New Year's Resolution: Write something every week.

Ha!

I'm not sure why I even bothered. To be fair, I am writing stuff every week now since like March. It just so happens to be very short stuff and not anything that anyone will probably ever read. I still failed the resolution for sure is the point I'm making. I'd apologise but at this point I think it's an empty platitude.

Know always though that this isn't dead. We have that to be thankful for I guess. Well…all seven of you still reading have that to be thankful for XD. Anyways, time for another chapter, focusing once again on Mana but also Kenny. More character stuff, yay! More development for the side characters who were neglected in the earlier parts of this story, yay! Also, I needed to write like three almost entirely different drafts of this chapter before I got it right. Not sure why exactly, something about this one just kept making me redo everything. Even this one I'm not exactly satisfied with but it'll have to do. Bit on the shorter side too, but I think it works, as it's own thing anyway. Let me know what you think anyway. Enjoy or whatever, and review as always if you have anything to say.

Oh, hang on; there is one review response I need to do. To Silverish-WhiteOtter: Here's the long awaited update. Hope I haven't been leaving you on the edge of your seat too long.

Okay, time for another dramatic chapter full of angst and suspense. Here we go!

Chapter 58: Resolve (or Lack Thereof)

Mana Valkov felt like a little girl again.

And to be clear, that was very much a bad thing.

The uncertainty, the unfamiliarity, it had all come rushing back and she suddenly felt so small.

So insignificant.

So vulnerable.

So utterly powerless.

"It would kill Max. But I'm not Max."

It reminded her of the grand parties mother and father had always dragged her to when she was younger. Everyone there seemed so tall and frightening, and their lavish halls seemed dark and imposing as opposed to grand and comforting. It was uncanny, the way everything on the surface seemed to scream welcoming but radiated nothing but bad vibes. Everything was expensive and wiped clean of even the tiniest spec of dust, and all she could think about were the poor servants and maids who had slaved away to get it to such a state. All she could think about were the workers from another continent who operated in sweatshops on less that minimum wage to produce the items occupying the halls. How much food was prepared by the chefs and cooks that then wouldn't be consumed and subsequently thrown away while people on the streets went hungry?

Every corner was simply a front for some dark secret or uncomfortable truth, and she knew even the people themselves had things to hide. She wouldn't have been surprised to discover they had literal skeletons hidden in their closets just to make the package feel complete. It was all so distressing.

She'd whine and protest each time she had to go to these places and meet these "things" called people, but her parents always took her anyway because they had no choice. They'd take her carefully but firmly by the hands and lead her along, sing her a calming lullaby, and insist to her that everything would be okay. Her mother would brush her hair and select a dress for her and help her into the feet torture device called heels. They'd offer her looks of sympathy, words of advice and tactics to help her navigate everything better before reluctantly dragging her into the jaws of the beast from which there was no escape.

They were apart of that world and by extension she was too. It wasn't negotiable. That was the unspoken terms and conditions. It wasn't their fault really; they were simply doing what was expected considering their professions and their connections. Everyone had a place in life and it was expected you'd be grateful for it and accept it without complaint.

Mana Valkov was no exception. She had to attend because she was the daughter of a doctor and lawyer. It was expected she'd either follow in their footsteps or choose a profession that would help "contribute to society," whatever that actually meant. Don't rock the boat or you'll be likely to be pushed off the boat entirely. That was the message that was reinforced by her surroundings over and over again, like she was stuck watching the same shoddy propaganda film on repeat.

Conform or get out was what life had taught her as a child. She'd been born into a world where she never had to worry about getting a part-time job while still in school to support her family. She was born into a world where she never had to wonder if there'd be food on the table. She was born into a world where the possibility of being out on the streets was a laughable hypothetical because the odds of it happening were basically zero.

She had everything, and questioning why others didn't simply wasn't on the agenda. Questioning why those who had everything didn't seem to care that others had nothing wasn't on the agenda. If you had everything, you were expected to relish in it and never ask questions as to why and how. That might lead to some uncomfortable truths and these parties were about patting each other on the back and embellishing, not looking inwards or reflecting.

