The last bell for the school day rings.
"Yūdai!" Jack pants heavily.
"Y—… Yūdai!" Jack runs through the double doors at a particular side of the school. Greenleaf Park Centre happens to be right next to Shō Middle School, so it doesn't take long for Jack to get there. He runs through two streets, where he cuts off multiple cars, and a neighborhood, where he accidently knocks down a lady.
"Sorry," Jack shouts behind him. He's now on the park grounds.
"Yudai!" In the distance, a black-haired boy turns around.
"Jack! Hi!" Jack closes the distance between them.
"Yūdai, I… I, uhh…" Jack stops talking to catch his breath.
"I know, I'm excited, too. Today, we exact our revenge."
"No, Yūdai… I…"
"Today is the day I've-I mean, we've been dreaming of."
"Yūdai, really, I… I have to tell…"
"I've been preparing my body and mind for this day. I've stored up as much energy as I could. Energy, with the potential to destroy the entire world as I see fit. Just one snap, and everything will be wiped to dust. Just a flick of my wrist, and everyone will see who the most powerful being in the world is. It is me, The Great and Powerful—"
"Yūdai, you can't do it!" The air between them immediately becomes tense. 9 years of friendship, tested by one sentence.
"Yūdai, please. You… you can't…" Yūdai turns to Jack with hatred in his eyes.
"What was that?"
"You… you…"
"You don't think I could pull it off?"
"No, I—"
"Oh, I see. My own friend has turned on me. You're just like all of them. Incorrigible. Forlorn." A drop of rain hits Jack in the back of the neck.
"Yūdai, please. You don't know what you're saying."
"Well, I have my hope." He's not listening to me. Yūdai illuminates his hand with an aura of energy.
"And with it, I shall change the world into my perfect image!" He aims his hand at Jack's leg.
"Wait! Nooo!" A beam of energy hits Jack in the leg. Jack feels an overwhelming shock hit his shin and he falls instantly, gripping his leg in pain and yelping loudly into the moist air.
"Try and stop me now, powerless boy." Yūdai walks away.
On the ground, Jack rolls in shock. His heart beats like a loud drum and faster than the feet of a tap dancer. The rain falls heavier now and soaks Jack's shirt. The pain isn't what he was expecting. It's like pins and needles, only many times worse. It radiates throughout his entire leg and doesn't spread anywhere else.
I can't… I can't let him do this… I have to stop him… I'm the only one that can stop him. Jack holds his breath and attempts to stand, but his leg is unable to tense properly and support his weight. He falls to the hard ground again. He tries to stand once more, this time putting all of his weight on his right leg. The energy continues to cause an odd, unending nerve pain that feels like static in his leg. Jack holds his breath and pushes forward anyway. He moves forward with one foot while lazily dragging the other. As he does, the pain becomes more and more dull, until it becomes barely noticeable. Jack remarks at how fast it went away, but he's got bigger things to focus on.
Jack climbs to the top of a hill and instantly spots Yūdai. He quickly sprints to him. He appears to be threatening someone while flying in the air, just meters above the ground. It's weird to see him hovering like that, like Jack had just stumbled into a superhero movie, except he has no powers. What the hell?
As Jack moves closer, he sees that the person is on the ground, incapacitated, and bleeding everywhere.
"Yūdai! Stop!" Yūdai turns around. He projects his energy into a sharp blade around his hand.
"You?! How are you still walking?"
"It doesn't matter. Stop what you're doing, Yūdai… please… these people shouldn't have to die… they've done nothing wrong… they haven't done anything to hurt you… so why hurt them…?"
"Of course you wouldn't understand… ...They took everything away from me… ...My parents…" Yūdai's voice becomes thick with emotion.
"And everyone just stood by and watched… No one did anything! They just let them die!" Yūdai violently slashes his hand down on the person in front of him.
"Nooo!" Jack swiftly runs in front of the energy blade. He holds his right hand up in the way of the slash. It cuts deep between his thumb and forefinger without trouble. It almost cuts into his wrist, but Yūdai stopped in time. Yūdai pulls the blade from the wound. Jack stares at it, bewildered. He can't believe that Yūdai would do this. We're… friends… we're friends… right?... I'm… not alone… in this world… right… ...
