Wing and Frostbite put Sparx’s arms around their shoulders and carried him to the city.

It started squirming towards the lifeless Fiego’s body. Once it reached him, the substance overtook the legs. They started to move and propped themselves up.

“Um.. guys,” Reyn sounded worried, “I don’t think we’re done here yet.” They all looked up to see what she was talking about and saw Fiego standing up. “Fuck,” Wing cursed. Spirit looked closer, “Wait. Something’s not right.” Fiego looked like he was not even trying to stand. It was as if something was making him stand, like if he was a marionette being controlled by a puppeteer. Wing saw a black substance was slowly crawling up to Fiego’s head. “Oh shit,” Reyn screamed, “That’s not Fiego!” Frostbite looked at her, “Then who is it?” Wing searched for any clues, “Fuck, the shadow is taking over his body.” Reyn looked down, shocked, “Fiego’s dead.” This made everyone look at the puppet. The shadow had overtaken everything but his face. Everyone stared in shock and anxiety as it finally covered Fiego’s face. His long lock of hair slowly receded as the hair changed to Sparx’s style. The shadow turned pitch black. Once it opened its eyes, everyone stepped back. Its eyes were the brightest white. All it did was peer at the group while standing completely still.

Wing thought over the whole process, and laid out the options in his head. All he could think about was Sparx. “Alright,” he finally said. Spirit and Reyn both knew what was coming. Wing turned to them, “Can you guys still fight?” Spirit bared her claws, “You don’t even have to ask me,” she said confidently. Reyn cracked her neck, “Of course.” Wing turned to Frostbite, Spike, and Rush, “What about you three?” “Yeah,” Frostbite and Spike said while Rush nodded. Wing faced the shadow, “Sparx has done so much for all of us. He’s given us reasons to live. So that’s why today, he rests while we do this for them.” Wing donned his wings, “And even if we don’t succeed, at least we died trying to protect him.”

At once, they all let Sparx rest while Wing flew, Spirit hovered, Reyn tread water, Spike held on to Rush while he ran, and Frostbite rode on towards the shadow. All for Sparx.

The shadow immediately charged towards Sparx. He braced himself for the attack, while Fiego shot the shadow with a fireball. “Thanks,” Sparx said. Fiego turned to him and raised his arm. Sparx quickly backflipped away before the ground below him turned to inferno. As he was regaining his footing, the shadow grabbed Sparx’s leg and threw him behind. It then grabbed Fiego’s neck and forced him to the ground. The shadow raised it’s fist and was about to strike Fiego’s neck when a flurry of electric bolts struck it’s side. The shadow looked like it was screaming, but no sound came from it. Fiego saw his chance and enveloped it in a cyclone of flame. The shadow staggered backwards as Sparx ran to attack it. Fiego tackled Sparx and punched him with his fists, which were on fire. Sparx kicked him off and electrified his fists. He felt something closing in on him fast. Sparx ducked and saw a purple bolt of electricity strike Fiego. He screamed as electricity was surrounding his body. Sparx ran towards the shadow and leaped into the air. It unleashed it’s own flurry into the air. Sparx tried his best to dodge, but a few hit him, which made him hit the ground before the shadow. It then proceeded to kick Sparx away from it. He flew back and skidded across the ground. Sparx got on his knee and wiped the blood from his mouth. The shadow was walking towards him when a blast of inferno knocked it further away from Sparx. Fiego put his arm down. It looked like he was on his last life, because he struggled while trying to get up. The shadow rose and electrified it’s fist. Sparx got off his knee and electrified his. Fiego set fire to his fist. At once all three ran towards each other and got their fists ready. Sparx and Fiego started screaming, as the shadow maintained a quiet determination. They all punched each others fists, which caused their elements to fight with each other until the force exploded between them all. They all flew away from each other. Fiego skidded away towards the city, the shadow landed with a splat, and Sparx slid back, his body unmoving. Fortunately Wing flew behind him and caught Sparx.

When Fiego stopped rolling, he laid on his back and stared into the sky. A single tear came out of his eye. “I-I failed,” he managed to say. His vision started to fade, so he closed his eyes and let the everlasting sleep come to him.

Wing and Spirit sped after Reyn. They did not see her struggling, so the anxiety in them made them speed up after Frostbite and Rush. “Rush, keep yourself steady,” Spike said. He bent down and put his thumb to the ground. Just then, giant spikes started rising from the ground very quickly. Wing and Spirit evaded each one as they rose up from the ground. Frostbite looked behind him and started shooting icicles towards them. Wing dodged them as well, but Spirit passed through them unfazed.