Don't rock the boat.

Those events had always made her feel so small and powerless. They were the epitome of everything wrong with the people she had been surrounded by from a young age. Her size had never helped to make things any better. She'd never exactly been tall for her age, and all it did was give everyone an excuse to literally leer down at her with their big hook noses. They'd all crowd around and surround her like she was some circus animal who existed purely for their amusement. They'd offer their hideously fake smiles and empty platitudes and she was supposed to accept it with a nod and a polite curtsey because that was what was expected. Her face would hurt by the end of each night from fake smiling so much.

Don't rock the boat.

It had all always felt phoney. The events, the decorations, everything somehow felt fake or at least hollow. Even before she was old enough to understand why, she could sense something was off. Her sixth sense even at the ripe old age of seven was sharp, and she could detect the dishonesty on some level, and it always told her brain to run and get as far away as her little legs could possibly carry her.

But she wasn't allowed to run. She wasn't allowed to have her hair down or to present herself without makeup. She wasn't allowed to wear jeans or talk about comics or make silly jokes because that was for "degenerates" and "commoners" and "street rats." She wanted nothing more then to run each time but instead she remained rooted to the ground, because she knew to turn one's back to them would be to leave herself open to being stabbed in the back. Or to leave her parents to take the waves of accusations that her absence would unleash. They didn't deserve that, they deserved better.

Don't rock the boat.

So she could do nothing but hide behind her parents, play it off as being shy and timid when in fact she was terrified and wanted nothing to do with these people. That was all she could do in the face of such overwhelming odds. She was just a little girl after all; nothing she could say would even faze the men and women who prided themselves on being better off than everyone else. These were people who cared little for those less fortunate and would sell their soul in a heartbeat for even one extra dime. So she kept quiet, zipped her mouth shut and kept her head down. She learned to survive by being invisible. By trusting no one. There were others like her of course, others with the fake smiles to hide behind but they were few and far between. Nothing but outliers in the data, they couldn't help her nor could she help them. She had no choice but to fight alone.

It wasn't perfect at first. Especially as she got older, some of the more boisterous young men and even some women would approach her, a wine glass in hand filled with juice as they attempted to chat her up as if she'd fall into their arms automatically so long as they flapped their food hole in her direction long enough. They'd shower her with compliments and list off her achievements like they were reading from a Wikipedia article all to further their goal of…what exactly? To be her friend? No, that was never the intent with these people. Friendship was a word they threw around but something in practice that never came to fruition. These boys and girls talking to her made it clear they were interested in her only for her last name. To them she was just another commodity on a shelf, something they'd only invest time and money in because they could get something out of it.

And so she learned to find a way to be rid of them. It became an intricate dance she had no choice but to master. If these people wanted her for her family's wealth or influence, or even if they just wanted to set the stage to get into her pants at a point in the future, then she'd have to outwit them. Outright rejection was off the table, as was a well-placed glass of juice in their face because that path led only to conflict, drama and accusations and that was to be avoided at all costs. Instead she became adept at deflection, to parrying their flirtations with subtle changes of subject and apathy. The goal was to tire them out, to bog the conversation down in the thick murkiness of nothing until they'd simply give up and go away. She'd dance the tango as many times as need be to win, and yet even that failed to amount to any sort of real satisfaction.

Like her jaw from fake smiling, her feet grew weary and sore as the years had crept on by. Being able to beat them at their own game was all well and good but in the end she was still nothing but a piece on a chessboard. She could resist silently and peacefully as much as she wanted but in the end she was still being shackled down like all the others. So long as she was a piece on the board she'd never really escape. As comfortable as her shackles may have been thanks to how she shaped them, they were still shackles.

Which had left her only one option: she had to get out entirely.

Enter: The sport of beyblade.

Enter: Ice Fox

Enter: The Beyblade Legends Academy scholarship.