Jack falls to his knees, reeling from the cut on his hand.
"...I didn't think you would be my first kill. I guess you never cease to surprise me, Jack. I always knew you were weak-minded." Yūdai remarks in an evil tone before flying off.
How? How could he do this?... He's right… I'm weak… I should've jumped in front of that car… I can't believe I could be so useless…
While huddled on the ground, Jack closes his eyes, mad at himself for letting the world down. I just can't do it. I'm not good enough. He waits for the sweet embrace of death as he bleeds from his hand…
…
"Stop, please! Help! Help me! Somebody, help me!" Someone is crying out in fear. Jack opens his eyes and lifts his head. Over by the entrance to the park, a man walks closer to a girl. She's backed into a corner. He has a knife in his hand. The girl looks young, about Jack's age. Her shrieks. The look of helplessness. He sees it with his eyes. He hears it with his ears. He feels it in his heart. ...No… I can't stand by and watch… I have to help her!
Jack quickly stands up and sprints to them. His legs cut through the air like butter. That's it. That's the energy. He can spontaneously feel it now. He had subconsciously channeled the energy to his legs, and now they move incredibly. Not to mention Jack didn't even command his legs to move, as if his natural instincts had kicked in, and now his mind must catch up to his body. His heart continues to pound to the step of his stride.
"Hey! Get away from her!" Jack fearlessly shouts at the man. If this had happened but a few years ago, Jack would be the one cowering. He's knees would buckle beneath him and he would melt into a puddle of nervousness. However, Jack realizes that, if someone doesn't stand up for this girl, if no one shows up to save her, then it's possible no one will, and he can't let that happen; especially not to someone who is innocent. The girl looks at Jack with pleading eyes. She's breathing quickly, fearing for her life. The man turns around and has to unexpectedly look down at Jack.
"Wha- oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" The man laughs in Jack's face. He dare threaten someone's life like this?! And then laugh in my face?! That's it! In the moment, Jack's entire being yells out in rage. An untapped pool of fury at every moment in his life when he felt unable to do something or help with anything. Everytime he has been underestimated, it all builds up to this moment, accumulating beyond any limit.
Jack feels the power surging through him. The energy. He can sense it. Feel it. Use it. He flawlessly channels the energy into his right fist like he's done it many times before. He taps into his undying rage and throws a punch directly at the man's stomach. His fist moves fast. Faster than a bullet. Jack doesn't even see his hand move. An explosive pressure of air precedes his punch, violently sinking into the man's midsection as if he were made of jello. A large, violent exhale can be heard from him as he flies backwards multiple feet, airborne, before landing painfully on the cold, wet ground. He's out cold.
With adrenaline still pumping throughout his body, Jack unfolds and looks at his right hand, with a look of shock of his face. I did it! A white smoke emanates from it. He could feel the air scratch his hand. Was it really that fast? The cut still oozes blood. Jack turns to the girl. Her breathing is still quick and her look of distress has changed into a look of worry. Jack catches her looking at his wound.
"Sir, are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me. I'm just glad you're okay." Jack tries his best to smile through the pain. The girl smiles back.
"Now go where you're safe, please. This world can be very dangerous at times, remember that." She nods her head and runs off. Jack turns around to face the way he came from, the way Yūdai went. Now that I have the power to match my desire to save the world, I'm coming for you next, Yūdai.
Jack gets the hang of using his energy very fast. He can feel it burning the inside of his body when he actively channels it, like Yūdai had said, but he wasn't expecting this. His muscles are already fatigued at his energy use, even though he's only thrown a single punch. That doesn't matter much to Jack, though. He has decided that he'll only rest when Yūdai is stopped.
From what he observed with Yūdai, Jack pushes the energy to the edge of his being; the soles of his feet, the whole of his legs, and around his waist. He pushes the energy and, in turn, pushes himself into the air. He flies back toward where Yūdai was last. While flying, Jack notices a clear, white aura surrounding him. He hadn't realized it earlier, as he was caught up in saving that girl.