Frostbite looked ahead and saw they were reaching the edge of the city. Spike was worried, “We can’t fly, man! This is suicide!” Frostbit laughed, “I got you guys don’t worry.” At once, they all disappeared over the horizon. Wing and Spirit stopped at the edge. “Are you sure about this,” Wing asked her. “No,” Spirit said, “but we don’t really have a choice, do we?” She jumped down, followed by Wing.

It took them all a few minutes to reach the Outskirts. Before they reached the ground, Frostbite made a slide out of ice so Rush and Spike would slide to the ground. Once they reached it, Spike sharpened the spikes protruding out of his wrists, Rush started spinning in place, and Frostbite dismounted and sighed a frosty breath while still carrying Reyn. She was still barely conscious enough to listen to her own heartbeat. Behind them, Wing flapped until he set foot to the ground, and Spirit’s lower body reappeared. Frostbite turned around and dropped Reyn in a puddle. “So you guys want to finish this,” he asked. “No,” Spirit replied, “we just want our friend back.” Rush stopped spinning and was glowing orange. “Well,” Frostbite started, “winners take the trophy.” He pointed at Reyn. Wing and Spirit were now pissed. Wing got into position, while Spirit bared her claws and got ready to dig them into her arms. “You know I’ve never seen you fight,” Wing told her. “There is a first for everything,” she replied.

Water started surrounding Frostbite, Rush, and Spike’s feet, hindering their movement. “What the hell,” Spike yelled. They all turned behind them and saw Reyn out of her binds and her arms raised. “Rush,” Frostbite thought quickly and exclaimed, “start running and get out of this!” He tried to freeze the water as it was flowing upwards, but the speed of the water surrounding his body was too fast for him. He saw Spike being suspended in a small body of water, which prevented him from shooting spikes and touching the ground to change the surroundings. Rush, however, managed to escape the grasp by his speed and his heat, which was quickly turning the water to steam. Reyn saw him and immediately suspended water droplets around the area. She looked closely and saw the tiny particles being moved and split in a certain sequence. “Gotcha,” she said to herself. Just then, an arm made entirely of water extended out from her arm and caught Rush by the neck. She then lifted him off the ground so he would not run anywhere. Reyn threw Rush at Frostbite, which then both hit Spike. The impact of this knocked them all unconscious. Reyn took the surrounding water and absorbed it into her body. She then turned to the dumbfounded Wing and Spirit and smiled. “Reyn,” Wing hesitated, “how come you..” “You never asked,” she said confidently. Spirit shook her head, “You mean to tell us that you could’ve escaped all this time?” “No,” Reyn said, “When Fiego took me, his heat had taken the moisture from my body, which made me severely dehydrated and losing consciousness. Then when he passed me to Frostbite, his cold temperature made me want to fall into a deep sleep until he threw me in the puddle. That is when I regained consciousness.” “Wow,” Wing said, “wait till Sparx hears this.” Spirit looked up, “Speak of the devil..” All three looked up and saw a figure falling from the city. Before he hit the ground, he charged his fist and punched to divert his momentum, which caused smoke and dust to fly through the air. When it cleared, Sparx was brushing off the dust from his burnt clothes. He then looked up and waved and said “Hi” in a cheerful tone.

Wing walked up to him and patted his arm, “Looks like he did a number on you.” Sparx laughed, “You should’ve seen what I did to him.” Spirit joined Wing, “Good to see you came back in one piece.” Sparx smiled and turned to Reyn. She was standing there staring back at him. He immediately walked up to her and embraced her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I shouldn’t have never left you. It will never happen again, I’ll see to it.” Reyn was confused. She had the urge to say something, but instead just hugged Sparx back and closed her eyes, wishing that moment would never end.

“Kiss her already!” Sparx opened his eyes and turned to Wing. “Do you know how long we’ve been waiting for you guys to come close to this,” Spirit asked, “Kiss the damn girl already, make her yours!” He blushed and Reyn was turning red, too. “Maybe later,” she said. Sparx looked at her and grinned, which made Reyn turn away and smile. “Let’s go home, guys,” Sparx finally said. They all started walking back to the city and talking about each of their days. While Wing bragged about his fight, Sparx made the leap and took Reyn’s hand into his. Reyn gladly accepted his gesture and closed her fingers around his hand. Both of their hearts raced faster than usual.

