Chapter 21

'Ring!'

A red haired boy slapped his alarm clock and it headed towards the wall, breaking into pieces as it hit the wall.

'Damn…' He groaned as he got out of his bed and stretched his body. He then flapped his massive light blue wings before walking to the door.

He opened the door and began to tiptoe as he wanted to move with the least noise made. He continued doing so until he got to the backdoor of his house. Then, a voice called out.

'Master Alex! Where are you?!' Alex sweated when he heard his butler, Sebastian, call for him.

'Time to fly!' Alex muttered as he pushed the backdoor open before taking flight.

Shopping Central

Alex landed and looked around. He was slightly surprised at the sheer number of citizens wandering around.

Granted, today was a holiday so students and employees were all able to take a break.

'Hey!' Alex heard a familiar voice and turned his head to see a girl with chin length hair that was dyed red. She had blue eyes and wore a silver bracelet on her right hand. She wore a blue cardigan, white undershirt with a pink cat printed on it, a black skirt, and a pair of neon heels. A pair of pink wings stuck out from her back.

Beside her was a man with short black hair. He wore a green tee, black track pants, and a pair of grey running shoes. He had a pair of crimson wings sprouting from his back.

'Man this place is crowded!' Alex said as he walked towards the duo.

'Why are you here?' The girl narrowed her eyes as she pointed at Alex. Alex raised his hands.

'C'mon...I didn't wanna do fighting lessons any longer!' Alex complained.

'Tch!' The girl clicked her tongue in irritation.

'Chloe, relax.' The man said.

'But today was supposed to be our one year anniversary Von!' Alex then scratched his head.

'It's been a year since you two met?' Chloe then turned her eyes towards Alex.

'Yes.' Alex then shuddered at the glare Chloe was giving him.

'Von…'

'Hmm…'

'What happened to that gentle and shy Chloe?'

'I have no idea.' Von said as he cupped his chin, seemingly trying to figure out what exactly happened to his girlfriend.

'...' Chloe simply stared at Von with tick marks on her forehead.

'Anyway, let's go do what we're here for.' Von said, trying to change the subject.

The next hour, the trio entered malls after malls trying to find something that Chloe wanted as Von promised to buy her a present for their one year anniversary.

Alex was simply tagging along as he tried thinking of new cooking methods. He had successfully gotten enrolled in the cooking school of his choice.

Suddenly, it began raining when they were walking to another mall.

'Dammit! My hair!' Chloe cursed as she ran to the nearest shelter. Von chased after her.

As Alex was invested in his thoughts, he ended up behind Von. Because of this however, he noticed something strange.

An hour later

'Ah...this necklace is so pretty…' Chloe looked at the present Von bought for her with sparkling eyes. It was a silver necklace with a pink gem in the middle.

'It's like it's calling out to me…' Chloe mumbled. Meanwhile, Alex was just looking at Von.

'Anyway, I have to go to the restroom.' Chloe said before walking off. Von then rested against a wall.

Alex decided that it was finally the time to ask Von the question that has been bugging him.

'Hey.' Von turned to him.

'Yeah?'

'Just now...when it was raining…'

'Yeah?' Von narrowed his eyes, unsure of what his friend was trying to say.

'...Part of your wings are white…' Von's eyes shot up as he quickly retracted his wings, trying to hide them underneath his shirt.

'Um…' Von began stuttering.

'What happened?' Alex asked. Von began fidgeting.

'I…' Von paused, unsure if he wanted to tell Alex what was going on.

'Please…' Alex urged.

'After that mission last year in he Southern communication tower, I...began getting weaker.' Alex's eyes widened.

'What happened in there?!'

'I don't know...everything I try thinking about it, my head feels like it's about to snap in half…'

'Isn't that the same situation as the people that were captured?' Alex asked. Von nodded.

'Yeah...anyway, it seems that as I lose more of my powers, my wings starts losing more of it's colour…'

Alex was speechless. The most powerful Winged One was now losing all of his powers.

'Sorry…' Von said as he looked down in the floor.