In the end she forwent everything - her family, her name, her money, her influence - she let all of it go for the sake of freedom, a chance to finally find her true self and no longer feel so weak and timid in the face of everything else. No more extravagant parties where rich people pat each other on the back for being rich. No more snooty brats chatting her up while pretending to be sophisticated as they sipped juice as if it were wine. But most importantly, there'd be no more fake smiles and gestures from herself to people who didn't deserve one ounce of her respect. It was time for her to get away from all that and to figure out what she really wanted and who she really was.

Mana left to discover who she was separate from the hollow façade she had been forced to create. No longer did she have to be the quiet and shy girl who would stand to the side and would offer little in terms of conversation. No longer was she the girl who smiled painfully and agreed to dance when offered but moved away the moment the song ended. No longer did she bow to the needs of men and women who thought themselves better than everyone else because of the size of their bank accounts. No more did she pretend to be who she wasn't.

It had sounded so simple at the time.

It would take time to adjust, time to come to terms with who she really was, she had told herself. She'd even have to work off old habits that would no doubt die-hard. But in time she'd find her purpose. She'd find her real self, the one she'd buried deep beneath the façade because she had no other choice at the time. The academy was supposed to be been the place where she would do that, supposed to be her safe haven as she discovered her future.

It's said no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

Mana Valkov hadn't expected said enemy to be a literal one though. Or more specifically, megalomaniacs trying to resurrect some great evil to destroy and/or take over the world. The details really weren't that important, it was the apocalyptic part of it that mattered first and foremost.

Two steps forward, one step back. Back to being nothing in the face of insurmountable odds. Back to being the smallest person in the room. Back to being completely and utterly powerless.

"Three beams in the sky and three shockwaves when they vanished," Mana whispered to herself, trying and failing to ignore the shudder that ran through her whole body as the ground shook. Her stomach felt ready to collapse in on itself, that's how bad the nausea was. Unfortunately there was no barf bag in sight.

"Considering the world hasn't ended yet, I'll take that as a good sign Simon, Blaze and Kiara probably won," Kenny responded calmly, his eyes fixed to the path ahead of them. She hadn't really asked a question, so she wasn't certain she really appreciated an answer. Something about his tone threw her through a loop too.

Or maybe she was just in a shitty mood…

The two walked step in step, arms barely a few centimetres apart. Normally Mana wouldn't really be for such closeness with anyone, she always ensured to keep her distance at the parties of her youth because letting them get close would be interpreted as a sign she was interested. You had to shut that shit down from the get-go. But considering everything that had happened within the last few days and especially that night, she surprisingly found herself yearning for the comfort of another person.

As much as she hated to admit it, she'd never needed a hug now more then ever. For the first time since leaving for the academy she missed home and longed to be wrapped in the embrace of her parents once again. She wished her mother would brush her hair again and sing her a calming lullaby while her father went off to get her an ice cream.

There was nothing to keep her company tonight other than Kenny, the ominous black monolith on the horizon, and Azrael's twisted taunts whispering in her ear on repeat.

"Everyone pretends as if they value bonds with other people but in reality, it's just for self-satisfaction."

She had cried tonight. She had wept and mourned for Max Smith. She had watched him collapse to the ground dead before rising up again now as a twisted and dark being. She had lost all control of herself, breaking down in front of Team Nova Flare and even lashing out at Kenny for his words.

This was not what she signed up for when she left her family and old world behind. Things were supposed to be better now, but instead everything had gone to shit all over again. She'd traded one pair of shackles for another, and now she was just a mess of a girl barely holding things together walking to her potential death. When had things become so fucked? Or had they always been?

"Do…do you really think Max is dead?" she asked after what felt like hours of painful silence. The two hadn't spoken much; instead they'd marched along grimly. Kenny's cheek was still raw and red from where she'd punched him earlier, and her right hand's knuckles were still pulsing lightly with pain from it. She probably should have felt guilty.

But she didn't.

She was angry, and terrified, and scared and a thousand other emotions she'd need a dictionary to accurately describe, and for once she simply couldn't keep it all contained. It was all spilling over and she needed to vent. She refused to use that fake smile she had mastered so long ago now. Her soul would shatter before she did it again.