As he flies, something catches Jack's attention. He can feel his power draining. He considers it to naturally happen, as he is flying and using the energy actively, as well as an innate tendency of the energy to leak out of his being slowly even when not in use. However, any attempt at increasing his stored energy is futile. He can't draw any more in. Jack pushes the thought aside, though. He has plenty of energy stored in his body right now. He'll just have to bear the pain of it until he uses it.
Jack finds Yūdai. After a little bit of searching, he spots him hovering over the school. It would have been impossible to see him if it weren't for the large, orange ball of energy floating in front of him. Jack estimates it to be about the size of a basketball court. Shocked at its size, Jack attempts to get closer to Yūdai. Since Yūdai is still mostly untrained with life energy, the giant ball is throwing all sorts of winds around. Jack fortifies the energy around his legs and back and zooms closer.
"Yūdai!" The pouring rain makes it hard for Jack to get his attention. Yūdai does see Jack in the corner of his eye, though.
"Oh, look what we have here. You finally gained some power, Jack." Jack struggles to keep himself stationary in the strong winds and harsh rains.
"It looks like you're still a newbie with it, though. Tell you what: if you turn around and leave right now, I won't kill you. Hide in some part of the world somewhere. Maybe you'll survive the explo—"
"That's enough." Lightning flashes in the distance.
"I don't care what your intentions are, Yūdai." Yūdai looks at Jack more intently now. An air of absolute rage surrounds Jack's entire being.
"Wh-What's that?" Yūdai asks, slightly alarmed at Jack's unexpected sternness. He has changed from his usual shy and nervous self into something completely different. Pensive. Confident. Almost wise in a way.
"It doesn't matter who you are, what kind of powers you have, or what you mean to me: you threaten the lives of these innocent people, you're nothing but a coward, who lost the greatest power of all: forgiveness." Yūdai grumbles loudly.
"Shut up!"
"Now, I will forgive—"
"Shut up!"
"—you if you choose to walk away—"
"Shut up!"
"—from this, but if you choose to—"
"Shut up, you idiot!"
"—continue down this path, then I'll—"
"Stop talking!"
"—have to stop you. I stand for—"
"Listen to me!"
"—the innocent people of the world and I—"
"SHUT UP!"
"—won't stand and watch you kill them."
"That's it, try and stop this!" Yūdai reels his arm back behind him and pushes forward into the air, yelling a guttural scream into the air as he does.
"No!" Jack turns to the ground. It's aimed right at the school. Other kids are still relaxing in the front, staring intently at the giant ball of energy. Jack quickly zooms to the ground. All of the kids affix their gaze to Jack now.
"Everyone, get out of here! This ball of energy is dangerous and will kill all of you if you don't—…" No one dares to move a muscle. Most of them are shocked that a giant ball of light is hurling towards them right now. Jack had done the same with the meteor, he guesses this isn't much different. Jack turns to face the giant ball. For its size, it covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time. It's almost within arms reach.
"There's no way you can stop this, mister big man!" Yūdai cackles to himself in the air. Eh. I always hated your laugh, Yūdai. Jack extends his arms to meet the ball of energy. The wind generated from it blows a couple kids back. Mulch flies everywhere from the deposits lining the school entrance. Jack laces his hands with energy as to not come into direct contact with the ball.
The ball meets his hands. Instantly, Jack can feel the weight of it. It continues its descent downwards, unfazed by Jack's presence. Jack still attempts to push it up, grunting all the while. The ball begins to push him back. He projects a wall of energy on his back to stop him from sliding any further.
Come on, you damned thing! Move! His power is quickly waning. The ball hasn't budged at all and Yūdai continues to laugh at Jack in the air. The ball destabilizes and a ball of energy hits Jack in his chest. Not expecting the random force, Jack quickly falls onto his back. The pain radiates through his chest, sending him into shock. His shirt completely disintegrates off of his body, with the remaining pieces of it flying into the dangerous winds. Disoriented from the fall, Jack begins to fall unconscious, his body completely shattered from the energy use. He can feel his muscles throbbing. The giant ball grows ever closer to the ground, its size and magnitude generating a low, deafening hum.