'SORRY MY ASS!' Alex yelled as he laid limp on the bloodied floor.

'The drug that your sister made was dangerous…'

'SO? THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE DAMN FUCKING RIGHT TO KILL EVERYONE JUST TO GET YOUR HANDS ON IT!'

'It will serve me much better than anyone else. If I use it, it can allow me to regain my powers.' Alex screamed as he tried to fight back. However, even when Von was weakened, he managed to kill everyone in the Kichon house. All for the sake of regaining his powers.

'Argh!' Alex groaned as a spear of fire stabbed him in the heart.

'Sorry…' Von said once again.

'I will...never forgive you…' Alex muttered before falling onto the ground.

Von then consumed the pill in his hand. Upon consumption, he felt waves and waves of power surge up from within.

'Yes! Yes! Ye-groahhh!' Von began roaring primally as his body couldn't contain all the power that was currently within it.

'Grahhh!' His white wings pulsated as they began flapping without Von's permission.

'Stop! Stop! STOP!' He flew up into the sky at high speeds, shocking everyone who saw him as he appeared to have became an angel soaring through the skies, surrounded by a white aura.

Soon, he flew head-first into the sun. Unable to withstand both the power within himself and the heat from the sun, he burned to ashes.

Underwater Caverns

'You must train your body enough to ensure that you can handle the Full Metamorphosis!' A deep voice called out.

'Right!' A boy with messy blue hair replied. He was currently wearing a pair of black pants that was found laying around on the floors of the Underwater Caverns. How it got there, he didn't know.

He was currently punching a tree in an attempt to snap it in half. His knuckles appeared bruised.

'Hiyah!' He then kicked the tree. The kick had such force behind it that it effectively broke the tree.

'You need to improve on your punching power.' The voice called out again.

'Got it.' He replied as he began running to the next tree. Suddenly, the ground shook.

'Huh?' The boy muttered as he stopped whatever he was doing.

'There is fighting on the surface.' The voice said. The boy sighed before turning his head away.

'AH!' The scream however, got his attention once again.

He stood still, deciding whether to help the girl who just screamed or not. Rationally, he wanted to just focus on his training. However, deep in his heart, he just couldn't let someone die and not help them...well, unless it was him.

'Dammit!' He muttered before running in the opposite direction of the trees.

On the surface

A girl was struggling to stay afloat the sea. In the sky, there appeared a creature that resembles a scorpion. Its red eyes glowed.

The girl was riddled with injuries and seemed to be close to fainting. Sensing that its prey was unable to resist anymore, the scorpion flew towards the girl.

The girl closed her eyes, seemingly resigning her to her fate. Suddenly, a black blur appeared beside the scorpion and kicked it.

'Gwah!' The scorpion went flying before regaining its bearings.

A figure appeared. He had messy black hair, orange glowing eyes, and he had black dragon scales for skin. A pair of black dragon wings sprouted from his back. Sharp claws protuded from his fingers and toes. He grinned, revealing sharp, white fangs.

'Heh.' He licked his lips. The scorpion roared as it released a stream of green liquid. The boy merely tilted his body to the right and dodged the shot.

He then flew towards the scorpion and went for a kick towards its side. The scorpion managed to dodge it however despite its size. This shocked the boy and it gave the scorpion an opening as it grabbed him with its pincers.

'Argh!' The boy grunted as he struggled against the tight grip of the scorpion.

'Don't let your guard down so easily! I refuse to lose my host after he trained so intensively for decades to handle my power!'

'Shut it!' The boy cursed at the voice in his head. Meanwhile, the injured girl was shocked at seeing this dragon-like person.

'GRAH!!!' The boy roared as he used his entire body strength to lift the scorpion and began spinning, creating a cyclone.

He then used the chance to escape from the grip of the scorpion before punching it in the head. He then got into a stance.

The scorpion regained its bearings once again and stared deep into the boy's eyes.

'Fucker…' He cursed before breathing in a huge amount of air. The scorpion charged forward at high speed but before he reached the boy, the boy roared loudly, releasing a blast of wind from his mouth.