Besides, if she was going to die tonight then it was going to be on her own terms, no one else's. If reality was intent on shackling her and dragging her to her death, she was going to go kicking and screaming.

"Kenny…did you hear me?" she repeated herself, trying and failing to keep the edge out of her voice. This was probably the worst line of questioning to get into, but she knew in her heart that she needed to know. What had happened to Max was still fresh and she needed to deal it with it before the battle commenced. This was not the time to repress feelings. She'd done enough of that for years now.

"Yes, I did hear you," the boy responded after a moment, coming to a stop. She paused beside him, turning her head to look squarely at him. He did not match her gaze, instead dropping his eyes to the path and kicking a stray stone away. "I already gave my answer earlier."

Mana sucked in an angry breath; she could feel her own pulse jolt slightly. "I know," she grit out, straining her teeth. "I want to hear it again though. To confirm your…well…your reasoning I guess would be the polite way to put it."

"Why?"

Mana quirked an eyebrow as she resisted the urge to bite down on her lip for fear she'd make it bleed. "Why what?" she replied incredulously.

"Why do you want to know?" Kenny sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as if he were a child who'd been caught doing something they knew was wrong. It was so utterly pathetic…so utterly naïve. Was he trying to send her blood pressure skyrocketing? It didn't help that his eyes remained fixed on the dusty path, and Mana couldn't help but think the lack of eye contact was entirely on purpose.

"Because I just watched Max go through hell," she explained bluntly, very much not caring that her emotions were leaking out into her tone for a change. Let him be aware that she was pissed. Maybe he'd stop beating around the bush if she laid it on thick. "And I need some way to process all this. And I'd very much rather not be in such an emotionally vulnerable state right before an important bey battle. You get me? See where I'm coming from?"

"What I think shouldn't really matter to you," was all she got back and her fingers instinctively curled in on themselves to form fists. "We have different opinions on this clearly, and fighting about it isn't going to help matters."

"Who said anything about fighting?" she shot back at him. She was probably proving his point by being aggressive but fuck him and his logic.

"I might need glasses but I'm not blind," Kenny replied, finally glancing in her direction. It lasted only a moment before his eyes wandered elsewhere again. How annoying. "And I still have some peripheral vision despite what you might think. Your fists are clenched and I can see your eye twitching. You're a big ball of emotions waiting to explode right now and frankly, I don't blame you. You've been through a lot over the last few days and it's been…well…a rough night. Understatement of the year, huh? Point is, this line of discussion isn't going to help matters."

"You've" been through a lot…not we… Mana did not miss the obvious implication to his words. She could pinpoint the millisecond her blood pressure no doubt spiked. She pushed forward before he could react, smacking her palm against his right shoulder and shoving him back. He gasped and stumbled, back colliding with a nearby tree.

"What the hell?" he spluttered at her, failing to intercept her hand before it could grip his shirt. It was almost pitifully easy as she dragged him around and tossed him to the ground. What she would have given so sock one of those posh bastards at those parties for hitting on her all those years ago. This was why overdue.

Kenny wasn't one of them, but it was easy to imagine he was.

"Don't give me that fucking bullshit!" she yelled at him, finger pointed right in his face. "Don't sit there and pretend like you're not phased by any of this! I thought you were here to help me! You could at least pretend to treat me as an equal then!"

"I'd be lying though if I said I was scared," Kenny replied with a sigh, choosing to remain in the more vulnerable position on the ground. He brushed a hand through his hair before pulling his knees up to his chest, ignoring how his pants were now stained with dust. "You happy now? Was that what you wanted to hear? Do you magically feel better now?"

Mana laughed hoarsely. "No. You really expect me to believe you're not scared? Do I really look like an idiot to you? You better be careful with how you answer that," she added quickly.

Kenny rolled his eyes, apparently not all that intimidated much to Mana's chagrin. "And you wondered why I didn't want to press this issue…"

"How could you not be scared?" she asked icily as her eyes narrowed down at him into slits. "Look around you, the world is going to hell. We might very well die tonight. What is there not to be afraid of? Enlighten me!"

"…"

"Well?"

