Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Lightning or write for any profit.
Mirror
Random Virus walked down the empty street. Cold and wet, rain battered down on the rubble and torn up bitumen. Whatever evil had done this, Random thought, would not set foot in the sixth dimension again. He'd make sure of it.
The lightning knight could still vaguely recognize the places he'd walked past so many times before. He could remember seeing children running around with their plastic wrist cannons, making zapping noises and dodging between the crowds. They were gone now, along with the crowds, the place was deserted. Random doubted it would see anyone for awhile. Everything was destroyed. And everyone.
Random kicked a piece of twisted metal in anger. It flew off down the street, and Random, following it with his eyes saw a black lightning flash half-buried amongst the rubble. It looked like a falling wall had knocked it out of the sky; it had narrowly missed being crushed by the broken concrete and metal. There was someone underneath it.
"Hey, kid, are you okay?" Random ran up and pulled the machine off with a slight effort. A startled youth looked up at him; his jet black hair was matted and wet and his deep brown eyes were filled with fear. His energy was low and he was starting to fade, but he looked more scared then anything.
Random knelt down next to him. "Don't worry. I'm here to help you. Did you see what happened?"
The youth pushed himself away, his feet struggling for purchase in the broken shards of concrete. "Leave me alone."
"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Just let me go, please," he begged, his eyes were out of focus and seemed to stare at some point up the street.
Random glanced over his shoulder, afraid that some evil might have crept up behind him but the place was as empty as before.
"No one's…" he started, turning back around. The youth was running away, stumbling from exhaustion. He glanced back at Random as he ran, his brown eyes brimming with fear, and then disappeared into an alleyway.
Random got up and ran after him. He knew the alley was a dead end. The kid couldn't go far. He rounded the corner and slowed down. The alley was pitch black. Random could barely see. "Kid, where are you?" he called out. "I'm going to take you someplace safe where you can power up. But you have to come out."
Lightning flashed across the stormy sky, lighting up the alley for a brief second. The youth was huddled in the corner at the far end. A dark shape stood over him. It was starting to raise its arm as the light faded out.
"Leave him alone!" yelled Random in shock. He made a dash for the end of the alley but he could no longer judge the distance in the darkness.
The alley was lit up again, but not by the overhead storm. It was lit up by the energy that suddenly and violently crackled out of the kid's body as the dark form pounded a fist of metal into him. The electricity outlined his face, twisted in agony, then flickered out along with him.
Random felt himself fill with anger as the evil turned to face him. "You son of a…" the rest was indiscernible, turned into a roar of blind rage followed close by Random's fist.
He hit a flat surface that shouldn't have been there. Confused for a moment, Random realised a sheet of glass had stopped his attack. He could only see what it was from the fracture marks from where his fist had hit. Only it wasn't his fist. Where his hand should have been was a hulking metal claw. Dented, rusted and exactly the same as the one which pressed against the glass from the other side.
A deep dread filled Random as he looked up slowly, the dark form on the other side copying his every move. Their eyes met, lightning flashed across the sky again. Random saw himself.
"The weakness in this world must be destroyed," the other side said.
"No," said Random, voice shaking, "I won't."
"You've already started."
"NO!" Random slammed his claw into the mirror, this time it shattered, the image fell apart.
"NO!" Random slammed his claw into the side of his junkyard shack.
He stared in confusion, totally lost for a second, and then remembered where he was. The junkyard. On Earth. Nowhere near the sixth dimension.
Random let his head fall into the wall with a soft clunk. It had just been a dream. Nothing more. He hoped it was nothing more.