The attack pushed the scorpion back and was strong enough to tear its right pincer off.

'Serves you right!' The boy taunted with a huge smirk.

'It can regenerate!' The girl screamed from below the boy. The boy looked at the girl, before looking back at the scorpion.

True to her words, the scorpion's lost right pincer regenerated as quickly as it lost it.

'Tch! What's with that insanely high regeneration rate?'

'It's nothing compared to the one of the Phoenix.' The boy's inner voice said. The boy snorted in response before sharpening his claws.

He rushed the scorpion and slashed quickly. However, despite all his efforts, the scorpion was able to recover. Then, the scorpion swatted the boy away like a fly with its tail.

'Fuck!' The boy cursed before forcing his body to stay upright. Spitting in the sea, he wiped the blood that appeared around his mouth.

'Hwah!' He began breathing more air. The scorpion, having realised that he was going for another breathe attack, went for its own breathe attack.

'Destructive Wind!' The boy announced before releasing his wind breathe. The scorpion retaliated by releasing a poison breathe.

The two breathes countered each other and the result was acid rain.

As the acid rain dropped on the boy's body, his dragon scales began dissolving, causing him to grunt in pain.

'Derrick. Use the Full Metamorphosis.' Derrick scowled.

'Didn't you say I can't do it yet?'

'I didn't say that. I only said that it's risky if you do it now. But you have to use it. Otherwise there's no way you can beat that damned scorpion.' Derrick clicked his tongue in annoyance.

'No.' Derrick popped his knuckles before dashing towards the scorpion, landing punches from all directions. However, like before, the scorpion regenerated it's wounds as quickly as it was inflicted.

'Why?' The voice asked.

'Cause I'm not risking my life to use it now! I will be the one to kill that fucker!' Derrick quickly grabbed the scorpion by its middle section before lifting it and tearing it apart with his claws.

The scorpion cried in pain as it began biting Derrick. Derrick quickly maneuvered himself away from the bites before going for a punch.

'Watch out for the poison sting!' The girl screamed. Derrick turned his head and noticed the scorpion's tail attempting to stab him.

Despite Derrick's efforts in trying to evade, the scorpion managed to chip his arm.

'FUCK!' Derrick growled as he felt his body weaken rapidly.

'Dammit! If you've listened to me, you could have dodged that!'

'Shut it dragon face!' Derrick cursed as his movements slowed, allowing the scorpion to get free hits.

The scorpion flung its tail as quickly as it could in all possible directions as Derrick's face began swelling up.

'Ark!' He coughed blood as he was sent into the sea.

'No…' Derrick muttered as he began struggling due to the lack of oxygen. He raised his hand towards the crimson sky.

'Damn...you have to do it! If you don't, you'll die without ever fighting him! Take the gamble!'

At this point, Derrick's thoughts have become clouded. He remembered his life, then how his sister cared for him after their parents died, then the flames that ended his sister's life.

'(I...will NOT FORGIVE HIM!)' A surge of power engulfed Derrick as his orange glowing eyes glowed ever brighter, covering his entire body with its light.

'Uwah!' Derrick roared as he underwent a new transformation.

The girl despaired after seeing how easily the scorpion finished off the dragon boy. She began losing hope once again. However, a roar shook her out of her hopelessness.

Suddenly, a wind breathe appeared from underwater and struck the scorpion, pushing the scorpion back. The dragon boy emerged from the water.

His body became larger and resembled a dragon more than a human. His wings and claws also became massive.

Derrick dashed towards the scorpion with his fist reeled back. At the moment the scorpion tried to pierce him with its tail, Derrick launched a right hook so strong it broke through its tail and its face, effectively killing the scorpion.

The girl, upon seeing the scorpion killed, lost consciousness due to her fear being lifted. Derrick noticed this and flew to the girl before carrying her into the Underwater Caverns.

After he successfully rested the girl on the grassy plains, the injures he sustained and the fatigue of using Full Metamorphosis caught up with him and he fainted as he reverted back to being human.

Before he lost consciousness however, he heard the voice in his head speak.

'You are finally strong enough to leave the caverns.'