"…It's complicated," he said evasively, making a habit out of staring at the ground like he'd die if he looked elsewhere. Mana fought down the urge to strike him across the face again. She could feel her knuckles almost tingling with anticipation. Had she always been this thirsty for violence and just never knew it? Was this what repressing her emotions had hidden away?

"Why…why are you even here?" Mana demanded. She folded her arms to keep her hands busy, but continued to glare down in his direction. She waited a moment, letting silence fill their surroundings again. "Tell me before my fist opens your mouth for you!"

"Do I need a reason?" Kenny mused almost lazily, removing his specs so he could rub his eyes tiredly. His apathetic tone of voice was going to drive her crazy. "I'm here for the exact same reason you are. Wrong place, wrong time, it happens. Shit happens and we were the unlucky souls who wound up getting a dud deal. Welcome to planet Earth where hopes and dreams come to die."

"That's not what I asked and you know it," Mana shot back. He looked at her funny and she sighed with annoyance. Apparently she was going to have to spell this out. Fine. She had time. "You're a bit of an enigma, you know? Prior to becoming Team Nova Flare's official bey you were basically no one."

"Not everyone can be someone," he interrupted, a tinge of bitterness in his tone. She filed that away for now before pressing on, largely ignoring his attempt to disrupt the flow of her speech.

"Before Team Nova Flare you sat alone in class. You spoke when asked too but otherwise didn't contribute to class. You'd sit alone at a table in the cafeteria. Typically you'd be found within the bey mechanic workshops, almost always alone. You didn't attend social events or interact with people; you always hung back, sticking to the shadows. You kept your mouth shut unless absolutely necessary."

"Stalker alert much?" Kenny glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, which she promptly ignored.

"You suddenly did a complete 180 on your behaviour once you were brought in to Team Nova Flare's inner circle," Mana explained succinctly in the lecturer's tone her mother had drilled into her from a young age. "And right now, again, you're acting differently. When you talked to me earlier in the infirmary tonight you were acting differently and you did it again when Jaden showed up and you're doing it again now. Bar people with specific medical conditions like bipolar disorder, I don't like it when people act inconsistently. Because that means they're hiding something or purposefully putting on a front. And I don't trust people who do shit like that. And right now, I need to be able to trust my closest allies. I don't need to be wondering if any second now you're going to stab me in the back."

"Big words for a hypocrite," Kenny sneered back at her, much to her surprise. His eyes met hers properly for the first time, and where before there was nothing but boredom and disinterest, there was now burning anger and rage.

She couldn't help but finch back from those eyes. "E-e-excuse me?"

"Why so uncertain all of a sudden?" he all but hissed at her, standing up once again so that they were now face to face. He was only a few inches taller than her, and yet the distance felt endless all of a sudden. "Your name is Mana Valkov. Valkov!" he stressed. His hands moved as if to shove her she noticed, but to her confusion he seemed to pull back at the last minute. Still, those fine details were the least of her worries right now.

"Were we supposed to not read into that at all? Supposed to not know it or at the very least not look it up! Your name was right there for all of us to see! Max might be oblivious but not everyone on this island is. You must have been aware people would know who you were, right? That people would be aware of your parents and fortune and who you were prior to this?"

"Of course I knew all of that!" she snapped back at him, shoving him away again, though with far less power this time. Something about his shift in emotion was throwing her off, and it was cowing her into submission. She didn't know why exactly, or maybe it was just because she'd never been in an argument like this before with someone who had seemed to submissive only a minute ago. "How does any of that make me a hypocrite exactly?"

"You're a good liar, Mana, unfortunately I'm not an insolent fool!" Kenny snarled, showing her his grit teeth. "I've seen you at specific events in passing. You wouldn't have been aware of me, but I was aware of you. Don't pretend like you didn't act differently prior to coming here! Don't pretend like you were always the exact same freaking person from day one! You were different then to how you are now! So tell me, which was the façade? The old you, or the current you?"