…
...No… I can't give up… I have to keep fighting! Jack erupts from the ground. His quick motion cracks the concrete beneath his feet. He moves into an aggressive stance, with his right hand balled into a fist. His legs nearly give out, but he reinforces them with energy. Energy. He only has a small fraction left, so he will make it count. He draws a large amount of it into his fist and lays his left hand on the giant orb of energy. To conserve his energy, he doesn't lace the palm of his left with it. It burns intensely. He can feel it eating through his skin. The pain is nearly unbearable, but he uses that to fuel his rage. He winds up his punch, pulling his arm as far back as he can.
...Here goes nothing…
Without restraint, he launches his fist forward at the large ball while emitting a guttural yell, giving a voice to his seething rage. His hand moves fast again and pierces into its fiery surface without much struggle. The impact sends out shockwaves, leaving cracks in the brick walls and glass doors and windows of the school. In the same moment, Jack plants his feet and catapults himself forward. Giant pieces of concrete rip off the ground. He travels deeper into the ball with the power of his jump taking him through and past the core. Its uniformly round shape quickly morphs and destabilizes. To prevent it from exploding, Jack laces the entire outside of the ball with his energy, but it's getting difficult as the ball morphs and its surface area rapidly changes.
Jack suddenly gets a great idea. Using his energy, he could utilize the power from the giant energy ball. As he flies into the air at Yūdai, Jack uses his own energy to redirect the energy of the ball around him. It morphs into a spiralling beam of energy like a swirling fire, matching Jack's rage. As he comes closer to Yūdai, he can see his face. He's not laughing anymore, only a look of absolute terror and disbelief at Jack's recent maneuvers. As if perfectly calculated, the resulting movement from Jack's jump slows him down right in front of Yūdai. Jack winds up another punch again.
"Yūdai!" He laces his back with the last of his energy to enhance his punch. He brings the energy from the ball around his fist. He can't absorb it, so he'll have to precede his punch with it. He squeezes the energy, densifying it around the front of his fist.
"Your plans are over!" Jack reels back again and thrusts his fist forward with his sights set on Yūdai's face.
"For I am here!"
"No!" Yūdai quickly brings his forearms together and projects a shield of energy. Jack's fist once again moves insanely fast, coming into contact with the shield. The unstable energy from the ball immediately explodes upon impact. A large wave of energy expands outwards in all directions. Car windows in the parking lot shatter. The burning inferno cooks the both of them, and they fall to the ground. The attack depletes all of their energies. Yūdai's shield had to match the explosion to keep him alive. And Jack used the last of his power in the final punch. First, Jack hits the ground. Then, Yūdai.
Jack, just barely holding onto consciousness, lifts his head to look at Yūdai. He's still breathing, but incapacitated for the most part. The parking lot is scorched. Multiple cars have been overturned, many have been moved. Jack attempts to move his arms and legs, but they are completely exhausted. He rests his head on the ground, waiting for the adrenaline to wear off, the pain to set in, and the shock to take hold.
Jack hears something. Movement. He perks his head up. Yūdai has gotten up. His body is more adapted to the energy. And he was on the defensive. He spots Jack lying helplessly on the ground.
"You little piece of shit!" Yūdai limps over to Jack.
"W-W-Wait…" Jack can barely utter, his voice hoarse.
"Who do you think you—" Yūdai trips and falls down.
"—are?!" He gets back up.
"Where did you even get that power?! You didn't even train with it. Unless… you've been hiding it from me?!"
"No, I haven't, I—"
"I guess it doesn't matter anyway." Yūdai quickly lifts his hand and shoots a small energy blast at Jack's face. It hits him, and Jack unwillingly surrenders to unconsciousness.
...No… ...No… ...Not… ...Yet…
"Well, that takes care of that. Back to business."