Sparx then suddenly stopped walking and let go of Reyn’s hand. His eyes widened as his spine started shivering. Wing and Spirit noticed the cease in movement. Reyn looked at him, “Sparx,” she called out his name. They all looked behind him and saw Sparx’s shadow tapping its foot with its arms crossed. Sparx started walking towards him. Wing took his arm, “Sparx, another day.” Sparx stopped walking, “Don’t you see? Another day means more deaths on my conscience. I need my shadow gone as soon as possible.” Spirit walked up to him, “Sparx,” she said in a worried tone. Sparx turned to them, “You guys swear like I’m going to die,” he chuckled, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be back alive.” He gave a thumbs up to assure them. Wing let go, and Sparx was about to walk, when he suddenly stopped and turned to Reyn. He walked up to her, tilted her head upwards by her chin, and kissed her on her lips. The complete shock of this made her eyes flutter and stand on her tip-toes. Sparx released and told her under his breath, “I’ll be back soon.” She put her forehead on his chest, “Goodluck.” He embraced her one last time and let go. Sparx then walked to his shadow and stood in front of it.

“We’re gonna finish this,” Sparx told his shadow. Just then, a burst of flame appeared before them. Fiego walked out of it, still badly maimed and scarred. “Oh Fiego,” Sparx greeted him, “what are you doing here?” “Shut the fuck up,” he muttered, “If I can’t beat you, I might as well kill your shadow.” Sparx thought for a moment and laughed, “Well! It looks like we’re in a predicament. I want to kill my shadow, it wants to kill me, and you want to kill my shadow, too. I propose a plan.” Fiego interrupted him, “Up yours.” Sparx became serious, “Fine. A good-old-fashioned free-for-all brawl it is then.”

Sparx charged towards the running Fiego and threw his fist forward. Fiego did the same and met his fist. The clashing elements began to swirl around them both as Sparx knocked Fiego back. He ran towards him while charging a bolt in his right fist. Fiego back-sprung in his hand and kicked Sparx’s arm away from hitting him. When he got back on his feet, Fiego lit his fist on fire and punched Sparx in his stomach, then gave him an uppercut. He then kicked Sparx’s jaw, then his stomach. Sparx flew back as Fiego ran after him and grabbed his neck. He forced Sparx to the ground and dragged him to the wall while he ran. Sparx felt the concrete breaking as he was getting pulled. Fiego pinned Sparx to the wall and said, “Just like old times, eh?” Sparx smiled as he struggled, “Speaking of old, your grip is still loose.” Sparx started prying Fiego’s fingers away from his neck and charged his leg with electricity. Then he kicked Fiego on his right side, which made him skid away from Sparx. He grabbed his side and winced, “I can’t feel pain.” Sparx rubbed his neck, “Your nerves are shot, thanks to my kick.”

Sparx ran after him and leaped into the air while readying his fist. Fiego unleashed a cyclone of fire towards Sparx. Thinking quickly, he spun while diving into the fire and discharged 5,000,000 amps and 1,000,000 volts in order to protect himself. The electric bolts disrupted the flow of the flame until it disappeared. Sparx then punched Fiego with the momentum he gained from spinning. His body skidded as he flew back, then propped up on his feet. But Fiego discovered that Sparx had disappeared. “Boo,” a voice said from behind. Fiego was about to turn around, but Sparx kneed his back and kicked him into the next room. Fiego smashed into the window of the supervisor’s room. Sparx chased after him and was about to jump into the room when suddenly he heard Fiego scream in fury. The room was lit on fire as Sparx jumped in.

The room was a mess. There was a dusty desk left over, although now it was melting through the immense heat. Whatever papers were left over have been immediately burnt up due to Fiego’s anger. He charged towards Sparx and punched him in his stomach. His fist was lit on fire as he was burning a hole in Sparx’s stomach. Sparx yelled in pain as he shoved Fiego’s arm out of the way. He looked at him and saw that Fiego was completely on fire. Fiego took that moment of hesitation and charged towards Sparx again. He sweep-kicked his legs, which made Sparx fall. He tried to stop by putting his hand on the ground, but Fiego hammered his leg down on Sparx’s head. The impact of his head to the ground made a dent in the concrete. Fiego laughed when he saw Sparx had blood dripping out of his nose and mouth. He wiped his nose and mouth with his sleeve and saw that he was bleeding. “It’s been a while since I last saw myself bleed,” Sparx laughed. He got up, only to be punched down by Fiego. Sparx tried again, only to get knocked down again. “There is your place,” Fiego said darkly. Sparx was not giving in though. He was struggling, but seemed to stay off of his knees, no matter how hard Fiego was beating him down.