Mana felt something in her chest grow cold. She wasn't sure if it was her soul or her heart. Maybe it was both. She took a few steps back from the boy; she could feel his haggard breathe on her face from how close he'd been while he was shouting. His fists were clenched now too, yet she didn't feel concerned at all that he'd physically strike her. His words did all that for him.

"So…what?" she said quietly after a moment, her head dropping to the ground. "You resent me for being myself now? Is that it?"

"No," Kenny replied quickly. "I resent you for being a giant hypocrite. You clearly have your reasons for acting differently, so perhaps you should consider that maybe other people have reasons for doing similar things. Don't pretend to know me when you don't. I don't judge you for how you act; you don't judge me for how I act. Simple. You don't get to question my motives and integrity when you yourself do the exact same shit. Stop projecting your own insecurities onto other people and maybe I'll stop arguing with you about this nonsense!"

"I…"

"It's pretty clear why you're here, Mana," he added after a few seconds, and this was enough to jolt her head up in shock.

"What?"

"You wanted out," he pressed on, his anger seeming to fizzle out a little. "I've seen it before. You acted how they expected you to and you didn't like that, having to conform to what they wanted. So at the first chance to jump ship you took it. I get it. I really do."

Even though his statement appeared neutral she could still sense the underlying frustration and judgment in his tone. She narrowed her eyes at him once more. "So what's the problem then?"

Kenny sighed heavily, as if he was at wits end. Maybe he was, just like she was. "You're here on an act of rebellion. You probably do like beyblade," he was sure to add before she could respond. "I'm not going to argue that. I'm saying you're not here though because you knew this was exactly what you wanted to do. Maybe at one point you thought it was but I can tell it isn't now. Or at least, you're self-aware enough to know you don't know what you actually want. And that's fine, we're all still young and figuring stuff out."

"I don't get it then?"

"The issue is that you're still thinking more about yourself then about the situation," Kenny continued, turning away from her to rub his temples. "You're here because shit happened of course. But Kiara, Simon and Blaze know exactly what they're fighting for. They've agreed prior to tonight to solider face first into whatever this shit is. You haven't really, and that's going to hold you back."

"So…" Mana licked her lips. They suddenly felt as dry as the Sahara desert. "That's why you have a problem with me? Because I ran away and decided beyblade would be a good place to start?"

She wanted to inject the same venom into her face as earlier but couldn't muster it. Because she knew he was right. Her reason for selecting beyblade had been petty. She wanted out, and she chose something she knew her parents specifically didn't approve of out of spite. She loved beyblade, but was that really what she wanted her future to be entirely? In the moment she had thought so, but now…now was the time where doubt started to creep in like it always did.

"Do you have something to fight for?" Simon's question snapped her out of her inner thoughts. "Do you have a reason to fight? To be doing this? You're scared and frightened, I get that. You almost certainly want to run and hide, I get that too. But if you're only dong this because there was no one else, then you're going to lose. If you're only doing this because it's expected you'll take Max's place without question, you're going to lose. If you're only doing this because you wish to uphold your rebellious breakaway even in the face of the apocalypse then you're going to lose. L. O. S. E. Lose!"

Mana swallowed hard. Something was caught in her throat. She couldn't breathe for a moment, and she idly wondered if this was how asthmatic people felt at every waking moment of their lives. Were they waiting for the day their throat would close in on itself, and they'd be powerless to do anything about it? She could almost feel the oxygen deprivation sinking in before realising the only reason she wasn't breathing was because she was holding her breath.

It was Kenny's sudden grip on her shoulder that snapped her out of it. She looked into his eyes, and once more they were different. There was no apathy, but also no rage either. They were grim, and matched the hard line that his mouth had become. He suddenly looked years older then he was, like a soldier who had come back from the war and had seen too much. Once more the cynical side of her couldn't help but speculate whom this boy truly was. Because it occurred to right that moment that she really knew nothing about him.