…
He's here again. He's in the metaphysical realm. Jack opens his eyes. A sea of darkness surrounds him. There's not much to see, but he does sense… something. Jack desperately glides through the darkness. Maybe he'll find something here to help him. He knows Yūdai will still continue his rampage. He can't let him. Maybe he'll find the person with that old voice. Yes, and they'll help me. Just… someone, help me! Jack continues to move through the empty space. He can sense something, but… it seems too far away. He can't go too far from his body; otherwise, he fears he might not be able to return to it.
He can only faintly feel his body now. Any further and he might lose himself. Determined, Jack tries something. He tries to feel the energy. Maybe, he thinks, I can channel energy in this realm. After some time, Jack senses it. It's weak, probably because there aren't any living things in this realm. Jack gathers up the energy and links himself to his body, strengthening his connection to it.
He continues to travel deeper into the empty void, chasing this odd sensation near the outskirts of the realm. It is then, that Jack spots something. In the black backdrop, Jack sees a white dot. As he moves closer, it naturally becomes larger and larger. Suddenly, Jack faceplants right into a large barrier of sorts. The white circle is still quite a ways away. Jack plants his hand on it and tries to push past it, but to no avail. He then tries it again with his hand imbued with energy. The barrier cracks. It shatters. Jack continues moving forward. Just in front of him now, he sees that there is a dark figure inside of the white sphere. Whatever it is, he needs to talk to it. Maybe it can help him.
"...Hello?..." No response. No movement. He moves closer and asks again.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Then, slightly, the figure moves, from its curled position to one where its legs and arms are extended. Jack notices chains around its wrists and ankles, binding it to the wall of the sphere. Even closer now, Jack can hear whispers in the back of his head, but he ignores it. Jack places his hand through the surface of the sphere. The sphere immediately disintegrates and disappears, along with the figure's shackles.
"Can… you… help me?" Jack extends his hand out to meet the figure.
"Can… you… save my world?" The figure moves its hand toward Jack's. They meet in the middle. In a moment, the figure disintegrates as well.
"...Wait… ...No. No!" The resulting dust from the figure shoots skyward and Jack instantly loses consciousness in this realm as well.
Yūdai stands in the parking lot, recollecting the recent events while recharging his energy. He's impressed that Jack put up a good fight. The parking lot is ruined. Multiple cracks in the pavement. Large pieces of the road are missing or displaced. All of the large lamp posts that dot the parking lot have been torn from their anchors and are strewn about. An entire side of the school is reduced to rubble. Cars litter the ground in random spots. That was a lot of power. He left Jack alive so maybe, one day, they could work together.
Interestingly, Yūdai couldn't remember if he could feel Jack's power during the fight. It still felt like he had never channeled any energy at all. He disregards the thought, though, and focuses on refueling.
Behind Yūdai, unbeknownst to him, pebbles start to shake. They rock from side to side. Then, they start moving. They slot into the cracks in the pavement. Larger pieces follow suit. Then even larger pieces. A parking lot lamp post starts to drag along the parking lot. It screeches loudly, and Yūdai turns around to look at it. It lifts into the air and magically binds back onto the ground. The glass at the top of the lamp post fixes itself, too, and then it turns on. Like nothing ever happened. All of the lamp posts fix themselves. Then, the cars start moving. The windshields, the windows, all slowly fixed. The front of the school, brick by brick, is rebuilt. Completely confused, Yūdai tries to look for Jack's body. Damn that kid! Where is he? He was just there, right in front of me!
"Jack! Stop hiding, you coward. Fight me face-t0-face! Come on!" Immediately, Yūdai feels the hairs on the back of his neck raise. He gets goosebumps like he's never had before. He can't stop shaking.
He can feel something standing behind him. It's like nothing he's ever felt before. Like an unexplained feeling of absolute dread piercing his entire being. Despite the shaking, he's completely frozen. He can hear an insanity-inducing amount of whispering in his ears and in his mind.
Yūdai takes a breath, then exhales. He musters up the courage to turn around. He slowly revolves his head as every other part of his body is tense from fear. The figure he sees behind him… is a nightmare.