When the blows stopped landing, Sparx slowly got up. “I will never get on my knees,” he said confidently, “for those who don’t respect family.” Fiego was about to punch him, when Sparx backflipped out of the room. Fiego burnt through the wall and walked out casually. Sparx proceeded to take off his jacket. He threw it close to the doors. Fiego scoffed, “That wasn’t your all back there?” Sparx didn’t answer. He looked at Fiego. He saw liquid electricity coming out of his eyes. Fiego looked confused, but he would not let it faze him. He charged towards Sparx and threw a punch. Sparx grabbed his arm and pulled so he was behind Fiego. He was struggling until Sparx kneed the point where Fiego’s arm and shoulder met. He screamed in pain as Sparx let his arm dangle. He then charged a massive amount of electricity into his right fist and slammed Fiego’s head to the ground.

Sparx’s eyes turned back to normal. “It’s over,” he said. He started to walk to the door when Fiego grabbed his leg. “W-wait,” he struggled to pull himself up, “I-I’m not d-done with you…” Sparx discharged a small bolt of electricity into the back of Fiego’s neck. He went limp and fell back to the floor. “What did you do,” he asked as he struggled to move. Sparx picked up his jacket and threw it over his shoulder, “I short-circuited your nervous system. Don’t worry though, it’ll be back online in a few minutes, which is enough time for me to find my friends.” After a few moments of struggling, Fiego gave in, “Finish me.” Sparx staggered and chuckled, “I’m sorry?” Fiego sounded like he was crying, “If I can’t beat you and my destiny, I would rather die by your hands.” Sparx crouched to Fiego’s level. “Listen Fiego,” Sparx began, “you might not believe it, but I like you. I hate that you tried to kill your sister, but I love that fighter’s spirit in you. That’s why I wanted you to stay. I know you want power, and I want to get stronger. I need a new challenge. So I want you to live, because I want us not to be enemies, but rivals.” He got up and headed for the door. He stopped, “There is something you should know about me, Fiego. I don’t kill people. It’s not my thing.” With that, he put in his jacket and stormed off into the city to find any trail of where his friends could have gone. Behind him, he heard Fiego screaming in distress. Sparx glanced behind him and saw that his tantrum had made the building catch on fire.

Sparx followed the blazing trail left by Fiego. Surprisingly, the trail didn’t look like he was trying to lose Sparx. After a few pointless turns, the trail led him to a warehouse. The same warehouse Fiego and Sparx were about to fight last time.

Sparx packed electricity into his fist and blew the doors wide open. This time I won’t hesitate, he thought. “Fiego,” Sparx yelled into the dark. Fiego walked out of the shadows and said, “You don’t have to yell, I’m here.” He jumped off of the catwalk and landed a few feet away from Sparx. “You trust your friends with Reyn?” he asked. Sparx looked back at the way he came and said, “Why not? They never gave me reason not to.”

“You know, Fiego,” Sparx said, “I’ve been doing alot of thinking since the last time we met.” Fiego scoffed, “About what?” “Why you kept running all this time,” Sparx said. Fiego retaliated with “I wasn’t running, merely planning”, but Sparx interrupted, “Call it what you want, you still ditched at the last second, and I figured out why”, he paused when Fiego started to grin, “You’re afraid.” Fiego’s grin faded. Sparx went on, “You’re afraid that that book your people follow on your world might be true, which would be good or bad. The good would be you defeating me. The bad would be me defeating you, and I think you and I both know it’s bad for you.” Fiego saw where this was going, “What makes you so sure you can beat me?” Sparx touched his neck, “That day when we first met, remember when you gripped my neck? You had such a weak grip. That and all the times you ran away. So I can safely assume that you’re weak.” Fiego started to get furious. “Well,” he was gritting his teeth, “you’re about to see how wrong you are.”

“Wait,” Sparx held up his hand, “I’m not done yet. I know you’ve seen it, too.” Fiego looked confused. “That thing that looks like me. What is it?” Fiego laughed, “Sparx, you already know what it is. It’s your shadow.” Sparx’s eyes widened. “But your shadow is different from the rest,” Fiego said, “When other shadows find their owner, they would usually stop at nothing to kill them, but yours is different. It doesn’t attack you when it spots you. It seems like it’s planning something else, something more sinister. I know shadows don’t have souls, but it seems as though when you two were split, it took a fragment of yours. Sparx, your shadow is a pretty fascinating creature. If it wanted to, it could take control of all the shadows and make it’s own army.” Sparx was thinking that he should have finished it off when he had it’s chance. “But,” Fiego said, “it won’t matter. Supposedly if I kill you, the shadow will cease to exist, which would mean that I have cleared my destiny twice, since you two are both equally matched. Now, are we going to continue talking,” Fiego lit his fists on fire, “or is this going to be the beatdown you have craved for a while?” Sparx laughed and charged electricity in his fists, “I don’t know,” he said, “are you gonna run?” Fiego responded with ” I’m done running” and charged towards Sparx.