"If you're going to fight," Kenny stressed to her, his words slow but firm. "Then you have to want to actually fight for yourself. I know you're reeling over what happened to Max, and whether he's dead or not. I say what I think on that doesn't matter because ultimately you shouldn't be doing this for him regardless of whether he's still alive or not. You came here to escape, right? Then stop doing things in the name of other people. You should be doing this because you chose to, not out of spite or respect for someone else. If you only rebel to spite people, you're still allowing yourself to be chained down by them. They're still dictating your every move, just in less of a direct sense. And if you're only here because Max was your friend, then you're simply allowing the memory of someone who might be a ghost to lead you to an early grave. So, it's time to make your choice. If you're going to fight, is it because it's what you want to do and because it's what you think is right? Because if isn't, then turn and run right this second. Because otherwise, you're just going to get us all killed."

Nothing.

Neither said anything for a whole minute. Mana knew it was a minute because she counted the sound of her watch ticking by for a full sixty seconds. It was all she could focus on, all she could think about. Kenny's words had replaced Azrael's wicked taunts in her head now; it was all she could hear. He didn't remove his grip from her shoulder, almost as if it were an implicit threat. He wanted an answer and he wasn't going to let her go until he got it.

The thought of lashing out at him occurred to her, but in retrospective she wasn't actually sure she could take him in a fight. She had gotten a good hit in earlier but that was seemingly only because he wasn't expecting it and didn't resist. Even if she could take him though, what would that prove? Nothing he said hadn't been wrong per say. Attacking him would do nothing but change the subject.

"Make your choice," was Kenny's ultimatum. Why was she here? What was she fighting for? The issue was, it may really have been for all the wrong reasons.

Mana hadn't realised she'd started crying again. She let her fair fall over her face to try and hide it, even though Kenny was standing less than a meter from her. "Max…that idiot…I think he might actually be my best friend," she let out after a beat. She could not see Kenny's face and so could not ascertain his reaction, but his decision not to interrupt meant she felt comfortable continuing. "He never treated me any different from anyone else…he looked at me the same as anyone but most importantly…he never asked anything of me."

"And that's why you liked him so much," Kenny finished for her. "He saw everyone as his friend, so of course you'd run arms open to the first person who treated you just like anyone else. But you're an idiot for putting him on a pedestal."

Mana's blood ran cold. Her hand moved on autopilot, gripping his collar again as her head snapped up. "What the fuck did you just say?"

"Get your hands off me," Kenny retorted, somehow not sounded at all angry or fustered. His grip on her shoulder tightened slightly, but she did not yield. Not in the face of this.

"Why would you say that about Max?" she demanded, ignoring the flashes of her friend falling to the ground that played in her head.

"Because Max, despite what some people her might think, isn't some perfect idol," Kenny shot back. He used his empty hand to smack her own away, and this time he did shove her away before she could do anything else. "He made mistakes, kept secrets from us and in the end, wasn't infallible. You're allowing your entire current self-worth to rest on the acceptance of one boy whom you only properly became friends with a few days ago."

"That's not-"

"Get your shit together, Valkov!" he snarled, and the way he enunciated her last name froze her in her tracks as she made to advance on him. "You know deep down that your affection for Max is partially based in your insecurities. He made you feel like a real person for the first time, so of course you're going to have a strong connection to him. You're a teenager, of course seeing him die is going to have an impact on you."

He stored forward till they were face-to-face, noses only a millimetre apart. "But don't pretend for a second that you have some deep connection with someone you knew properly for only a few days. Face it, you're in love with the idea of what Max represents for your own personal growth, not with Max himself. If you're only here out of respect to a dead man who only has value relative to your own self worth, then as I said before, walk away. Because a resolve like that it going to doom us all to hell. So stop being a fucking idiot and schoolgirl and get your shit together!"

Her throat closed in on itself. Or maybe her heart stopped. Or maybe all the oxygen in the atmosphere suddenly vanished. Or maybe the Earth froze over.

"Who do you think you are to speak to me like-"

"TELL ME I'M WRONG!"

"…"

"That's right, you can't, because deep down you know I'm fucking right!" he screamed at her. She didn't know when his emotions shifted again. She didn't know when he gripped her by the shoulders. She didn't know when he started shaking her. Everything was numb. She couldn't feel or sense anything anymore.

