Chapter 2
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The waves crashed fiercely upon the rocks of the shore at his back. The martial artist stood before a stone the size of two golems stacked end to end. His knuckles ached from the endless strikes against the dark slab, but still he drove on, one disciplined blow after another. Another wave broke against the shore, showering him with saltwater, which mingled with the sweat pouring from his brow.
The bright afternoon sun baked the beach, making it a hardscrabble griddle upon which the air waved in heated sheets. Luan's neck felt a sudden coolness, a reprieve from the maleficent rays showering him from above. He looked up to see the figure whom had lent him its temporary shade.
"Still at it, shrimp?" Sin asked with a snicker.
"What do you care?" Luan asked, returning to his cacophonous training.
"Because it's making me tired just watching you. Come on, let's go before you break a nail."
Luan punched again, his attention unwavering. "Leave me alone."
"Talking to your brother like that," Sin said, shaking his head. "Wow. I thought you were supposed to be the good brother."
"You're not going to distract me," Luan said with another strike.
Sin cleared the salty air from his nostrils. "So what? You're never going to be able to beat me. We both know it, so why don't you just give up?"
As his brother's words stung his ears, Luan focused all of his might into his fists for one final thundering blow to the stone. A mighty wave crashed at his back, enunciating the strike with a spray of salty sea, which clouded their vision until it sizzled and peeled back. The stone sat, perfect and unmarked.
"See? Told ya."
Luan raised his eyes to shoot his brother a dirty look when a sound broke through the crashing of the waves and brought his attention to the distant waters. A shape was approaching the shore quickly, cutting the water with impressive speed.
Luan's face brightened. "Zephicus!" He called out, waving to the approaching Charger. Something was wrong, he quickly surmised. A dark shape was following matching Zeph's movements almost exactly. It was then that Luan sensed that his friend was in danger.
"Not that overgrown sardine," Sin huffed.
"Something's not right. He's in trouble."
The shapes cut along a riptide and disappeared beneath the waves. Luan watched with short, tense breaths until they exploded from the water in an awesome, frothy column. In a blink they were shredding the beach in a furious match, kicking up sand in mighty clouds.
"Zeph!" Luan called, breaking into a full run toward the conflict. By the time he reached the battleground, his friend was bloody and exhausted, staring up from the ground at the dark shape that had bested him. "Hey!"
The creature suddenly looked at Luan with a hideous grin, and the young martial artist quivered at the face that was at once so familiar yet so alien. It looks almost exactly like Zeph, except it's skin was a luxurious dark, that seemed to both glow and swallow the light simultaneously.
"Who…What are you?" Luan gasped.
"Wrong question." The dark shark laughed. "How many bites?"
"Huh?" Luan asked, a heavy knot forming in his gut.
"You should instead ask how many bites it will take for me to finish your friend."
Luan dropped to a ready stance—a natural stance—his feet digging into the hot sand. "You'll have to take me, first!"
He attacked, ready to deliver a thundering blow, but the shark was so fast. It moved as if it were still shredding the water, blocking Luan's strike with the snap of its tail. A maw of razor sharp teeth grinned in his face, and he jumped, delivering a spinning kick that faintly connected with the shark's belly.
A glancing hit! Luan realized too late when the dark creature flipped and swatted him to the ground. He hit with force that knocked the air from his lungs, and it was only by his training and sheer instinct that he reacted when the shadowy figure bore down on him. He lashed out with both feet, knocking it away. His kick seemed had managed to stagger the shark, but if he didn't rise to his feet, he would be nothing more than a slightly delayed meal.
The tenebrous predator charged him again, and Luan was certain it was the end, when a flash of red blurred overhead, and a sound as great as the crashing waves split his ears as Sin flew by overhead and landed a devastating kick to the beast's shimmering maw.
Luan looked at his brother in a far more heroic light then. He had always been tough, one of the hardest fighters around to break, but he had never been willing to sacrifice himself for others. That was the brother Luan had always wanted.
Sin delivered three more incredible strikes, staggering the shark backwards. Luan rose, rejuvenated by the short reprieve and the thought of victory. He joined Sin, concentrating their might together until the dark shark dove into the water and turned its broken teeth to face them. "My name is Calicus. Remember it. It will be the last thing you know before you die!"
The shark called Calicus sped off under the waves and disappeared, leaving Sin and Luan to ponder the nature of this attack. They did not have long, however.
"What a gutless buffoon." A brusque voice slashed the air.
They turned to find a mirror image of themselves, dressed in dark, almost glowing purple.
"What is this?" Sin growled, but before he could make a move, the dark martial artist jumped from his place on the high berm before them, spun through the air, and kicked them both with frightening power.
Luan and Sin crashed to the ground, starbursts of pain clouding their vision. Their assailant delivered swift kicks to their rib cages, first one then the other, with arrogant glee.
"Here's Jackie!" he laughed.
Luan rolled onto his back as the one named Jackie delivered a barrage to Sin, who soaked the blows like a boulder, but was wearing down quickly. The dark haired martial artist was simply too fast and strong, and Luan was too spent to help. He turned his head away and looked down the beach. In the distance, he saw it. The rock he had struck one final time with all of his inner might before this mess had started. Blue sky shone between what had once been a single stone. It was split in two.
Luan clenched his fists and stood up.