The whole of its body is completely dark despite the nearby lamp posts. Its hair seamlessly flows upwards to the sky. A forebodingly black aura encommpasses it. Its silhouette is a lot like Jack; in fact, Yūdai is sure that it's Jack's body. Then, what is this feeling?
"Damn you, Jack!" Yūdai could barely utter the words, his voice rising and falling from his incessant shaking. Its energy doesn't even feel like Jack's. Whatever it is, it's not Jack. Not anymore.
"What are you?!" Yūdai says, frozen and scared for his life.
"What the hell are you?!" Immediately, the figure moves forward. Yūdai doesn't even see it coming; it almost teleports in front of him. His movements alone cause large bursts of pressurized air. Yūdai almost flies away in the wind, but his energy manages to hold him still. With the figure in front of him now, Yūdai gets a view of its face up close. Its head hangs down a little bit. Is he... still unconscious? Its head tilts up. Its eyes open, revealing a sea of blood red covering the entirety of its eyeballs, with blood oozing down its face. It smiles, blood dripping from its mouth and onto the ground below.
Horrified, Yūdai can barely breathe for a moment before haphazardly gasping in fright. The figure looks down at its hands. Its peers curiously at them, admiring them in a way. It squeezes its hands over and over.
Yūdai takes the chance and throws a right jab at its face. The figure immediately reacts and catches it in its left hand. It constricts its grip around his fist. Yūdai screams in yelps of pain.
"Ah! Ah! Ow! Stop!" The pressure builds and popping sounds can be heard from Yūdai's hand at the breaking of several bones. Yūdai yells out in pain and tries to pry the figure off with his other hand. Seemingly instantly, the figure throws a quick and calculated uppercut into Yūdai's midsection, sending him flying high into the air and ripping his hand from his arm. Yūdai, in shock at the sudden amputation of his right hand, launches past the clouds, unable to scream as the punch had knocked the wind out of him.
The figure moves effortlessly up to Yūdai in the blink of an eye. It extends its right hand out, palm open, directly in front of Yūdai's face. Yūdai helplessly stares at its palm, knowing his fate has already been sealed. Immediately, a large beam of energy with a width that is clearly overkill erupts from its palm, completely disintegrating Yūdai, burning through his skin and shattering his bones. He emits one last yelp of pain that echoes into the night. His ashes fall back to Earth. Just like that, Yūdai is dead.
The figure hovers there for a moment. It squeezes and opens its hands again. From the movement, it observes pieces of its skin flying off and into the air. It doesn't stay for much longer. The black aura dissipates and the thin, black shell covering Jack's skin breaks into pieces and flies off. The pieces accumulate and get sucked into the back of Jack's left hand.
Jack wakes up. He has a pounding headache, his skin feels like it's burning, his muscles ache and throb, and he can barely breathe. He opens his eyes. He feels a strange sensation on his left hand. He looks at it. The triangle is back. It glows a golden yellow again.
"O brave Assistant." Jack's eyes drift skyward. The clouds cover up the night sky, but a pinhole lets just a small amount of moonlight through.
"Despite your difficulties, you remained brave, courageous, and thoughtful. You are now, truly, the Assistant. Although your journey may have hardships, remember who you are, and you shall always triumph."
The voice fades away, leaving Jack alone. The heavenly light fades and the clouds part, revealing a bright, full moon. Jack finally begins falling toward the ground. Before he lands, a puff of air ensures a smooth landing.
Tired, bleeding, and in pain, Jack closes his eyes.
"Goodnight… goddesses…"
In a couple of minutes, police cars arrive on the scene, with some personal cars and SUVs. A short, old man in a brown cloak steps out of the passenger side of one of them. He moves skillfully, walking in a way that appears elegant, a way in which he appears to float. He crouches and looks over the remains of a shirt on the pavement.
"...Do you need a light?"
"I can see just fine." He examines it.
"Yeah. It's his."
"...What does this mean?" The old man stands up.
"Someone beat us to him."