"You want to know why I didn't want to talk about Max being dead!? Because it would just lead to this! It doesn't matter if he's dead or not because that isn't what's important right now! He wasn't the linchpin in all of this as much as it seemed like he was! The end of the freaking world is at our doorstep, Max doesn't fucking matter in the face of that!"

"Kenny…wait…I…" she could barely get the words out.

"He isn't what's important! He's just one person and he let us down! He lost to Jaden and he let Azrael take over! Now he's gone, and someone has to fight in his place! Someone has to fill the gap he left behind, someone has to clean up his fucking mess for him!"

"Kenny…please…" it was but a whisper.

"We're all going to die tonight unless we fix this somehow! So stop contemplating your personal issues! Stop mourning someone who ultimately only has value because it makes you feel better about yourself! Stop being selfish for one fucking second and decide if you're here to fight to actually fight or get out before we're all burning in hell because you screwed up!"

"Kenny…"

"DO IT NOW! DO IT! DECIDE!"

His hands had somehow made their way around her throat.

She didn't know when or how, but one moment he was screaming at her and the next he was choking her. She was on the ground now, him on top of her, straddling her with his hips. His eyes were wide and manic, tears fogging up his glasses. His nails, as short as they were, were digging into her tender flesh, and no matter how hard she tried she could not budge his grip. It was like steel, and his fingers refused to shift. She kicked and tried to buck him off but he ignored all of her attempts and simply persisted. She wasn't even sure he was aware of what he was doing, but all she could think was that she was about to die.

Die not at the hand of an acquaintance and former student, but at the hands of a monster. The boy before he was not the Kenny Mojo she knew. Or perhaps she had never known who he was to begin with.

"Kenny…"

Darkness was creeping into her the edges of her vision and she could feel her struggles growing weaker with each passing second. She tried to shift her hands to his face, to maybe him snap him out of hit state but he ignored it all. He was like a machine, seemingly unable to process or comprehend anything but his mission. Kenny continued to do nothing but scream at her, his spit and tears leaking onto her face. She imagined it was rain, if only because the thought of drifting off during a storm somehow seemed peaceful.

Perhaps it was for the best it happened this way. Perhaps she'd finally be free of her shackles. Perhaps she'd finally stop being the little girl powerless to change her fate in death.

"DECIDE NOW!"

"I'm afraid the time for decision making is at an end."

She didn't know whose voice it was, all she knew for sure was that it wasn't Kenny's. It was too deep, too distorted, and too old. Suddenly she could breathe again. Suddenly she could feel sensation in her body again. And with that sensation and newfound oxygen entering her brain she was able to see that vines exploding from the ground had entangled her and Kenny. He thrashed and screamed as he tried to pry them off but his struggles were for nothing. He hung there awkwardly like a rabid dog, literally frothing from the mouth as if the vines were physically burning him.

She was too weak still to even bother trying to resist. She allowed the vines to wrap firmly around her arms and ankles, the shackles finally coming home to take back what was rightfully theirs. It was so utterly sad. So utterly pathetic and poetic that she had to smile just a little. She watched as Kenny continued his frenzy, wondering idly what she had done to deserve such a life.

Mana closed her eyes as the two were pulled into the ground while the black monolith in the distance crackled with energy. And that voice echoing from seemingly nowhere laughed as they vanished into the abyss.

"It's time for the final showdown, Ms. Valkov. Ready or not."

To Be Continued: Next Time – Clash of the Trinity (working title)

Well, that was dramatic. We get a lot more insight into Mana as a character right before her big match and we also get to see a much different side to Kenny. There's definitely going to be a fallout from this, and don't worry, there's a reason behind Kenny's actions this chapter beyond just the obvious stress of the situation they're all in. Though, let's be honest, if you were a teenager in this kind of situation, you'd probably freak out too. Once again, no battle, but hopefully some character building stuff kept you all intrigued still. Anyway, that's the chapter. Hope you all had a good time. Review as always if you have any thoughts and I'll see you in the next chapter, whenever that is. Hopefully we'll see a proper battle next chapter too.